Remember the 90s? Gen Z doesn’t, but that didn’t stop Macca’s iconic Kiwiburger becoming a huge retro hit during summer 2023.
They say you can never go back. McDonald’s disagrees.
Summer is an important season at Macca’s and often calls for limited-time offers.
But all-new menu items are resource-intensive to develop and add complexity to restaurant operations. Amid the staffing and inflation pressures of 2023, McDonald’s went back to the drawing board.
“We decided to prioritise simplicity and service levels by reintroducing the iconic Kiwiburger,” says McDonald’s NZ marketing team.
There was just one drawback: the Kiwiburger lacked novelty factor. It wasn’t an entirely new item and it had been brought back relatively recently – in 2020. There were also two distinct audiences to engage: those who remembered “the good old days”, when Kiwiburger was a menu staple, and Gen Z – who weren’t even born at the height of its 1990s fame.
Hmm, 1990s fame… In 2023, a wave of nostalgia was sweeping the world. Young people were seeking out Y2K fashion trends, while vinyl, cassettes and photographic film were in vogue once again.
To the amusement of those who lived through it, younger generations were fuelling a revival of the pre-internet age.
That gave Macca’s an idea: recreate an era for Gen Z that’s also a feel-good throwback for their parents and grandparents.
Suddenly being ‘old’ was no longer a weakness – it was Kiwiburger’s biggest strength.
So McDonald’s took Kiwis back to 1991, bringing the classic logo out of retirement, developing a 90s-inspired design and playfully reinterpreting the ‘ba da ba ba ba’ sting.
The execution was old school: the TV ad had a VHS-style aspect ratio while digital OOH showed a “loading…” screen (which moved at snail’s pace, dial-up style) ahead of the launch. Even floppy disks played a part.
But the real throwback was when Maccas encouraged customers to resurrect old fax machines and send a “Kiwi” message – a QR code voucher would be faxed back. Incredibly, 3571 individual faxes were received.
The retro campaign sparked conversations between generations, as well as in online forums, and ultimately drove great results against consumer financial pressure and independent eating out market contraction.
Kiwiburger became one of the best-performing limited-time offer campaigns in years and drove high brand awareness alongside commercial success: a 1.5% sales increase for the summer window compared to the previous year.
Judges’ comments
“A very well-executed campaign – it was amazing to see how many fax machines were still running in New Zealand. The campaign had great results for a familiar product. Well done, McDonald’s.”
This was first published in the 2024 September-October NZ Marketing Magazine issue. Subscribe here.
