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From Minecraft to BTS — how the fast food giant is turning collectible toys into a tool for psychological resilience and a business with 82% profit growth
Have you noticed that McDonald’s has been acting strangely lately?
April 2025 — Minecraft toys, queues from day one. October — BTS Korean boy band figurines in Happy Meals. November — characters from the TV series Friends, and again, a frenzy on social media. At the same time, in Belgium, Big Mac-shaped Christmas tree decorations are handed out every Thursday. In the US, after the launch of the ‘adult’ Happy Meal, traffic jumped by 29%.
What is going on? Why has a global fast food chain suddenly turned into a collectible toy store? And most importantly, why is it working so well in Ukraine during the war?
The UA Spectr editorial team decided to find out. We analysed financial reports, talked to marketing experts, studied academic research on the psychology of nostalgia, and figured out how one company learned to simultaneously sell memories to millennials, aesthetics to Gen Z, and hope to Ukrainians — all through one plastic figurine.
Spoiler alert: it’s not just marketing. It’s a brilliant multi-level strategy that exploits scientific data on how the human brain works in times of crisis.
What we saw on the streets
December 2025. There is another air raid alert in Kyiv, but McDonald’s is still open for business. Visitors are actively ordering the Friends Menu — a special menu with figurines of characters from the TV series ‘Friends.’ According to data from Dnipro, on the first day of sales on 26 November, many people came specifically for this menu, although ‘there is no great excitement, the queues are normal.’ The promotion will last until 16 December or until the collection is sold out. In April, the hype was greater — Minecraft Movie toys sold out in less than two weeks.
At the same time, McDonald’s in Belgium launched a similar but different promotion: every Thursday, when purchasing a Large McMenu, customers receive a Christmas tree decoration in the shape of a Big Mac, French fries or McFlurry. In the US, after the launch of the ‘adult’ Happy Meal, traffic to restaurants jumped 29%.
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But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Underneath it lies a global trend worth billions of dollars, which McDonald’s is exploiting more skilfully than anyone else. And in the context of the war in Ukraine, this strategy takes on additional psychological and symbolic significance.
From Happy Meals to ‘adult toys’: the evolution of a strategy
It all started with one tweet. In November 2020, McDonald’s wrote: ‘One day you ordered a Happy Meal for the last time and didn’t even know it.’ This melancholic message went viral and, more importantly, gave the company an insight — adults miss their childhood just as much as children love toys.
The result was not long in coming. In 2022, McDonald’s launched the Adult Happy Meal in collaboration with the iconic streetwear brand Cactus Plant Flea Market. Half of the figurines sold out in the first four days, and traffic jumped 29% in the first week, according to Placer.ai.
‘We knew we had stumbled upon something important, but this was incredible,’ admitted Jennifer Healan, vice president of marketing for McDonald’s USA.
The numbers don’t lie: the economics of nostalgia
The financial results are impressive:
USA, 2022: Cactus Plant Flea Market Adult Happy Meal promotion. Half of the figures were sold out in the first four days, and traffic jumped 29% in the first week, according to Placer.ai.
US, 2025: The Minecraft promotion in April increased traffic by 12.2% above average. The toys sold out in less than two weeks.
Ukraine, 2024: McDonald’s revenue grew by 44% to UAH 7.8 billion, and profit jumped by 82% to UAH 874.8 million compared to the first half of 2023 (according to YouControl).
No wonder, according to Skyscraper, two McDonald’s restaurants in Zakarpattia paid 16 million hryvnia in taxes in 2025, which is equivalent to the taxes paid by the entire forestry industry in the region.
According to marketing analysts, the ‘kidults’ market (adults who buy children’s products) is now worth billions of dollars. According to Build-A-Bear CEO Sharon Price John, 40% of the chain’s customers are adults.
The science of nostalgia: why it works
‘Nostalgia is an emotional journey through time,’ explains Ana Babich Rosario, professor of marketing at the University of Denver. “We crave these nostalgic moments because they seem more stable. Our minds tend to remember the past as more rosy than it actually was.”
Psychological research shows that nostalgia is associated with positive emotions and a sense of social connection. In times of uncertainty — whether it’s a pandemic or a war — people instinctively seek emotional support in the past.
McDonald’s exploits this mechanism with surgical precision:
Multi-layered nostalgia: Millennials get personal memories of Happy Meals from their childhood. Gen Z gets visual nostalgia for the aesthetics of the 90s, which they did not experience personally.
Scarcity and FOMO: Limited collections create fear of missing out (FOMO). According to Chicago Business, complete Adult Happy Meal sets were selling on eBay for over $100, adding to the hype.
