Thursday, July 19, 2007

Wendy's 256 Ways Debate Final Update


Weeks ago, I challenged Wendy's on their math skills regarding the ads on their hamburger bags which read, "We figured out that there are 256 ways to personalize a Wendy's hamburger. Luckily someone was paying attention in math class." Our in-house actuary, (pictured above) said that the numbers didn't add up. I went to the top of the Wendy's corporate chain for answers, and they stood by their story. Our actuary remained stalwart.
It is now with a greasy, heavy, trans-fat heart that I admit the following:

Wendy's chili tastes better than crow. Even with a planted formaldehyde finger in it.

Yes, that's right, our math man made a mistake. Apparently there are 256 ways to personalize a Wendy's hamburger afterall and he simply left a number off. Or his head was up his arse. Or who knows. All I know is that Wendy's was right, and we were wrong. I'm sorry, Wendy's. Even though I rarely patronize you (the last time may have been in the 80's), I do apologize for doubting you.
What this means for Wendy's: Credibility.
What this means for me: No Wendy's bucks, coupons, or other Wendy's related free crap.
Sigh. Thanks a lot, in-house actuary. You owe me a Frostie.







9 comments:

newbluebaby said...

I'm heartbroken. Anne... wrong? What's the point? Why go on?

anne altman said...

i don't know.

i say don't go on.

Unknown said...

For those who will inevitable spend hours trying to figure it out, here's the way to do it. There REALLY are 256 ways.

Using the formula for Combinations
n!
10C4 = -----------
r! (n - r)!

where n = number of Choices and
r = items selected,

it can be calculated that if Wendy's has 8 choices of items to put on a hamburger then from those 8 choices there in indeed 256 possible combinations for making a hamburger.

Solution:

Plain
1 Hamburger (1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)/(1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)
1 Item 8 more different Hamburgers (1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)/(1*(1*2*3*4*5*6*7))
2 Items 28 more different Hamburgers (1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)/((1*2)*(1*2*3*4*5*6))
3 Items 56 more different Hamburgers (1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)/((1*2*3)*(1*2*3*4*5))
4 Items 70 more different Hamburgers (1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)/((1*2*3*4)*(1*2*3*4))
5 Items 56 more different Hamburgers (1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)/((1*2*3*4*5)*(1*2*3))
6 Items 28 more different Hamburgers (1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)/((1*2*3*4*5*6)*(1*2))
7 Items 8 more different Hamburgers (1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)/((1*2*3*4*5*6*7)*(1))
All Items 1 more different Hamburger (1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)/(1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8)

TOTAL 256 Different Hamburgers

Just Dave said...

Now you know why some insurance companies go broke.

Unknown said...

Margaret thats an awfully long way to go about doing it, lol.

just use 2^x-1

X = number of toppings.

Anonymous said...

Actually there are far more ways than 256... I came across the same line on a Wendy's bag and calculated an alternate result with several thousand combinations. Check it out at my blog.
After some revisions we ended up with 24756 combinations.

Anonymous said...

Actually, you could stop to consider that an option for most anything is "extra", as in extra lettuce, pickles, or so on, which means it's not 2^8 but 3^8. One could also point out singles, doubles, and triples are all varieties of a "hambuger", making it 3^9. Then, of course, there's the BACON burger, which takes us to 4*(3^8).

All in all, I make it to be over 26,000 different burgers.

And then there's chicken...

Anonymous said...

Hi everyone!
Eschool Math teacher here! I use this cute advertisement whenever I teach probability...
I figured this out on a slow, rainy Saturday afternoon)Image you have 8 topping.
Assume you have a bun and a hamburger...
For each topping, you decide Y or N. Which means, for all 8 Toppings you have two choices so 2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2 = 256.
I like students to understand how commercials etc come up with some of their numbers...

Do I get a frosty too?
:D

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