Wendy’s Tweets Pepe the Frog Meme

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Updated Apr. 11, 2017 4:12PM EDT / Published Jan. 04, 2017 11:29AM EST

Mike Blake/Reuters

Fast-food chain Wendy’s on Wednesday tweeted a Pepe the Frog meme, but swiftly deleted it after outcry over the image’s connection to white-nationalist, “alt-right” internet culture. The image shows the company’s mascot and namesake, Wendy Thomas, morphed into the frog meme, which has been used online by members of the far-right to demean and harass—often with anti-Semitic undertones—opponents of Donald Trump’s candidacy. The Anti-Defamation League has called the meme a hate symbol, although its origins are with a popular (and decidedly non-racist) web comic by illustrator Matt Furie. “Our community manager was unaware of the recent evolution of the Pepe meme’s meaning and this tweet was promptly deleted,” the company said in response to questions about the tweet.

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Wendy’s Tweets Pepe the Frog Meme

Mike Blake/Reuters