a frosty is specifically a "frosty dairy dessert" so it is a dessert...with the frosty being classified as a dessert, that makes anything with frosty in it a "dessert".

and the proper way to serve a frosty dairy dessert (regardless of size) is with one napkin and one spoon. straws are upon request of the customer. :)

This makes a frosty a dessert, and not a drink.

If it was a drink, why would you have to sub it for what it already is?

[i41.tinypic.com]

Here's some useful info from Wendy's own nutrition guide.

The small Frosty (which would be subbed for a medium soda) is definitely less healthy, unless you consider the vitamins added to balance the added fat and cholesterol!

@Underscore_Lysdexia: I don't imagine the sode you ordinarily get with your meal is that much healthier, not to mention....THE MEAL.

dictionary.com: beverage "-noun
any potable liquid, esp. one other than water, as tea, coffee, beer, or milk: *The price of the meal includes a beverage.*"

I agree with the assertion that it's a dessert. Just because it's in a cup (regardless of the fact that apparently some people get it with a straw - ain't no such thing) doesn't mean it's a drink. ONCE a very long time ago in S.C. I ordered a meal at a Burger King by the highway and since they had run out of large fry containers (I was sharing, don't judge) they served the fries to me in a small cup. Didn't make it a drink.

That also happened to be the day my junky '93 Ford Taurus died. Two years later (almost to the day) and I'm still trying to recover from that.

I'm still aggravated that I go to Wendy's and ask for a Frosty and they ask me what flavor. It's wrong.

Was it anything like freeze-dried Astronaut Ice Cream? :)

McDonald's shakes qualify as a beverage (as indulgent as they are) because they can substitute for a soft drink in a value meal and you're only given a straw, even when they changed to their triple thick formula whenever that was.

The Frosty is akin to a McFlurry.

And now I really, really, really want to try the new twisted Frosty!

The frosty is a SOQUID. There's a youtube video out there. But there should something better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qROBK4POkxk

Check Urban Dictionary too

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=soquid

@Baxterjones: I would agree with the "drink" assessment because it can be substituted in the value meals. Just like at McD's or BK's you can get a shake instead of a drink. You can't get a McFlurry (i.e. dessert) instead of a drink... hence the Frosty is a drink

It's the "Pat" of fast foods.

I actually think of it as a separate category entirely, neither dessert nor drink.

@pecan 3.14159265: I think we are all arguing the wrong question. It shouldn't be dessert vs. drink; it should be food vs. drink. Dessert is a subcategory of food or beverage (examples being pie, or ice cream, or dessert wine, or milkshake). In my opinion, the Frosty is a food, not a beverage, as you eat it, you don't drink it (unless you waited for it to melt?). Milkshakes are drinks so you can have them with a meal instead of, say, a Coke. Ice cream (including Frosties) is a dessert food.

However, since it is served with a spoon and given the assertion in the OP that "Wendy's don't got dessert," it must be soup. But, Wendy's doesn't serve soup. Therefore, the Frosty must be chili...

And now that we know it is really chili, the name makes a lot more sense, doesn't it?

@Smashville: Can you sub the chili in a cup for the "drink" portion of a value meal, like you can with a Frosty at Wendy's? If so, it's a drink in my book ;).

@coren: "water itself is not often classified as a beverage"

[en.wikipedia.org]

@TideGuy: Because it's not .05¢ of syrup mixed with water, so it costs Wendy's more to serve? If you can sub it for a drink, it's a drink. You can't sub a non-drink for a drink in a value meal anywhere I've been, so unless Wendy's decides you can no longer have a Frosty as the "drink" in a combo meal, it's a drink and thus subject to the promotion as they did not state otherwise on the coupon.

It's a fish sandwich.

Can we cut out this craptastic conversation about what is and is not crapped or pooped or peed out?

ROTFLMAO.

thanks.

Frosty is made of frosty.

It is its own answer.

@TCama: I've been served the chili in a cup when they ran out of chili containers. Does that make chili a drink?

(It's not a beverage, imo, it's a desert - I've never had it served with a straw, you couldn't drink it with a straw anyway, and local wendys offer it with toppings to mix in like butterfingers or oreo - def. can't drink them)

That sounds delicious..

I went and got one on my lunch break. :-D

This is confirmed by their non-space-limited website, where a Frosty is a Frosty, a class of its own. If you look at the Beverage menu, you'll see that Frosty is not listed.

