Domino's 'Pizza Turnaround' 2010. Pizza Tracker 2008. AnyWare omnichannel ordering. 17,000 stores by 2020. The franchise tech-and-transparency reset.
The Scream film franchise and McDonald's are the two most-cited examples of brand longevity that survives generational handoff. The parallels are not aesthetic. They are structural — and the structural pattern is what 2026 brand-building has to be designed around.
Subway operates ~37,000 outlets globally and was acquired by Roark Capital in April 2024 for $9.55B — the largest QSR take-private deal of the decade. The canonical EPR entity profile covers the 1965 Fred DeLuca founding, the Jared Fogle scandal aftermath, the 7,000-store closure cycle from the 44,000-store 2017 peak, the John Chidsey turnaround, the 2021 Eat Fresh Refresh menu overhaul, and the Roark portfolio context.
Starbucks just spent three weeks managing the most awkward PR crisis a beverage brand can have — proving that its signature drink does not actually contain pumpkin. The Food Babe investigation, the rapid corporate response, and the reformulation that turned criticism into a relaunch narrative.