Franchises Like Taco Bell Are Stealing This Strategy from Nike — And It’s Working

To stand out, chains are borrowing ‘drops’ from sneaker culture, serving up merch and food to restaurant fans.

Taco Bell CEO Sean Tresvant spent 15 years at Nike, and now he’s bringing the fast-food chain a marketing trick he learned from the sneaker giant: product drops.

The company launched Taco Tuesday Drops in its loyalty program, offering exclusive deals to members every Tuesday before the general public can access them. The strategy comes straight from sneaker culture, where brands like Nike SNKRS and Adidas Confirmed create hype through limited-edition releases.

Now other chains are dropping their own versions left and right, according to Restaurant Business. Wendy’s just added Rewards Drops featuring limited-edition swag every Wednesday. Chipotle reintroduced monthly free food drops. Pizza Hut’s Space Jam merchandise drops sold out completely. El Pollo Loco’s Loco Friday Drops drove loyalty member frequency up 13% and spending up 17% year-over-year.

Why does it work? Nearly half of consumers say they want access to exclusive products that are hard to obtain. When everyone has a loyalty program, artificial scarcity becomes the differentiator.