Many businesses have used nostalgic marketing to create a strong connection between a product and customers’ emotions. This strategy promotes an element of familiarity and creates a positive association, which, if managed correctly, could eventually develop a loyal customer base.
For many years, McDonald’s has been one of the biggest companies to bank on customers’ nostalgic association with its brand, which it has used to its advantage to become the fast-food giant it is today.
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From its iconic yellow arches and red Happy Meal boxes to its Ronald McDonald character, McDonald’s has stayed relevant and kept up with competition through innovation while still maintaining its decades-old yet globally recognizable image.
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Over the last few years, McDonald’s started bringing back some of its most iconic toys, including its Happy Meal Throwback Toys in Canada in 2019 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first-ever Happy Meal. Most recently, in 2024, it featured collectible cups in the U.S.
McDonald’s has used nostalgia as a key part of its marketing for many decades.
McDonald’s teams up with Pokémon to create the ultimate nostalgic Happy Meal
McDonald’s ( (MCD) ) announced the nationwide launch of its newest limited-time Happy Meal collaboration with the childhood fan-favorite franchise Pokémon.
Each Happy Meal design features a Dragon-type Pokémon, including Charizard, Pikachu & Dragonite together, Rayquaza, and Roaring Moon. It also comes with a Pokémon Trading Card Game pack containing four of the 15 available cards, a Pokémon poster, and a sticker sheet.
Pokémon is a Japanese world-renowned media franchise that began in 1996 and has since developed a huge fan base by creating multiple video games, animated series, films, products, and trading card games.
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The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a strategic game in which players battle each other using cards featuring a specific Pokémon. These cards have become some of the most valuable and highly desired collectible items: they can be worth up to millions of dollars per card.
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“Much like they do for McDonald’s, our fans have deep nostalgia and love for the Pokémon brand. We’re thrilled to build on those great memories and create a new moment of fun and happiness with the new Pokémon Happy Meal,” said McDonald’s Senior Marketing Director Guillaume Huin.
McDonald’s makes a strategic business move to promote its app and keep customers engaged
Recently, McDonald’s has been encouraging customers to download their app by providing them with value deals through in-app offers and discounts available nationwide or tailored to their specific location.
In McDonald’s latest earnings call, CFO Ian Frederick Borden said that although a minority of customers use the McDonald’s app, it continues to grow in importance and will eventually take a bigger role since it’s a way to obtain business insights to provide value to its customers better.
“… We’ll obviously bring value to life at an individual level with a lot of data and insights, which allow us to really effectively target value that’s most relevant for that individual consumer,” said Borden.
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In its latest partnership, McDonald’s wanted to take it a step further by creating a free Pokémon Trading Card Game app in which, for every Happy Meal, customers will obtain a one-time redeemable code to unlock 24-pack hourglasses and 12 wonder hourglasses. These can be used to open two digital booster packs and select one randomized digital card as part of the Wonder Pick feature in the Pokémon Trading Card Game app.
This in-game bonus can only be obtained by ordering the Pokémon Happy Meal through the McDonald’s app, which is a great business strategy for the fast-food giant to promote its app, increase downloads, and collect customer data.
To add an immersive aspect to this one-of-a-kind partnership, customers can visit select sponsored McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S. during certain weeks, beginning December 2024 through March 2025, to experience in-person PokéStops, where customers can catch Pokémons and participate in Raid Battles at transformed McDonald’s Gyms.
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