We live in a golden age of merch. From the McDonald’s limited-edition Susan Alexandra-designed beaded drinks carrier to Starbucks’ days out-inspired collection of road trip accessories, the evidence is everywhere.
What’s Going On
For years, branded merch was little more than logo-slapped, mass produced giveaways—cheap, disposable and quickly forgotten. Today, that has fundamentally shifted. Across luxury, CPG, and QSR, merch is now premium, purposeful and has earned its way upstream into mainstream marketing strategies.
The strategic logic is clear.
Merch extends brand presence—particularly for QSR, beyond the restaurant. It creates scarcity-driven excitement on social media and positions brands not just as places to eat, but as cultural touchstones. Get it right and your audience becomes your most powerful advocates.
It’s why McDonald’s collectibles range with Cactus Plant Flea Market from 2022 still has a thriving resale market. And why Jack In The Box partnered with LA streetwear brand, The Hundreds for a “Jack Was Here” series of limited-edition fashion drops.
Small wonder that outside of North America, US chains are now adapting their merch playbacks for local audiences.
Meanwhile, home-grown chains are doing their own thing rather. In the U.K., for example, Greggs recently made headlines with its cross-QSR merchandise collaboration with KFC U.K. and Ireland.
What’s Driving This
At its core, this shift to Merch Marketing is driven by Gen Z and Millennials’ rejection of traditional advertising in favour of more participatory, culturally relevant experiences.
Social media has amplified this change. Merch drops are built for shareability—creating moments traditional campaigns struggle to match. When paired with surprise and scarcity they quickly become cultural events.
At the same time, advances in digital infrastructure have made this scalable. Loyalty platforms now enable brands to reward their most valuable customers while orchestrating drops with precision. The exclusive Grimace tumbler available only via MyMcDonald’s Rewards app is just one of the many McDonald’s loyalty drops getting social traction.
But it’s the most culturally attuned brands that recognise merch as more than a tactic—instead Merch as an engagement platform and a gateway to the brand’s ecosystem. Lessons from both are useful lessons for all.
Making the Most of Merch
Forward-thinking brands reframe merch as a strategic asset; an engagement platform and proof point of cultural fluency, and how well they understand and resonate with their audience, fandom or subculture.
They recognize the power of fandom—now a source of joy for 80 percent of consumers and a sense of belonging for 42 percent (WGSN)—and the role merch plays in fandoms as a tangible expression of culture, identity and values.
The brands that cut through design for identity and meaning—authentically embedding themselves into passions and lifestyles to drive deeper engagement and loyalty.
They also understand merch’s power to shape the cultural conversation. By prioritising limited editions, event drops and exclusives, products become moments of connection – and sometimes movements – that credibly rewards fandoms.
McDonald’s Grinch socks made it the largest sock retailer for a week last December, for example, while its last Halloween-themed collectible Happy Meals Boo Buckets drove its second and third largest year on year spike in visits in 2025 during two weeks last October.
The most impactful merch often comes through collaborations—partnering with brands, IP or creators with real cultural equity. The difference between showing up and blowing up lies in co-creating something truly unexpected.
Liquid Death x Spotify’s Eternal Playlist Urn shows the power of the unexpected; a limited-edition speaker-enabled urn paired with a personalised “eternal playlist” and generator to create and share the soundtrack to your afterlife.
Successful collaborations go beyond the superficial—they’re built on shared values, creative alignment and cultural relevance—with time invested to ensure true strategic and creative fit so their merch delivers impact.
What Next?
The future of Merch is full of opportunity.
AI and smart connected technologies are turning merch into an interactive gateway—one that looks set to unlock more targeted, curated and personalised brand experiences.
Consider how AI has the potential to transform a product into a personalised experience hub: with every QR or NFC scan, it can deliver bespoke content—turning merch into a loyalty engine and a rich source of insight. Think personalised, ever evolving offers, playlists, content and events.
This is a space to watch—where the line between product, experience and ecosystem continues to blur, and where merch evolves from something you own into something you actively participate in. And this is just the beginning.
Lorna Nathan is the International Strategy & Innovation Lead at global marketing agency, tms, and has been in them marketing business for over 25+ years. She spent the first part of her career in advertising, moving into content and integrated marketing at Redwood BBDO , joining tms in 2022 to work on Global Happy Meal, O2 Priority and Samsung.
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