Taco Bell Foundation's 2026 Grants Reach 700 Nonprofits
Applications require an invitation from the foundation.
Marketing & GrowthSep 15, 20264 views
Applications require an invitation from the foundation.
An upcoming app points offer follows restaurant tennis collectibles, an announced HEAD collection and a public Grand Central pop-up.
A creator meal, capped espresso codes and a four-hour latte offer give customers three ways to participate in Dunkin’s fall campaign.
Boo! Books, scheduled Frosty Frights toys and a planned app-exclusive toy use different participation rules within Wendy’s seasonal program.
Dunkin’s Walmart-exclusive Febreze range follows earlier Native and Flipz launches, with scent-specific formats and separate retail channels.
Wendy’s nugget promotion requires another purchase and a daily-refreshing app offer. Its earlier Frosty deal allowed several ordering channels.
The 2026 toy collection offers three donation levels and an online-only item, alongside a scheduled one-day Quincy dog drive-thru.
Denny’s national catering rollout starts on ezCater with buffet bundles and individual boxes; ordering through its own website is still planned.
The summer campaign creates a window to measure customer trial, order contribution and repeat business. Its headline budget is not a merchant payout.
OpenTable's July launch rewards frequent diners with table access. Restaurants need to measure whether those bookings add business or reallocate existing demand.
The breakfast promotion takes entries June 18–July 2 and allows redemption through October 31, with account, photo and channel restrictions.
Freddy’s adds beef, chicken and veggie bowls to its permanent menu, building on earlier lettuce-wrap and customizable sandwich options.
One qualifying adult entrée earns one free kids meal. Sunday, dine-in and counter-order requirements define the family occasion and its economics.
Panda schedules Cantonese BBQ Brisket for June 2 through August 10, while supplies last. Point and flat cuts and a char siu-style glaze define the summer dish.
The returning summer loyalty challenge adds a restaurant-level contest. Its economics depend on who changes their routine, including customers who never finish.
A $12 box, a family bundle and a $259 catering package anchor Campero’s soccer promotion, with capped meal rewards for sweepstakes winners.
Crown Nuggets are scheduled for June 2, followed a week later by Crayola King Jr. Meals. The campaign combines a returning product, a stated meal price and coloring activities.
Farmer Boys said its $9.99 salad-and-drink deal was open to all guests. Removing the membership condition changes the offer’s role and what purchases can reveal.
Swipe Savvy says GiftAMeal will stay available independently as it plans integration. A restaurant fee funds donations triggered by guest photos.
April’s open houses extend Gregorys’ February franchise launch, bringing prospects into operating cafés backed by Craveworthy’s management and support organization.
A two-sandwich offer can drive app orders and account sign-ups. Its value depends on displaced purchases, order contribution and later visits.
McDonald's Shamrock Shake and Big Arch Burger generated short-lived, single-digit traffic bumps in early 2026. Placer.ai and AlixPartners data reveal a broader pattern: the industry's go-to traffic weapon is losing its edge as consumers grow more selective.
Little Caesars debuted $7.99 Four-N-One Stix nationwide, a 16-piece shareable breadstick product in four flavors. The launch signals a broader pizza QSR arms race for group snacking occasions against Domino's and Papa Johns.
Chipotle's one-hour tattoo BOGO on March 13 drove the highest single-day sales in the chain's history across 4,000+ locations. Here is the flash-window marketing formula that generated 12 million impressions.
Domino's and Pizza Hut are running nearly identical sub-$10 any-pizza deals at the same time. With Pizza Hut closing 250 locations and Papa John's shuttering 300, the pizza value war is no longer a marketing tactic. It is a restructuring event.
Starbucks cut earning rates for base-tier members by at least 25% on March 10, 2026, and the backlash was immediate. With 34 million U.S. members watching, every QSR chain running a loyalty program just got a live case study in what not to do.
Burger King's brand president gave out his personal work phone, fielded 30,000 customer messages, and aired a 90-second Oscars spot to nearly 20 million viewers. The result: restaurant visits up 7.4% year-over-year. Here's how the campaign worked and what other operators can learn from it.
For the first time in its history, Applebee's is spending more on digital and social marketing than television. TikTok reach is up 760%. The casual dining chain is rewriting the restaurant marketing playbook.
