NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- To spur a little growth, some of the world's biggest food companies should step outside of their fancy R&D labs and head downstairs to the archive room.

The list of discontinued products from major food companies is almost endless. Remember black cherry vanilla flavored Coca-Cola (KO) - Get Report ? Or how about the Whaler, a giant, fried fish sandwich from Burger King (QSR) - Get Report  used to make?  

For whatever reason, products such as these, with plenty of research hours and marketing dollars behind them, were discontinued. But that doesn't mean they deserve to be permanently left for dead in their original form or not spruced up to meet current consumer eating preferences and then relaunched with a marketing blitz.

That's exactly what McDonald's (MCD) - Get Report  is doing by bringing back Chicken Selects. Execs at Nike (NKE) - Get Reportmust have also gotten the memo, having created a major buzz on Facebook this week by announcing it was bringing back a pop culture favorite, the Nike Cortez. Designed in 1972 by Nike founder Bill Bowerman and famously worn by Tom Hanks in the movie Forrest Gump, the shoe goes back on sale for $100 on Feb. 28.  

TheStreet takes a look at three items that some other consumer giants should consider resurrecting this year.

For a limited time in 2002, Burger King sold Shake 'em Up fries. The goal of the product was straightforward -- elevate the flavor profile of the simple, charge people more and bank even more money on the already nicely profitable french fry. Burger King achieved this by giving consumers powdered cheese in packets to be spread on the oily fries in the bag, and then shaken up. Instant cheese fries.

Although Burger King execs may be hesitant to meddle with fries after the disastrous rollout of the low-calorie Satisfry in September 2013, seasoned fries are a logical item to consider resurrecting to boost sales growth in sluggish industry conditions.

Fast-food product packaging has come a long way since 2002, so the resurrected Burger King fries could receive special holders to serve as shakers. Further, the availability of a variety of powdered seasoning choices has increased beyond cheese. In re-launching Shake 'em Up fries, Burger King would open an opportunity for Vines and Twitter pics of folks shaking up their fries, which is akin to free real-time marketing.

But Burger King should move quickly in tapping nostalgia with shaken fries -- McDonald's has already begun expanding the number of locations in the U.S. that offer powdered seasoning for its fries and Chicken McNuggets. Available at certain locations in California and Nevada, three seasonings are now on offer -- zesty Italian, chipotle BBQ and garlic parmesan.

2.PepsiCo should chew on a re-release of GatorGum.

PepsiCo's (PEP) - Get Report Gatorade brand is no longer just the flavored sports drink synonymous with top athletes like Michael Jordan and Usain Bolt. Rather, Gatorade is a complete system of products designed to meet the needs of workout enthusiasts.

In addition to the traditional Gatorade sports drink, the brand has expanded into pre- and post-workout drinks with whey protein, a whey protein bar, energy gel and energy chews. The barrage of new products has led to an enviable market share position for Gatorade. 

However, there is a product missing in the Gatorade portfolio -- something for an athlete to consistently chew on while on an hour-long run or undertaking a grueling Crossfit weightlifting session. With Gatorade celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, it should consider the reintroduction of 1980s convenience store staple GatorGum to further solidify its market share position.

GatorGum was introduced around 1976 and sold up until the early 2000s. It was the energy chew before the modern-day energy chew. In reviving GatorGum, PepsiCo could sprinkle in a touch of caffeine to cater to the nation's obsession with the ingredient, as well as upgrade the packaging and gum size. For example, many gum offerings from Wrigley have resealable packaging -- GatorGum came in simple tear-it-open-and-chew type packaging.

And the U.S. gum industry could use a shot of adrenaline that a GatorGum marketing blitz would provide. According to research firm Euromonitor, gum volumes are expected to decline by 11% from 2014 to 2019 as consumers look to reduce their sugar intake and gravitate towards mints.

One way could be to focus less on the current crop of tweens, who are eating snacks on the go from each packaged food company, and tap into 25- to 35-year-old consumers, aka the millennials. These are consumers who actually remember eating bowls of cereal on Saturday mornings while watching cartoons, and have the income to go out and buy food.

To target this group, more cereal companies could follow the lead of General Mills and reintroduce discontinued cereals for a limited time, along with retro cereal boxes -- and, upon re-launch, plaster Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with "throwback" pictures of the cereal or boxes.

In December, General Mills brought back French Toast Crunch, a popular seller that was launched in 1995 but discontinued in 2006. "When we broke news of French Toast Crunch, it crashed our blog site on multiple occasions," Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Retail Business Jeff Harmening told TheStreet. He added, that "we do bring products back from time to time -- every year, around Halloween, we bring back Booberry, Frankenbury and Count Chocula. It has been phenomenally successful."

Two retro cereals that make logical sense for a re-release from General Mills -- Jurassic Park Crunch and Dunk-A-Balls.  

General Mills unveiled Jurassic Park Crunch in 1997 after sequel to the original Jurassic Park: The Lost World. It was basically Lucky Charms except the marshmallows were shaped like dinosaurs. With the latest installment in the Jurassic Park franchise set for release in June of this year, General Mills has an opportunity to bring the cereal back for a limited time promotion. 

Dunk-A-Balls were pitched as the "breakfast of champions, for kids" and were simply crunchy balls of frosted wheat. Indeed there could be a tie-up worth exploring with a millennial National Basketball Association star, one with a huge Twitter following who remembers eating the stuff and wouldn't mind his name on a cereal box.  

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.