Social currency: Users are actively sharing photos of collectible toys on social media. According to reports, some visitors criticise the Friends figurines for not looking enough like the real characters, but this does not diminish the overall interest.
The generation paradox: when nostalgia doesn’t need memories
Herein lies the most interesting part: McDonald’s is simultaneously selling different types of nostalgia to different generations through one toy. And this is no accident — it is a carefully calibrated strategy backed by scientific data.
The concept of ‘Anemoia’: nostalgia for a non-existent past
Research shows an amazing phenomenon. According to the academic journal Advances in Consumer Research, unlike older generations who lived through the eras they miss, Gen Z’s relationship with nostalgia is indirect. Their nostalgic experiences are shaped by secondary contact — YouTube, Netflix reboots, curated Instagram aesthetics, and TikTok trends.
This phenomenon even has its own name: ‘anemoia’ — nostalgia for times you never personally experienced. This phenomenon is now becoming widespread: the Frutiger Aero aesthetic (glossy textures and natural-technical themes from the mid-2000s) is gaining millions of views on TikTok among teenagers born after 2005.
Why is Gen Z nostalgic?
Spotify data shows that 80% of American Gen Zers like it when brands bring back old aesthetic styles, and 74% love retro products. But why is a generation that grew up with smartphones drawn to VHS aesthetics?
A GWI study found that 70% of Gen Z said they like listening to and watching media from previous decades because it reminds them of ‘simpler’ times. And 14% of American Gen Z prefer to think about the past rather than their future.
‘Gen Z grew up on VHS tapes, moved on to DVDs, welcomed Blu Ray as the dawn of a new era… and probably subscribed to their first streaming service before they even reached the end of their teenage years,’ writes the researcher in Pipe Dream. ‘Their worlds simultaneously became larger and were compressed into a touchscreen.’ This incredibly rapid pace of change generates a constant sense of anxiety, which can be partially alleviated by returning to ‘simpler’ times.
According to data from the Youth Trends Report, aesthetics (43%) are the main reason why Gen Z buys from nostalgic brands.
A dual (and in Ukraine, triple) strategy
McDonald’s is playing on several fronts at once, and it’s genius:
For Millennials (28-43 years old):
- Genuine personal nostalgia: ‘I remember my first Happy Meal’
- ‘Friends’ is their TV series, which they watched in real time (1994-2004)
- Emotional connection through shared memories
For Gen Z (12-27 years old):
- Aesthetic nostalgia — they don’t remember the 90s, but they love them visually
- They are the main creators of viral content — it is Gen Z who post photos of figurines on TikTok and Threads
- FOMO (fear of missing out) — more powerful for them than real nostalgia
- Example: Kate Bush’s song ‘Running Up That Hill’ (1985) became a Gen Z hit after ‘Stranger Things’ on Netflix, even though they didn’t live in the 80s
In Ukraine — the third dimension:
- For all age groups, there is nostalgia not just for the past, but for normality
- Figurines = a symbol that life goes on even during war
- Psychological function: the opportunity to spend an hour feeling like you’re in a world where the biggest problem is which Friends figurine you’ll get
TikTok generation: not the target audience, but a critical element
Here’s the paradox: Gen Z may not be the main target audience in terms of purchasing power, but they are a critical part of viral spread.
When a 16-year-old Gen Z posts a photo of their figurine collection on TikTok with the hashtag #FriendsMcDonalds, their friends and their parents (Millennials) see it, and the cycle repeats. According to data from October 2025, TikTok’s #nostalgia hashtag included 16.9 million posts with nearly 100 billion views.
Gen Z isn’t just ‘easier to sell to’ — they are free brand ambassadors who create content that convinces their parents to come to McDonald’s.
Conclusion: McDonald’s isn’t just selling toys. They are selling:
- Millennials — memories
- Gen Z — aesthetics (and a platform for content)
- Ukrainians — hope and normality
And all three generations are standing in line for different versions of the same emotion.
Global map of nostalgia: from Belgium to Ukraine
Belgium: Christmas tree decorations every Thursday
From 25 November to 19 December 2025, McDonald’s in Belgium launched a unique promotion: every Thursday, when purchasing a Large McMenu, customers receive a collectible Christmas tree decoration. There are only three models — Big Mac, a bag of fries, and McFlurry.
The strategy is simple but effective: weekly rotation encourages repeat visits, and limited availability creates hype.
Ukraine: from Minecraft to Friends
In 2025, McDonald’s Ukraine launched three large-scale promotions:
April: Minecraft Movie — a promotional campaign ahead of the film’s release in July, which became the company’s largest global marketing event. According to data from several Ukrainian cities, visitors were already queuing up on the first day.
