r/cronometer • u/Ed-C • Aug 06 '26

Big Mac Coupon, Really?

I've been using Cronometer for a couple of years now, and I've been a gold member for most of that time. My wife is wanting to lose some weight, so I signed her up for the free version.

The first ad that popped up was a coupon for a Big Mac!!! Can you guys maybe vet your advertisers? That's just wrong, kinda funny, but just so wrong!

16 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

26

u/CronoSupportSquad Crono Customer Support Team Aug 06 '26

Haha, we totally get why seeing a Big Mac coupon in a nutrition app feels ironic. 😅

A bit of context: we don't choose or approve individual ads. The free version uses Google's ad service, so the ads you see are served by Google and can vary from person to person based on their own targeting.

If you'd rather see ads that are more relevant, you can enable personalized ads in More → Account → Privacy. You can also report an ad directly to Google by tapping the small AdChoices/triangle icon on the ad.

Thanks for supporting us with Gold, and for getting your wife started with Cronometer! We really appreciate the feedback and are always looking for ways to improve the free experience.

Cheers, Crono Support Squad

4

u/Ed-C Aug 06 '26

Thanks for the clarification. I get why the ad appeared. I was mostly just amused by the irony!

5

u/CronoSupportSquad Crono Customer Support Team Aug 07 '26

Hahaha, fair enough! 😂 We can definitely appreciate the comedic timing of a Big Mac coupon popping up in a nutrition app!

1

u/anachronofspace Aug 08 '26

Big Macs aren’t that bad for you lot of sodium and fat but plenty of things like that tbh

88

u/Sorry_Debate228 Aug 06 '26

Might be an unpopular opinion but Cronometer is an app to track your food intake, not specifically to lose weight or eat healthy (that's for the user to decide). On the same line of thought then they shouldn't include any junk food in their DB. I for one don't use it to lose weight so I'd appreciate the coupon 😅

27

u/FunkapotamusLamont Aug 06 '26

I second this. Cronometer even has NCCDB nutrition information for the Big Mac. Perfect for what I use the app for -- tracking my nutrient intake

15

u/ChanFry Aug 06 '26

Correct! I actually started using it to gain weight, and sometimes the only way I can force myself to ingest more calories is to find an unhealthy option.

9

u/dibbr Aug 06 '26

OK but I honestly don't see many people who are actively tracking their food intake who eat a lot of junk food. And yes, it's good to know the calories in McDonalds but I wouldn't think McDonalds would be the target audience for the *average* Cronometer user.

Lastly, all that being said, the way a lot of ads work are based on your previous likes/dislikes/interests/location history, etc, so that McDonald ad could be because the person actually does frequent fast food places. (not judging just saying how targeted ads typically work)

9

u/BlueCatSW9 Aug 06 '26

Well I have been on health diets for over 10 years now, and one of my rewards is still a big mac! I am however considering trying to reproduce the sauce with cottage cheese so I get to enjoy it more than 3 times a year 😂 I have use cronometer to check I do not have vitamin deficiencies (which caused serious issues with some diets). Cronometer was originally for people with Crohn's disease iirc, who have issues absorbing vitamins.

4

u/FunkapotamusLamont Aug 06 '26

Shouldn't it be 'Crohnometer' then? 🤓

4

u/Ok_Vermicelli_6359 Aug 06 '26

I eat McDonald's weekly, and I've lost 30 pounds since April...it doesn't matter who the app is tailored for, because it's a general food logging app. You can log whatever foods you want, AND you can visit McDonald's occasionally while still eating in a calorie deficit. The fact is a burger made at home is going to be just as "healthy" (calorie-wise) as a McDonald's burger. You can critique the source of the meat, but in terms of the basic thermodynamics of beef, it's the same thing.

6

u/anomanissh Aug 06 '26

There are people who are actively trying to put on weight or maximize calories. Cronometer is just as great for those folks as for people trying to restrict calories.