I like Dr Sears' 80-20 rule for feeding kids (and adults too): if it's healthy 80% of the time, don't sweat the other 20%. And really, for us it's more like 90-10.

I could make myself a smoothie with frozen strawberries, milk, and a bit of vanilla extract and still keep my blood sugar at a quite acceptable level. But a mere sip of Coke would send my sugars soaring...I'd get flushed and feel nauseous.

That being said, I'm sure a Frosty has more non-healthy gunk than my homemade smoothie, but still, it's not the classification of a food that leads to obesity...it's the actual ingredients. And a giant cup of HFCS is more fattening than a little thick milkshake, I'm sure.

@wjmorris3: No, it's the stuff.

[www.imdb.com]

Corn Syrup, Whey, Cocoa, Dextrose, Guar Gum, Cellulose Gum, Mono and Diglycerides, Carrageenan, Disodium Phosphate, Artificial and Natural Flavors.

@Underscore_Lysdexia: Is it that much worse than a Coke, which in my opinion is the real culprit of obesity?

@Newman!!!!: I greatly dislike melty ice cream products, so that option is out for me. As for my ability to suck... Ahem, let's not go there. ;)

First, when I have a coupon for something "free" with purchase, I try to verify up front, courteously, whether the coupon can be used for what I want to purchase. If I get a "no" answer, I take it from there, but maintaining a level of diplomacy is paramount. If the coupon is not worth the hassle, I simply leave without purchasing anything.

Second, being a Wendy's cashier is way up there on the list of jobs that suck. I don't know why I'd want to ridicule that person, for doing the job s/he thinks s/he was hired to do.

Third, I've never understood what's so great about a Frosty. I love ice cream, malts and shakes, but I think Wendys Frosties are bland and overrated.

"I've ordered a drink and the requisite panini..."

"Is it not served in a cup with a straw, as any other beverage?"

Anyway, a Frosty is not a drink, but they should have honored the coupon. It probably costs more than a drink!

If you're working for a fast-food place and you're in doubt, there's always the option to just give the customer free food. This employee made...THE RIGHT DECISION!

@toddkravos: You might be right, and by the same photograph, danish and orange juice are sandwiches.

[www.wendys.com]

Frostys are on a page all by themselves and not listed on the beverage page in the link. So I think the offical answer to "is it a beverage?", is no. But then again, they classify Dasani water as a beverage.

I used to work at Wendy's in high school when there was just "the frosty". None of these fancy flavors and such.

To be as scientific as possible, the frosty is soft serve ice cream. The machine is a soft serve ice cream machine with a mix poured in the top from these big 2 gallon bags. The mix is stickier than honey and the bags love to fall out of your hands. It's like a garbage bag full of water and you have to pour it out very carefully and not spill any of it while holding it above your head. I'm sure they've simplified the process by now. But yeah, it's soft serve.

If it's in a cup, most notably THE SAME CUP SODA IS SERVED IN, it's MOST CERTAINLY A DRINK.

If it wasn't, then it WOULDN'T be listed in the DRINK category on THEIR OWN MENU boards!

See for yourself:
[www.flickr.com]

P.s. those new frosties are teh awesome...

@pecan 3.14159265: I vote for Dessert and or snack.

Now what would you call a Rita's Misto Shake?

Go fly a kite.

Given the choice between dessert and beverage, it must be considered a dessert - straight from the source, the Wendy's website does not have it bundled in with the "beverages," but instead gives it its own category ([www.wendys.com]). This also falls in line with an earlier poster who said its official name was "Frosty Dairy Dessert." I think that settles that portion of the argument.

Oh my, yes. I used to work at a place that was near a Wendy's and we would get Frosty cravings and I would go around the office and get money from people. Then I would go on a Frosty run.

I think they put drugs in it.

I like them because they are very salty. But I don't dip them in my Frosty. That's yucky.

I think the no Frosty rule is because they want to sell the marked-up soda, and not the Frosty. It's cheaper for them.

Dammit, now I want a Frosty really bad.

it's a drink i say! it comes in a cup with a straw, and you can substitute it for a soda with a meal.

I encounter so many jerk-offs like "carl" at my job (convenience store).

