Fast-food chains have two big moves they can use to attract media and customer attention. First, they can add a new item -- the more outrageous the better -- and that gets people talking. Use fried chicken as the bun or add more bacon than someone should eat in one meal to a sandwich and you get a lot of people talking.
Yum! Brands (YUM) Taco Bell loves this strategy. Be a little (or a lot) different and customers have to come check it out. That's why the Mexican chain has done everything from offering endless versions of its Nacho Fries to using fried chicken as a taco shell.
Burger King, a Restaurant Brands International (QSR) company, hasn't gone quite as outrageous, but it has pushed the limits a bit. The chain has endlessly experimented, however, mostly with new versions of its famed Whopper sandwich that range from slightly different (barbecue sauce and onions) to a little bizarre (Fried Egg & Banana or Fish Sticks & Applesauce).
The second way to get attention -- and McDonald's (MCD) has used the one really well -- is to bring back a well-loved menu item. Taco Bell did that recently with its beloved Mexican Pizza (with very mixed results) but McDonald's has made the big return a sort of menu art.
McDonalds/TheStreet
McDonald's Replaces Innovation With Nostalgia
Earlier this year McDonald's brought back its Szechuan Sauce that was made famous by the "Rick and Morty" cartoon. It was a media sensation that brought attention to the brand and, well, reminded people who hadn't visited in a while that McDonald's exists.
The chain uses a slightly different limited-time-offer strategy for two other fan favorite dishes, the McRib and McLobster. The McRib has become a sort of fast-food Elvis. It pops up without notice often enough that people track its availability on websites and social media groups, but rarely enough the some people doubt whether it actually exists.
McLobster hits menus in the northeast some summers -- likely in years when the price of lobster make it affordable.
The fast-food giant has a very long history and it's leaning into that in both actually bringing old favorites back and teasing its fans. That has been most evident in a Twitter post that has been pinned to the top of the chain's page since April 21. It's a grand tease/research project that simply says "bring back ____"
That's McDonald's polling its fans and stoking the fires of nostalgia. The post has tens of thousands of responses with Snack Wraps and the Steak Bagel getting an awful lot of votes.
Now, the fast-food leader has new social media post that suggests it's considering another big menu return.
Is a Beloved McDonald's Hot Sauce Making a Menu Return?
McDonald's has taken to Twitter again to post "rank these 4 icons" (the chain seems to think that there's no need for capital letters on Twitter). Under that simple request are pictures of four no-longer-offered hot sauces: Sweet Chili, Mighty Hot Sauce, Cajun, and Sriracha Mac Sauce.
The post has hundreds of responses and retweets. It's a very clever play for the chain to gauge whether bringing one (or all) of these sauces back would create a customer fervor big enough to make it worth doing.
Bringing back a familiar sauce might be the easiest way to have a limited-time-offer. Each restaurant literally only has to put the sauce in the bag. There's no production requirements like a new sandwich would require and adding a new (old) sauce checks off the nostalgia box with very little effort required.
None of these sauces are Mexican Pizza, but they bring back memories for many people and a menu return should bring lapsed customers back to McDonald's while delighting the chain's regulars.
