Current:Home > NewsAfter McDonald's Grimace success, are new restaurants next? What we know about 'CosMc' -Aspire Financial Strategies
After McDonald's Grimace success, are new restaurants next? What we know about 'CosMc'
View
Date:2025-04-16 23:21:17
McDonald's is looking towards its past for a future restaurant model.
The fast-food giant is working on a new restaurant concept called "CosMc," McDonald's CEO and president Christopher Kempczinski revealed during the company's second quarter earnings call July 27.
McDonald's New Business Ventures team "is in the process of developing a new concept we will call 'CosMc's' which we will be tested in a small handful of sites in a limited geography beginning early next year," he said during the call.
There is a "CosMc" in McDonald's past. An alien character named CosMc appeared in several McDonald's TV commercials and print advertisements from 1986-1992, according to the McDonald's Wiki, a fan-created site about the restaurant's history. The googly-eyed character can fly courtesy of a Robby the Robot-style space suit.
More information about "development plans and new format innovations" would be announced at the company's Investor Day at the end of the year, he said. McDonald's did not offer any additional information about the concept, expected to come to market in early 2024.
Taco Tuesday:Trademark tiff over 'Taco Tuesday' ends. Taco Bell is giving away free tacos to celebrate.
What do we know about McDonald's character CosMc?
Only those with a good memory will remember much about CosMc, as the character hasn't been heard from in more than 30 years. A 1987 commercial "The Story of CosMc," archived on YouTube, shows Ronald McDonald and Grimace coming across a strange object that's landed in McDonaldland.
Grimace ponders whether the object is a flower pot, but then hands and a head pop out of the silver suit and the being announces its name is CosMc (pronounced Cosmic) and says, "I popped in from outer space on a trade mission." CosMc proceeds to make several trades, usually without agreement from the other characters, including swapping some flowers for the clown's picnic basket of McDonald's cheeseburgers, fries and shakes. Ronald uses a giant magnet to retrieve CosMc, who agrees to having a picnic with the others including the Professor, another forgotten character.
McDonald's could lean into CosMc's outer space, high-tech lineage as a theme for the new restaurants it wants to test. "CosMc’s is a small format concept with all the DNA of McDonald’s but its own unique personality," Kempczinski said.
The restaurant chain's reliance on its own pop culture past has delivered a recent winning streak.
After the success of adult Happy Meals last year, McDonald's reintroduced the Hamburglar in April as it announced a plan to improve its burgers. Then, in June, McDonald's brought back the Grimace character with a special birthday meal and a purple shake.
McDonald's saw an increase in global sales growth of 11.7% in the April-June quarter, compared to the same period last year. U.S. sales grew 10.3%. During the quarter, the theme was "Grimace," Kempczinski said. "Grimace has been everywhere in the past few months, all over the news, and more than 3 billion views on TikTok."
Resurrecting CosMc, Forbes reported, "is highly likely to embrace some future-facing technology which would tie in well with the character theming, it's also a nod to nostalgia – something that has worked well for the McDonald's franchise brand in recent times."
Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider &mikegsnider.What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day
veryGood! (764)
Related
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- Election 2024 Latest: Harris and Trump campaigns tussle over muting microphones at upcoming debate
- 'First one to help anybody': Missouri man drowns after rescuing 2 people in lake
- ‘It’s Just No Place for an Oil Pipeline’: A Wisconsin Tribe Continues Its Fight to Remove a 71-Year-Old Line From a Pristine Place
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- Mississippi ex-deputy seeks shorter sentence in racist torture of 2 Black men
- Defendant in Titan submersible wrongful death lawsuit files to move case to federal court
- Eminem's Daughter Hailie Jade Says She Was Brought to Tears By 2 of His Songs
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Taylor Swift Praises Charli XCX Amid Feud Rumors
Ranking
- South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
- Louisville officer involved in Scottie Scheffler’s arrest charged with stealing from suspect
- Olympic star Mondo Duplantis breaks pole vault world record again, has priceless reaction
- Deion Sanders discusses external criticism after taking action against journalist
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Sister Wives: Robyn Brown Says Kody Is “Sabotaging” Their Marriage After Splits
- 10-foot python found during San Francisco Bay Area sideshow bust
- Powerball winning numbers for August 24: Jackpot now worth $44 million
Recommendation
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
8 wounded in shootout involving police and several people in Pennsylvania
Disaster unemployment assistance available to Vermonters who lost work during July 9-10 flooding
US national parks are receiving record-high gift of $100M
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
Some think rumors of Beyoncé performing at the DNC was a scheme for ratings: Here's why
Bye bye, bacon egg burritos: Some Taco Bells will stop serving breakfast
Harris and Trump are having a new squabble over their upcoming debate, this time about muted mics