What’s old is new.
Just like in Hollywood, which constantly remakes or reboots movies because studio executives have given up on coming up with original ideas, we see McDonald’s has brought back the Hamburglar and KFC has brought back Colonel Sanders. According to a New York Times article, fast-food restaurants are “betting on nostalgia” with their “back-to-the-future marketing moves.”
With that in mind, I made a list of other retired restaurant mascots and guessed their probability of a return:
The Noid from Domino’s. This red, bunny-suit clad character helped the chain promote its “30 minutes or less” campaign. The Noid was discontinued in 1989 but made a brief appearance in 2011. Even though Domino’s has made wholesale changes (e.g. dropping “pizza” from its name, adding sandwiches, using new recipes, etc.), it wouldn’t surprise me if it brought the Noid back (again). Return chances: 8 out of 10.- The Burger King from Burger King. Although there are several variations of this mascot, I’m referring to that creepy-masked king that was thankfully put to rest about four years ago. Burger King has been in constant flux with its marketing direction over the years. I could see it bringing back some form of a king, but not that one that seemed like it would murder you. Return chances: 2 of 10.
- Dave from Wendy’s. Founder Dave Thomas, who died in 2002, was the previous spokesperson, but now Wendy’s seems to have settled on a red-headed actress. Would Wendy’s pull a KFC and have someone play the part of the dead Dave? No, but I could see it replaying the old commercials (again). Return chances: 6 of 10.
- The chihuahua (Gidget) from Taco Bell. ¡Yo quiero Taco Bell! I didn’t mind this campaign, which ended in 2000. The difficulty in resurrecting the chihuahua is that the campaign was short-lived, and thus an entire generation (the all-important millennials) would likely not realize the nostalgia. Return chances: 3 of 10.
- Pizza Head from Pizza Hut. Congrats if you remember this one. This talking slice of pizza existed in the 1990s and even had its own show called “The Pizza Head Show.” Watch the commercial below to see how weird this mascot was. For me, it’s a toss-up if Pizza Hut thinks this would be popular again. Return chances: 5 of 10.
Three-and-a-half feet.
Taco Bell has further expanded its breakfast menu with biscuits shaped like taco shells, called biscuit tacos. Inside, you can get eggs and cheese, sausage/bacon and eggs or fried chicken (the latter two cost $2.49 each).
This past week, Qdoba added bacon jalapeno queso to its queso lineup, and I was invited to give it a try. It’s a winning formula: hard wood smoked bacon and jalapenos mixed with creamy queso. I ate a spoonful (yes, a spoonful) and was impressed–lots of bacon and a good kick.
Keeping on the topic of bacon, Pizza Hut offered for a limited time the cheesy bacon stuffed crust pizza ($11.99 for one topping, but it’s now gone). I’ve never been a fan of the stuffed crust, as usually by the time you get the pizza (carryout or delivery), the cheese has solidified. Adding bacon was thoughtful, but it didn’t wow me, though I did appreciate the generous portions of bacon.
