The new brand is inspired by retro McDonaldland marketing mascot CosMc, a zippy, luminous orange alien who first appeared in a 1986 ad before being phased out in the early ’90s.
On the menu will be items including specialty lemonades and teas, customizable blended beverages and cold coffees, slushies, flavor syrups, and energy or Vitamin C shots. McDonald’s staples such as McMuffins and McFlurrys will also feature.
Kempczinski said CosMc’s aimed to fill a mid-afternoon slump in sales, and offers drinks too complex for its existing restaurants. “This is a $100 billion category … and it’s a space that we believe we have the right to win,” he said.
According to Lindsay Gorton-Lee, brand strategy consultant at Kantar, this is a savvy move from McDonald’s—which took fifth place in Kantar’s annual BrandZ ranking of the most valuable global brands in 2023.
“No doubt [the business] has been asking big questions about how they can adapt to changing needs and culture to be relevant to more moments in people’s lives,” she said, adding that the key to success will be for the brand to build on its “unpretentious, easygoing, welcoming McDonald’s-ness.”
“The way they have evolved their business to date is evidence of maintaining refreshed consistency,” she added.
Nuggets of nostalgia
Gen Z and millennial consumers are driving the quick-service dining trend McDonald’s is looking to take a bite of.
According to data firm NPD Group, in the 12 months ending July 2022, Gen Z made 5 billion restaurant visits, with 4.3 billion to quick-service chains. Just 736 million were to full-service diners.
To get this demographic on its side, McDonald’s has already been investing in retro ad campaigns rooted in familiarity, speaking directly to a generation that’s obsessed with ’80s music, ’90s fashion and Y2K culture.
Earlier in the year, McDonald’s deployed the nostalgia card with the Grimace Birthday Meal, an ode to its blobby purple mascot’s 52nd birthday. The accompanying Grimace shake spawned thousands of TikTok videos as Gen Z had fun with the vibrant drink.
