McMullets and McValue

What started out as a social media gag based on the return of a 70’s and 80’s hair fashion, became a full-blown pop-up promotion when the marketing team at McDonald’s realised they were onto a good thing. Hundreds of mulleted fans turned up on Saturday 18 April to claim a free 'mulleted' Cheeseburger from Penrose Macca's. The restaurant was completely transformed into a mullet-themed restaurant with customised McDonald's signage and on-site barbers to help customers get into the full spirit of the occasion with an instant mullet cut.

McDonald's New Zealand Director of Marketing, Luke Rive, said the campaign was about responding to fans and testing ideas in real time.

"When we saw the reactions to videos on social, we thought, why not? It's a bit of fun and it's also a way to bring fresh ideas to life and see how people respond in the real world."

As word spread, fans around the country and in other parts of the world were encouraged to join in by ordering a Cheeseburger with an extra slice of cheese and just letting it all hang out the back.

Looking back in time

But the international fast-food giant has been upsetting customers in the USA for other reasons related to nostalgia – with its most recent tiered pricing strategy. Positioning a range of $3, $4 and $5 ‘McValue’ meal items triggered a bunch of complaints about affordability from customers for whom the long-running “Dollar Menu” still seemed a fresh memory. 

In December last year The Takeout reported data suggesting that McDonald's in the US was raising its prices in a way that outpaced the 3.3% average rate of inflation, with some items more than doubling in price since 2019. A more recent report from the same team examined the value in the new McValue range and found it lacking.

In New Zealand, items that used to be under a dollar in the 70s and 80s are now priced from $6 or $7 upwards. A hugely popular 2016 promotion to celebrate McDonald’s 40th anniversary in New Zealand had multiple items returning to their original prices for a day. 

The reality is, however, that our 4.5% average annual rate of inflation across what is now 50 years, means that a single New Zealand dollar in 1976 would have the relative purchasing power of approximately $9 in 2026. Price changes in the fast-food and quick service restaurant (QSR) sectors, as elsewhere, have reflected that increase.

Shifting strategy to meet reality

More importantly, strategies like McValue reflect a broader industry reality in the US and around the globe: customers are still eating fast food, but they are visiting less frequently and becoming more price sensitive. Operators will need to focus on rebuilding traffic through clearer and more consistent value positioning, defending market share with a more structured approach to affordability and leveraging new digital systems and app usage to increase loyalty engagement and repeat visits.

For franchise systems, this shift is significant. A tiered value structure provides greater predictability in pricing strategy and helps balance customer demand with franchisee margin management. Rather than competing on deep discounting, operators can rely on a defined pricing ladder that encourages upselling and higher-volume transactions.

For franchising and hospitality operators more broadly, this direction signals a continued reset in the QSR sector: less emphasis on premium pricing growth, and more focus on structured affordability, frequency of visit, and digital-led customer retention. McDonald’s will be hoping that their light-hearted McMullet promotion last month will have brought a whole new generation of customers into the fold, and their pricing strategies will need to hold those customers loyal.