October: TinyTAN (BTS) figurines for K-pop fans.
November: Collection from the TV series ‘Friends’ to mark the show’s 30th anniversary. The campaign started on 26 November and will run until 16 December or until the collection is sold out.
An important detail: despite the war, the number of visitors is only 15-20% lower than in 2021. According to data from Dnipro, during the Friends Menu promotion, ‘visitors often ask if there are any collectible characters left,’ and cashiers confirm that many guests come specifically for the themed menu. Restaurants close for 5-6 hours every day during air raid alerts, but this does not deter visitors.
USA: the return of McDonaldland
In August 2025, McDonald’s USA revived McDonaldland for the first time in 20 years — a fantasy world featuring characters such as Grimace, Hamburglar and Ronald McDonald. The promotion included a special Mt. McDonaldland Shake (blue with pink foam), collectible jars and merchandise in collaboration with PacSun and Away.
It’s no longer just food — it’s an immersive experience, multi-channel storytelling, where the burger becomes the entry point into a broader cultural ecosystem.
When a Big Mac is more than just a burger
McDonald’s return to Ukraine after the start of full-scale war was not only a commercial event, but also a symbolic one.
Timeline:
24 February 2022: All 109 restaurants are closed ‘for security reasons’. The company continues to pay salaries to 10,000+ employees.
May 2022: McDonald’s exits the Russian market permanently, losing 850 restaurants and $1.2-1.4 billion.
20 September 2022: The first three restaurants in Kyiv open for delivery only.
2023-2025: Active expansion, opening of new locations, launch of powerful toy campaigns.
‘McDonald’s is a commercial barometer,’ writes the analytical platform Issue Insight. ‘The opening of McDonald’s in the country during the war shows that the environment is becoming safer. The Big Mac symbolises a certain victory, albeit a high-calorie one.’
For Ukrainians, toy promotions during the war are not just marketing. They are:
Psychological therapy: An opportunity to forget about reality for an hour, collect a collection, and feel joy from the little things.
A signal of stability: If McDonald’s is launching months-long campaigns, the company believes in the country’s future.
Normalisation: Children collect toys, adults drink coffee — life goes on, despite everything.
‘These toys, charms, and Happy Meals have a clear mission: to make consumers smile and bring them joy,’ writes marketing analyst Julia Foley. In a war context, this mission takes on therapeutic significance.
The dark side of nostalgia: employee burnout
Not everything is so rosy. When the Adult Happy Meal was launched in October 2022, McDonald’s employees in the US complained en masse on Reddit: ‘Please stop ordering Adult Happy Meals!’
The problem: viral demand creates logistical chaos. Toys run out within hours, disappointed customers berate cashiers, and employees cannot cope with the flood of orders amid staff shortages.
‘Customers get angry when they can’t get the toy they want,’ says Professor Christine Butcho of Le Moyne College. ‘When you’re angry, nostalgia disappears.’ And with it, brand loyalty disappears.
McDonald’s is trying to strike a balance: on the one hand, scarcity fuels excitement. On the other hand, too much scarcity creates negativity.
What this means for business
McDonald’s success demonstrates several important principles that work even (or especially) during a crisis:
For marketers:
- Nostalgia is a powerful tool, but it must be used in moderation. Constant repetition diminishes its effect.
- Scarcity works, but excessive scarcity destroys trust.
- Emotional connection is more important than the product. People don’t buy toys, they buy feelings.
For businesses in Ukraine:
- The symbolic value of your presence may exceed the commercial value. McDonald’s doesn’t just sell burgers — it sells hope.
- Investing in ‘joy’ during a crisis pays off. McDonald’s 82% profit growth in Ukraine confirms this.
- Employees are your weakest link. Take care of them, or even the best campaign will fail.
Epilogue
When you look at a Big Mac-shaped Christmas tree decoration, you realise that it’s no longer about food. It’s about how global corporations have learned to monetise the most intimate things — our memories, our longing for simpler times, our need for stability amid chaos.
McDonald’s has turned the Happy Meal into a time machine. And as long as the world remains unpredictable — whether due to pandemics or wars — this machine will run at full capacity.
The only question is: how many childhood memories are we willing to trade for a Rachel figurine from Friends?
Judging by the fact that many Ukrainians specifically come to McDonald’s for the Friends Menu even during the war, quite a few.
The article is based on an analysis of academic research in consumer psychology and marketing, company financial reports, field observations by Ukrainian journalists, data from social platforms, and interviews with marketing experts. All statistics and quotes have been verified and have direct sources.
The material also reflects an analytical view of McDonald’s marketing strategy and is not promotional material.
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