Yum Brands published its first Food Trends Report, pulling data from Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Habit Burger Grill across 59,000 locations. The report spotlights craveable drinks and sauce customization as the next traffic drivers, offering operators a data-backed lens on where consumer demand is heading.
Chick-fil-A launched seven new menu items on March 9, 2026, capping a period in which the chain quietly rolled out six additional sandwiches earlier in the year. The headline move is a Jalapeño Ranch Club sandwich lineup that signals something more than a seasonal refresh.
McDonald's shuttered its CosMc's spinoff in May 2025 after 18 months, but the beverages that concept tested are now heading to 500-plus McDonald's locations and a planned national McCafe rollout. The story of how a failed brand became a beverage growth engine.
The 2026 FABI Award winners signal a decisive turn in foodservice product innovation: protein is king, global flavors are moving mainstream, and plant-based has lost its grip on the industry's attention.
Taco Bell unveiled more than 20 new menu items at its Live Más LIVE event in March 2026, a deliberate acceleration of its LTO engine. Behind the spectacle is a disciplined growth strategy targeting $3 million AUV per location and a $5 billion beverage business by 2030.
The first wave of plant-based QSR items over-promised and under-delivered. A quieter, more pragmatic second wave is emerging, built on hybrid proteins, vegetable-forward formats, and the economics operators actually need.
Gen Z now visits restaurants more often than any other generation, and their spending power is projected to reach $12 trillion by 2030. Here's what the data means for QSR operators.
Digital tipping prompts have become a flashpoint for consumer frustration, with 65% of customers reporting weariness from constant tip requests. Here's what QSR operators need to know about tipflation and what to do about it.
From Pizza Hut's Space Jam box to Shake Shack's free sandwich code, QSR brands deployed precision promotional campaigns during the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Here's what operators can learn from the most competitive marketing window of the year.
Taco Bell launched Dirty Sips as a permanent customizable beverage platform in March 2026, targeting $5 billion in drink sales by 2030. For operators and investors, the math behind the move is more compelling than the menu.
With traffic flat to negative across most QSR segments, major chains have pivoted to premium limited-time offerings to drive average check and generate headlines. McDonald's Big Arch, Burger King's Steakhouse Whopper, and a string of elevated seasonal items signal a new strategic playbook for a consumer base that won't give up restaurant visits but increasingly expects more.
From Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday, the QSR industry fights an annual battle for fish sandwich supremacy. In 2026, rising pollock prices, aggressive promotions, and shrinking margins are reshaping how chains approach the season.
Chick-fil-A is marking its 80th anniversary with a yearlong campaign the company calls the biggest promotional push in its history. Behind the retro cups and Golden Fan Cups lies a calculated strategy to defend its position as McDonald's most dangerous competitor while addressing its first growth deceleration in over a decade.
McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski posted a promotional video for the new Big Arch that promptly went viral for all the wrong reasons. What happened next became a masterclass in competitive marketing opportunism, and somehow the burger still beat sales expectations.
Beyond apps and points. Research-backed insights on convenience, consistency, value perception, and why most loyalty programs miss the mark.
Menu hacks going viral, employee content, the algorithm's impact on sales. Real case studies of what drives revenue and what flops on TikTok in QSR.
The snarky social media strategy that turned Wendy's into a Twitter powerhouse. Real engagement numbers, failed copycats, and the disciplined execution behind the roasts.
What's working on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter for fast food brands in 2026. Viral campaigns, UGC strategies, influencer partnerships, and the tactics driving real sales.
Taco Bell loyalty members visit 76% more often. Starbucks Rewards hit 68% positive sentiment. McDonald's app wins on simplicity. Chick-fil-A uses tiers for premium customers. Wendy's confuses everyone. Chipotle frustrates with slow accumulation. Here's what separates programs that drive repeat business from those that sit unused on phones.
From competitive conquesting to predictive targeting, proximity-based promotions are becoming a core QSR marketing strategy
QSR brands are deploying geofencing and location-based marketing at scale in 2026, combining first-party loyalty data with precise location signals to drive foot traffic, improve conversion rates, and compete for every transaction in real time.
McDonald's loyalty participation jumped 18% in Q3 2025, driving 12% digital sales growth. Chick-fil-A One members show significantly higher retention rates. Starbucks Rewards generates billions in prepaid float. The economics of points vs cash-back, what drives repeat visits, and why the best programs focus on retention over acquisition.