Scroll through Instagram on a lazy evening, or let YouTube autoplay guide you, and you’ll notice something curious: fried chicken buckets rubbing shoulders with gaming rants, reel challenges, and meme-worthy punchlines.
Gone are the days when quick-service restaurants (QSRs) only banked on glossy billboards and megastar commercials. Today, the recipe is different. It’s fast food meets fast content, served hot through memes, reels, and collabs with internet icons.
Take KFC, for instance. Earlier this year, KFC India shook hands with Gen Z’s own CarryMinati (Ajey Nagar) to co-create a brand-new menu. Not to be left behind, McDonald’s rolled out something similar The Ranveer Singh Meal, across North and East India, turning dinner into a blockbuster performance.
But KFC wasn’t done cooking up stunts. They roped in The Great Khali for arm-wrestling duels with fans inside KFC outlets, except, in true brand style, Khali hilariously 'lost' in seconds to highlight its Epic Savers.
Urvashi Rautela turned into a quirky math whiz for another spot, crunching numbers to prove KFC’s value deals. And for a nostalgic twist, Himesh Reshammiya returned as his cult-favourite Ravi Kumar character, belting out melodrama to sell some chicken.
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Meanwhile, in the past, Burger King India chose a pop-culture crossover teaming up with ZEE5’s Detective Sherdil starring Diljit Dosanjh, and dropping a limited-time combo that felt straight out of a mystery plot.
In short, QSR brands are no longer just serving meals. They’re serving moments with viral, shareable, and snackable content, just like their food.
Azazul Haque, Group Creative Officer, Creativeland Asia, which handles the creative mandates for both McDonald’s and Taco Bell, notes that the QSR segment has been under pressure, particularly with the rise of food delivery apps. Adding to the challenge, a flood of smaller, unbranded outlets and local players has intensified competition.
According to Haque, QSR brands today are far more cautious with their spending, steering away from splurging on big-ticket celebrity endorsements. “The industry has become increasingly ROI-driven. QSRs are operating more like businesses than brand-building machines,” he explains.
“Take Taco Bell, for instance. The brand is built almost entirely on digital, with very careful use of limited budgets. The focus is on driving frequency, striking the right tone, and speaking directly to Gen Z. As for Bollywood’s influence, it’s not absent, but the strategy has shifted toward being sharper, more targeted, and ROI-focused,” he highlighted.
Haque says when budgets shrink, marketers become smart with investments. For QSRs, budget pressure has moved them towards influencer-led strategies instead of heavy celebrity spends.
Ashna Shah, Strategy Director, DDB Mudra, explains, “For a generation that lives online, creators aren’t just endorsers, they’re reflections of their audiences’ own lives. Their humor, quirks, and cultural references come from the same world Gen Z inhabits, which makes the connection feel far more authentic.”
She adds, “That’s not to say celebrities don’t matter; they still play a role in building aspiration. But QSR is about food and fun; it thrives on immediacy, playfulness, and cultural agility. And that’s where creators shine far brighter.”
Mithila Saraf, CEO, Famous Innovations, says Bollywood still carries cultural weight, but Gen-Z’s icons are more often digital creators, gamers, or viral friends.
She adds, “If brands use them thoughtfully, in a way true to their personality and relevant to Gen-Z, they can still deliver results. The key is moving beyond token celebrity shots to genuine reason.”
Danielle Dsilva, Copywriter, BC Web Wise, says, the marketing strategy is not about Bollywood or creators, it’s about being on the scroll. The brands that win are the ones that can get a laugh, share, or screenshot without trying too hard. “Big stars give a splash, but creators and memes are where Gen Z hangs out. That’s the real cultural currency,” she says.
Celebrities vs influencers
With celebrities and influencers vying for space in the QSR marketing playbook, the industry stands at an intriguing crossroads. Celebrities deliver aspiration, mass reach, and star power, while influencers bring relatability, cultural relevance, and a direct line into Gen Z’s digital universe.
Haque explains that the choice between celebrities and influencers often comes down to the scale of the campaign. For a big launch or major announcement, a celebrity helps maximize ROI within a short window. But for introducing a new flavour or variant, influencers are the better fit. Instead of relying on a single face, QSR brands today are building themselves through multiple associations, each partnership bringing something fresh to the table.
Shah notes that celebrity campaigns deliver instant scale and aspiration, particularly when brands want to cut across age groups or reach the masses. Digital-first creators, on the other hand, drive cultural resonance, and that’s where the real ROI lies.
Saraf says, “There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. A Popeyes might turn to Bollywood to announce itself and capture mass visibility, while McDonald’s leans on creators, humor, and digital culture to connect with Gen Z. The real skill lies in knowing which lever to pull and when creators bring freshness and cultural relevance, while Bollywood delivers unmatched reach.”
Celebrities still bring scale and instant recognition, but it’s the creators who fuel everyday relevance and cultural resonance. In a market squeezed by delivery apps, rising competition, and shifting consumer behavior, the smartest brands will be those that master the art of agility, knowing when to lean on stardom for splash and when to tap into creator culture for sustained connection. After all, in the fast-moving world of QSR, staying fresh matters just as much as serving hot.
