The
Wendy's employee who allegedly guzzled down the fast-food chain's Frosty shakes right from the machine has been fired, a spokesman for Wendy's told the Daily News.
A
photo of the Wendy's employee, with his mouth open under a machine of the company's signature milkshakes, as the vanilla confection poured directly into his mouth, went viral after it was posted on Reddit.
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"We don't know the exact date the photo was taken, but we believe in it was in May," Bertini wrote in an email. "The incident was totally inappropriate, and we're taking it very seriously."
The employee has not been identified.
A few weeks ago, a
Taco Bell worker was fired after he licked an entire stack of taco shells and a photo capturing the incident went viral.
"The behavior is unacceptable for people working in a restaurant," Taco Bell said in a statement at the time. "Our franchisee is responsible for the employment and conduct of his restaurant's employees and he has informed us that he immediately suspended the employee shown in the photo and is in the process of terminating his employment."
The
photo was reportedly taken in March at a California Taco Bell branch. The photo was supposed to be a submission to a company-wide contest that encouraged employees to submit photos of themselves enjoying the first bite of a new product, but it was never submitted because it violated guidelines of the contest.
Laura Ries, a brand consultant, told the USA Today that it's very difficult for fast-food chains to stop this kind of behavior from happening. The best they can do is train staff on the possible health and safety risks as well as possible public relations damage by such actions.
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"Fast-food companies will never be able to totally prevent this kind of thing," Ries said. "The majority of their workers are young adults armed with cellphones and getting paid minimum wage. It is the nature of the beast."