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Key Takeaways
- Fast-food and nostalgia have long been intertwined, and a number of chains are cashing in on the feeling.
- McDonald's recently announced the 2025 return of its Snack Wraps, which have been off the menu nationally since 2016. Taco Bell, Burger King and other fast food chains have recently brought items back.
- According to researchers, people tend to remember past fast foods with more affection than the current ones.
McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and other fast-food companies are using nostalgia to win customers that they might have lost due to inflation.
McDonald's earlier this month became the latest to revive an old offering when it announced the return of its Snack Wraps which were available nationally from 2006 to 2016. The fast-food giant confirmed the wraps will return next year, but didn't provide a specific date.
The announcement followed the company’s move to bring back its occasionally-available McRib earlier this month—and similar moves from other fast-food players in recent months.
Yum! Brands’ (YUM) Taco Bell kicked off a “decades” menu, bringing back one item per decade from the 1960s, when the chain launched, through the 2000s, for a limited time. Restaurant Brands International’s (QSR) Burger King reintroduced Cini Minis last month. These are miniature cinnamon buns that had been removed in 2012 from their menu. This started only in 2 Florida markets.
In many cases, social media is a key factor in revitalizing menu items. Arby's parent Inspire Brands said earlier this year that "potato cakes" had been mentioned 10,000 times on social media since it discontinued the hashbrowns in 2021. Arby's named actor Kyle MacLachlan the leader of "The Order of the Potato Cake," and launched a line of limited-edition merch when the side dish temporarily returned to menus in July.
For every customer who is able to enjoy their favourite dish, there are still others looking for it. On social media, people responded to the McDonald's snack wrap announcement with requests for the return of deep-fried apple pies, the McSalad Shaker, and super-sized fries.
Nostalgia Is Powerful—But People Can Be Disappointed
Restaurants can run the risk that their reboots fall short of the public's expectations. "The problem is people’s memories are fallible; they’re not perfect. So when the manufacturer brings back the old packaging or the old item, we’re disappointed because it isn’t exactly how we remember it,” Krystine Batcho, a professor of psychology at Syracuse University, told marketing firm Quikly.
Research has shown that people tend to talk about the past more often than the present or future, and often think the past was better than the present. That feeling can be especially strong with fast food, which experts say people tend to associate with childhood memories, a connection the industry has worked for decades to cultivate—think "Happy Meals," complete with toys and packaging that smiles back at you.
Fast-food nostalgia has even inspired the fine-dining crowd. Chain, a pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles, specializes in upscale recreations of fast-food favorites. As of April, the waitlist to attend a Chain event was 25,000 names long, according to The New York Times.
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