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    McDonaldland and Taco Bell's Y2K menu turned nostalgia into product lines

    CaseBrand Strategy

    McDonaldland and Taco Bell's Y2K menu turned nostalgia into product lines

    Nostalgia is a comfort strategy with box-office proof: two of the highest-grossing movies to date, Barbie and Super Mario Bros, are retro IP. McDonald's revived McDonaldland with collectible merchandise and Taco Bell ran a limited-edition Decades Y2K menu - familiarity engineered as a product, not just an ad theme.

    Source

    Euromonitor International, Top Global Consumer Trends 2026 (2025)

    Euromonitor International (Ali Angus, Jana Rude et al.)

    pp. 10-13, Euromonitor Global Consumer Trends 2026, Comfort Zone applications

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