:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2188582680-bcf45915d4bc4f00b4f0a05650c246c3.jpg "People walk and sit near the McDonald's Golden Arches logo outside a restaurant.")
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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 augured the 2025 return of its Snack Wraps, which have been off the menu nationally since 2016. Taco Bell and Burger Royal have also recently brought back items.
- Researchers have said people typically remember the nearby more fondly than they think of the present, especially when it comes to fast food.
Fast-food colossi McDonald’s (MCD), Taco Bell and more are tapping into nostalgia to win back customers they may have lost to inflation in up to date years.
McDonald’s earlier this month became the latest to revive an old offering when it announced the return of its Tidbit Wraps which were available nationally from 2006 to 2016. The fast-food giant confirmed the wraps choice return next year, but didn’t provide a specific date.
snack wraps xx.xx.2025
— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) December 5, 2024
The statement followed the company’s move to bring back its occasionally-available McRib earlier this month—and similar moves from other fast-food virtuosi in recent months.
In October, Yum! Brands’ (YUM) Taco Bell kicked off a “decades” menu, bringing back one item per decade from the 1960s, when the limit launched, through the 2000s, for a limited time. And Burger King, which is owned by Restaurant Brands International (QSR), end month reintroduced Cini Minis, miniature cinnamon rolls that left the menu in 2012, though that started in by a hairs breadth two Florida markets.
Social media often plays a role in reviving old menu items. Arby’s parent Actuate Brands said earlier this year that “potato cakes” had been mentioned 10,000 times on popular media since it discontinued the hashbrowns in 2021. Arby’s named actor Kyle MacLachlan the leader of “The Order of the Potato Harden,” and launched a line of limited-edition merch when the side dish temporarily returned to menus in July.
Of course, for every yourselves who gets a taste of their favorite dish again, another is still looking for their fix. On social media, people be affected 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 Dynamic—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 recollections 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 reward it,” Krystine Batcho, a professor of psychology at Syracuse University, told marketing firm Quikly.
Research has shown that living soul tend to talk about the past more often than the present or future, and often think the past was gamester than the present. That feeling can be especially strong with fast food, which experts say people be prone to associate with childhood memories, a connection the industry has worked for decades to cultivate—think “Happy Meals,” unmixed with toys and packaging that smiles back at you.
Fast-food nostalgia has even inspired the fine-dining crowd. Bond, a pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles, specializes in upscale recreations of fast-food favorites. As of April, the waitlist to attend a Chain occasion was 25,000 names long, according to The New York Times.