I'm on the Dessert *and* Drink bandwagon, as these are not mutually exclusive. And +1 to Baxter on the Spicy Chicken Sandwich and Frosty - best combo ever.

In the summers during my college years I worked at a little homemade ice cream parlor in a swanky seaside town. One local grande dame would send her chauffeur in several times a week when we opened at 9 am to pick up "breakfast" -- a custom-packed half-pint of coffee ice cream (on the bottom) and orange ice (on top). IOW, cafe au lait and orange juice. :-)

Oh god. TMI LOL

I love this distinction between food & beverage!

She says the Frosty is a drink, a *premium* drink. When you order a combo you can substitute a Frosty for the drink and there will be a small extra charge. So there!

One of their new offerings is a "Frosty Shake". I tried ordering it. Asked for a chocolate Frosty Shake (or whatever flavor they offer). The guy said, "So, do you want a frosty or a shake?". I said, "A Frosty Shake." Cue repeat. Finally he decided I wanted a shake, not a frosty.

Has he not even looked at the menu to see that it's being sold as a Frosty Shake?

Calories per ounce of liquor: 67.
Calories per ounce of frosty: 43.

:)

I guess technically since I chase a fry down with a sip of milkshake, it's about the same as dipping and I should probably just do the dipping thang to save a step, eh?

A Frosty is: Delicious AND 1/2 price on Sundays!

What about a root beer float?

@vgeroh:

FROSTY DAIRY DESSERT

That is the technical name of it.

And I have NEVER been given a STRAW with a Frosty. ALWAYS a spoon.

Which makes its classification clear enough... clearer still when considering its official name.

And I agree... sounds like a hell of a yarn after the first two volleys. Oh well.

There is no better mate to a greasy and salty value meal, however you choose to classify it!!

@pecan 3.14159265: Then there's a lot of things people eat for breakfast that other people call desserts, like pancakes and waffles. The European branch of my family was always confused by this. 'Why do you have dessert for breakfast?'

And it makes sense for restaurants to enforce this vigorously when it comes to coupons... I don't know what the profit margin is on a shake, but it can't even be close to the profit on a regular beverage.

@dcaslin: That still doesn't make sense because the sandwich was the free item.. Buying a frosty instead of a regular drink should be even better for them because a frosty costs more than a drink.

@VeryFancyBunny: I'm not a fan of Wendy's fries at all.

Those floppy greasy salty fries and barely-chocolate semi-frozen confection-bev are just not something you can replicate at home. If they managed to make a vegan version of both, I'd probably go buy them.

..And then eat them on a hot summer day sitting outside my car, listening to Vanilla Ice and Rico Suave, admiring my pinch-rolled jeans. Good times.

That could be tasty or absolutely horrible. Only one way to find out!

@yasth: Thanks. I didn't see a link from their main site to any of this.

@vgeroh: True, but if you buy a soda or coffee that is marked up 50 times the actual cost, the profit can help pay for the cost of the sandwich. If however you purchase a more expensive dessert/drink where you only see maybe 5 times the actual cost, there is less profit to cover the cost of the sandwich.

@Etoiles: It's 12 o'clock somewhere ; )

@lehrdude: When I have a frosty, it does not come out. It usually sits simewhere in my stomach area adding another 1/4" to my waist.

If you order a Frosty from the drive-thru, it comes with a cover that only has a hole for a straw...it's a drink. There is no way you are putting a spoon through that thing, and if you take off the cover, it's going to spill in your lap.

One question though...do they make Beef flavored frosties???

[www.wendys.com]

[www.wendysbreakfast.com]

Granted the rollout is paused mostly because of post Arby's merger stuff.

I'd love to hear the story from the poor exasperated cashier's point of view: "So this Frosty obsessed idiot walks in and tries to get some ice cream with a free drink coupon.."

@AnonyLawyer:

It's basically frozen milk...when you drink milk, where does it come out?

@zigziggityzoo: I think breakfast may be a local franchise offering. The Wendy's website has nothing about breakfast food.

I love dipping my fries in my Frosty. I think I may have to stop by Wendy's for lunch now.

@chrisexv6: but if they were both classified as drinks why would you need to pay extra to sub?

@pecan 3.14159265: A milkshake at McDonalds could easily be called a drink. But a Baskins & Robbins milkshake is not. To me, it comes down to thickness.

