Introduction
Melinda Lou "Wendy" Morse (née Thomas; born September 14, 1961) is the daughter and fourth child of American businessman Dave Thomas, the founder of the fast food brand Wendy's. Morse is best known for being the namesake and mascot of the brand. She uses the name Wendy Thomas in her role as a spokesperson for Wendy's.
Early life
Thomas was born on September 14, 1961, in Columbus, Ohio, the fourth child of Dave Thomas.
As a child Morse was unable to pronounce her L's and R's, struggling with her own name Melinda, and so became known by her nickname Wendy (with the pen-pin merger). Then 8-year old Thomas would eventually become the namesake behind the name of her father's restaurant Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, or just "Wendy's" for short. In addition to being the namesake, her likeness was used as the Wendy's logo in the form of a young girl with red braids.
As an adult, Morse graduated from the University of Florida in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in consumer behaviorism. She owned several Wendy's restaurants near Dallas, Texas until 1999. After the death of her father Dave Thomas in 2002, Morse and her siblings bought restaurants in the Columbus, Ohio area. As of September 2010, Morse herself owned or co-owned more than 30 Wendy's stores. In November 2010, she began appearing in Wendy's ads on camera for the first time. (Her voice was featured in a 1989 ad giving her father advice from off-camera.) The 2010 ads aired first in Las Vegas, Nevada; Mobile, Alabama; and Virginia Beach, Virginia; test markets before being rolled out nationally.
Since April 2012, she is starring in a series of ads for Wendy's called That's Wendy's Way, reinforcing the quality values in ingredients, preparation and service her father established. She also appeared in the 'Dave's Hot 'N Juicy Cheeseburger' commercial produced by Publicis Groupe's Kaplan Thaler Group.