Wendy’s corporation, taking the recent finger-in-the-chili incident in stride, has launched its newest contest.

“We believe that our customers will enjoy this contest,” said Joe Slate, public relations officer for Wendy’s Inc.

Customers have a chance to win $1 million U.S. when they order a Wendy’s chili of any size. There will be one winner per month for the eight months starting in June.

When customers order their chili, all they need to do to win the $1 is find one of Dave Thomas’ fingers in the chili.

“We thought it was a great way to celebrate Dave’s ingenuity and to also bring his human touch back to our products,” says Slate.

Wendy’s Inc. board members had Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, exhumed earlier this month and removed his fingers and thumbs. After testing, it was decided that the thumbs would not be used.

“He had a growth on one thumb,” said Slate. “We thought it’d be better marketing to have an even number of winners — eight in this case — instead of nine, because we had to throw the one thumb out.”

The contest has an added protection against potential counterfeiters by using Dave’s actual fingers.

“Once the potential winner presents the finger,” Slate says, “it will be subjected to DNA analysis to verify that it is actually Dave’s finger. Once that has been verified, the finder will recieve his or her $1 million prize.”

Children who find a finger will have to let their parent or guardian claim the prize by presenting the finger since minors aren’t eligible to recieve the payout.

Wendy’s Inc. plans to return Dave’s fingers to his coffin after the contest ends in March 2006.

— Staff Reporter — bs