@Cornelius047: HAHAHA. Thank you for the funny. I will never not laugh at potty humor.

And sodas have a ton of calories...I'm pretty sure a lot of beer has a ton of calories as well. A 12 oz. glass of Blue Moon has 171 calories in it, while the 16 oz. vanilla milkshake at Potbelly's has 610. Not even counting the increase in cholesterol, the average person would probably have one milkshake and be done. But if you can knock down four beers during the course of a night, you've consumed more calories than the one milkshake.

I think it's easier for people to drink a high calorie beer and not feel so bad about how many calories they're actually consuming.

@zentex: Haha, maybe this weekend ill swing by and grab a Vanilla. I am not a fan of chocolate ice cream so I think I might be weary of the chocolate frosty.

it must be a drink if they let you choose it in the combos you buy

... I can see this evolving to a soup discussion. =\

A frosty is a dessert until it melts!

Want a chocolaty drink with your dinner? Drink a chocolate milk or a Yoohoo. They're not great, but you're better off...

When my wife didn't see eye to eye on our don't ask don't tell frosty policy, my friends response was simply "you don't need to know what it is to like it!"

You can't drink a frosty with a straw, yet getting them through the drive-thru invariably results in getting BOTH a spoon and a straw with it. Clearly, no one knows what they are and are covering all their bases. I call it a dessert.

Also, I am a member of the Dip Fries in Frosty cult. It is for Teh Win! I also dip fries in all manner of shakes when I can. \o/

even better on fries.

you really should go to a Wendy's and get a Frosty. Come to the DarkSide.

@Jeremy82465: Fries in frosty = salty and sweet. Some people really dig it, I do not. There is just enough potato flavor to mess up the the mix of Salt.

Chocolate Frosty is a very smooth, mild milk chocolate flavor, the Vanilla Frosty is very strongly vanilla. Both are really creamy.

The root beer float Frosty on the other hand is a delicious beveregy dessert.

@Baxterjones: That's what I was going to point out. If you can substitute it for the regular drink in a meal, it's a drink.

Also, now I'm really starting to want a milkshake. I wonder if the strawberry-pomegranate smoothies they're selling in the coffee shop downstairs will do it...

Girl swallows engagement ring after BF puts it in a Wendy's Frosty

In college I bought a Frosty late at night after having one too many drinks. I was also a little too tipsy to remember to eat/drink the Frosty and left it on the coffee table overnight with the straw sticking out the top. In the morning the Frosty had hardened to the consistency of a powdery concrete and you could pick the entire thing up by the straw. I'll still get one occasionally but this event put a damper on my Frosty enjoyment.

I need more sleep and I need more caffeine.

Me, I need my caffeine and bacon so I must forgo milkshake calories. ;)

As someone who is not a patron of Wendy's very often, can someone tell me if the frosty is any good? I have heard a few friend who claim to be members of the "dip fries in frosty" cult, but I have yet to even try the dessert/beverage/food type thing previously mentioned.

If you let it melt, it's most certainly a drink. Then again, that happens with many things we would most certainly not call drinks ... like ice cream. Maybe the guy should have just argued for a few more minutes so it would have melted, and he could have said "Look! It's definitely a drink now!"

Also, if Wendy's "don't got dessert," that sort of eliminates the notion that it could be a dessert, doesn't it?

Then again, it's next to impossible to consume it with a straw before it melts. And would you really want to put toffee bits (or any of the other things Wendy's puts in Frostys) in a drink? No, you would put them in a dessert.

I'm hungry ...

If you have to eat it with a spoon, it isn't a drink. Have you ever been able to suck that up through a straw?

And by the way, I love the new twisted frosty's.

@Jesse:

Sorry, I forgot to delete "Wendy's would exclude" from my comment. I have not had my coffee yet this morning.

Mmmm... fries + Frosty.

@BCK: You'll hurt yourself if you try it with a straw. I agree; dessert.

I'm not ruling out poor cashier training, but I can see why Wendy's would exclude frosties would be classified differently, thus not subject to the promotion.

Soda and coffee are dirt cheap, costing around 1-2 cents an ounce (including cup) while I'm sure a frosty is at least 10x that.

Moral of story: confuse an agent of a fast food restaurant enough, and you win.

Either way I can never drink a frosty with a straw so I call it a dessert

i don't think it's a drink.