Chick-fil-A is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a retro-inspired “newstalgia” marketing campaign — complete with themed merchandise and the chance to win free food for the year. Its biggest-ever marketing push comes as restaurants, including Chick-fil-A, try to reverse traffic slowdowns. The chain's sales growth shrank to 5.4% in 2024, its first year below double digits in over a decade, CNBC reports. While competitors wage value wars, Chick-fil-A is betting on nostalgia: The campaign includes $3.99 collectible cups and vintage-inspired packaging for its iconic chicken sandwich.
Chick-fil-A just opted out. Here’s what it means for CRE.
At a moment when QSR traffic is softening, and competitors are chasing diners with discounts, Chick-fil-A is leaning hard into brand instead — with its biggest marketing push ever tied to its 80th anniversary.
Retro packaging.
Collectible cups.
A Willy Wonka–style “Golden Fan Cup” that can win free Chick-fil-A for a year.
This isn’t nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It’s a strategy.
1️⃣ Competing on meaning, not price
Most QSR brands right now are saying, “Come back because we’re cheaper.”
Chick-fil-A is saying: “Come back because you belong here.”
That distinction matters.
Price promotions drive transactions.
Brand rituals drive loyalty.
In a demand-constrained environment, loyalty outperforms discounts.
2️⃣ “Newstalgia” is a hedge against traffic pressure
Chick-fil-A’s framing — newstalgia — is quietly brilliant.
They’re:
• Re-anchoring longtime customers emotionally
• Creating collectibility and ritual
• Giving new customers a cultural context without discounting
Instead of chasing marginal visits with coupons, they’re deepening attachment with existing customers — a much more durable response to traffic softness.
3️⃣ This is also a margin-protection play
While others compress margins to protect traffic, Chick-fil-A is:
• Selling collectibles
• Preserving pricing power
• Avoiding a reset in customer value expectations
That matters in a year when their systemwide sales growth slowed to ~5%, still strong, but a clear inflection from a decade of double-digit growth.
This is defensive offense, not panic.
4️⃣ The commercial real estate implication (often overlooked)
From a CRE perspective, this is the part worth watching closely.
Brands that:
• Protect margins
• Maintain traffic without price dilution
• Strengthen emotional loyalty
…tend to produce more stable unit-level economics, lower volatility, and leases that age well.
There’s a reason Chick-fil-A continues to be discussed in the same durability tier as McDonald’s and Starbucks, even without public earnings calls.
Big takeaway
In a moment when the industry is shouting “value, Chick-fil-A is whispering “remember why you love us.”
That’s not just branding.
That’s brand equity as a traffic strategy: in today’s environment, it may be the most defensible one.
Curious to see which QSR brands follow this path, and which get trapped racing to the bottom.