These Fast Food Companies Are Killing It On Twitter (Slideshow)

Fast food chains are eager to attract as many Twitter followers as possible, and some have been far more successful at it than others. 

Aside from a bogus Twitter hack last year, Chipotle has been running a very tight Twitter ship, using its account to hype up new menu items like Sofritas and films like Farmed and Dangerous. 

Wendy's has been quite creative with its use of Twitter, using the service to call on followers to contribute songs that it could use to help promote its Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger, for example. And to promote their Pretzel Pub Chicken sandwich, they launched a campaign called #PretzelLoveStories in which actors were hired to recite diners' tweets about the new menu item in silly, telenovela-style scenes. 

KFC has been pushing its followers to send in potentially viral videos with the hashtag #HowDoYouKFC, and it's been quite successful. They've also found ways to be charitable through Twitter, giving away a $20,000 scholarship to reward the best tweet. 

This chain has also been quite successful in getting its followers to interact with the company on Twitter, asking them to tag photos of themselves with their favorite Dunkin' products with the hashtag #mydunkin for a chance to appear in TV commercials. They've also teamed up with the NFL and Shark Week via Twitter for some good old-fashioned cross-promotion. 

Burger King has pulled out all the stops when it comes to Twitter, and has used it as an extremely effective tool to hype up not just new menu items, but returning ones as well. For example, they launched #chickenfriesareback in August, and within the first 72 hours it had a whopping 150,000 mentions. 

Pizza Hut tends to use Twitter primarily to hype up new menu items and promote branded content they hope will go viral, but they've also launched several notable Twitter-centric ad campaigns, including one where they entice customers to post a "shelfie" with Blake Shelton with the hashtag #BBQWithBlake and a Super Bowl tie-in where they gave away prizes to those who tweeted with the hashtag #pizzaHUT. 

Taco Bell has taken to Twitter for some pretty creative campaigns, like one earlier this year where followers were encouraged to join in an "internet scavenger hunt" where they could win free merchandise in order to promote their Spicy Chicken Cool Ranch Doritos Locos. They've also staged some pretty oddball stunts, like blacking out their entire Twitter feed in order to promote a new app. 

Subway's approach to Twitter hasn't been quite as cool as the route taken by Burger King and Taco Bell, but it's certainly been effective. Back in January, in order to promote a $5 Footlong deal, they created more than 70 gifs in an attempt to get users to share them and the hashtag #januANY. 

McDonald's has also used Twitter to hype returning products like the McRib via a "McRib Locator," but aside from having a whole lot of followers, they haven't been able to really find their Twitter voice yet. Their #McDStories campaign backfired horribly, and a recent "our food, your questions" campaign, in which they attempted to disprove negative stereotypes about their food, only served to remind followers of those stereotypes. 

The quick-service brand with the most Twitter followers, Starbucks blows its competition out of the water in that department. They're also very smart and creative about how they leverage such a devoted Twitter following, investing in Twitter ads targeted to specific regions to make them more personalized. Campaigns have included giveaways like the ongoing @Tweetacoffee campaign, a #TreatReceipt campaign to raise awareness of discounts for returning customers, and smartly promoting their tweets to anyone who searched #blizzard during a big East Coast blizzard last year.