Patrons of a Florida branch of Wendy’s were left wondering what “extra ingredients” they may have been eating all of this time after a video surfaced that showed one Wendy’s employee taking a bubble bath dip in one of the restaurant’s industrial sinks.
Unsurprisingly enough, the employee soon got fired after the video went viral but such news has done little to reassure customers, some of whom have promised not to eat at that branch again.
The footage shows a male crew member just wearing shorts as he clambers on the industrial-grade kitchen sink that’s filled with soapy water. His colleagues egg him on and laugh in the background as they tell him to “turn the jets on.”
In the background, one of them asks the man to wash his armpits, and he quickly obliges. A crew member then grabs some paper napkins for him to dry himself on.
The camera pans around to show two other employees filming the scene with their cameras. Then just before the end, the one taking the video swings the camera around to reveal that she’s also a Wendy’s employee.
Although the man may have wanted to keep his stunt between themselves, the video was shared on Snapchat and quickly spread throughout social media.
One viewer wrote: “This makes you wonder what else is going on at that restaurant, someone needs to get fired, the sink needs to be sanitized.”
Another said: “Soooooooooo that’s where Wendy’s gets its special taste from. Oh, Jeezus Christus where do these cretins come from.”
While a third added: “They all should’ve been fired and the place should be closed. Never eat at Wendy’s.”
A few people did acknowledge the funny side of the incident.
One person commented: “To all the grouches: It was inappropriate, unprofessional, unsanitary… but also funny. Wash the sink with chemicals, and all will be fine.”
Suffice to say, management definitely didn’t see the funny side and fired the man.
Mike Johnson, a representative of the firm that holds the franchise for that Wendy’s branch, said in a statement: “We are taking this incident seriously and it is obviously unacceptable.
“This was a prank by a person who no longer works at this restaurant, and who clearly did not use good judgment. We are taking this opportunity to reinforce our very strict quality procedures with our restaurant team.”
Inspectors from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation visited the restaurant a day after the video was recorded and the establishment passed the sanitation inspection. But the damage has been done and dozens of poor reviews on Facebook still hammered the branch.
In the end, the lesson is not to take bubble baths in a restaurant’s kitchen sink. Or, if you’re going to do that, don’t ever record the event.