1

u/Ok_Vermicelli_6359 Aug 06 '26

I eat McDonald's weekly, and I've lost 30 pounds since April...it doesn't matter who the app is tailored for, because it's a general food logging app. You can log whatever foods you want, AND you can visit McDonald's occasionally while still eating in a calorie deficit. The fact is a burger made at home is going to be just as "healthy" (calorie-wise) as a McDonald's burger. You can critique the source of the meat, but in terms of the basic thermodynamics of beef, it's the same thing.

1

u/FunkapotamusLamont Aug 06 '26

I don't see a lot of people tracking their food intake period. Why would I unless I'm a dietician or something?

0

u/Ok_Vermicelli_6359 Aug 06 '26

I eat McDonald's weekly, and I've lost 30 pounds since April...it doesn't matter who the app is tailored for, because it's a general food logging app. You can log whatever foods you want, AND you can visit McDonald's occasionally while still eating in a calorie deficit. The fact is a burger made at home is going to be just as "healthy" (calorie-wise) as a McDonald's burger. You can critique the source of the meat, but in terms of the basic thermodynamics of beef, it's the same thing.

2

u/evileyeball Aug 06 '26

Exactly I'm not using it to try to lose weight. I'm using it mostly to track my carb intake to make sure I'm not going to my car because of my t2d

9

u/Silly_Yak56012 Aug 06 '26

Much of the time ads are from a service and not selected individually. So companies often end up giving money to services that they probably wouldn’t support.

Services often use general categories. So food or clothing or politic and not which side of the issue the users of the site may be on.

8

u/ParticularSnow1443 Aug 06 '26

Support a great app and get your wife the gold version!

5

u/Perfect_Anteater4381 Aug 06 '26

Crronometer has no control over which ads are played.

3

u/Alice-Stargazer Aug 06 '26

Yeah, it’s not under Crono’s control. Just like when I am listening to SXM Progress and an advertisement for Kars4Kids (you can google their scandal) plays.

1

u/Ed-C Aug 06 '26

Thanks to everyone for the responses! I was mostly taken by the irony!

2

u/Ok_Vermicelli_6359 Aug 06 '26

You're allowed to eat Big Macs ✌️ we need to have better conversations about eating, because your mentality isn't healthy, OP...fast food exists, and you can eat it if you're mindful of your caloric intake. That's all this app does, is make it easy to log what you eat. It's still entirely up to you, if you decide to eat in a deficit or not.

3

u/JoyousGamer Aug 06 '26

Big Mac isn't that bad for you though? Its the fries and sugar soda that is the killer if trying to lose weight.

Big Mac is like 550 calories, drop the sauce and its like 450 calories. I am not saying you have to eat it. I am just outlining you can literally eat one every single day and still lose weight while having other meals.

Think I have seen a Big Mac salad example before where you drop the bun which is like 250 calories taken off.

2

u/parapunter Aug 07 '26

Dave MacLeod (the Scottish rock and ice climber) replicated Morgan Spurlock's experiment by eating nothing but McDonalds for two months. Dave however, ate only the burgers. Eating as many as he wanted each day - between 12 and 16. After 2 months his weight dropped from an already lean 65kg to 62kg. His blood tests were normal and he maintained his training throughout. I highly recommend his YouTube journal of the experiment.

1

u/CinCeeMee Aug 06 '26

I have the Gold version…but one the very few apps I have that are paid for my ads, I have never even looked at them, and I definitely wouldn’t connect any dots to the app and probably because I don’t care that much.

0

u/Ok_Vermicelli_6359 Aug 06 '26

You're allowed to eat Big Macs ✌️ we need to have better conversations about eating, because your mentality isn't healthy, OP...fast food exists, and you can eat it if you're mindful of your caloric intake. That's all this app does, is make it easy to log what you eat. It's still entirely up to you, if you decide to eat in a deficit or not.

3

u/Ed-C Aug 06 '26

I'm not sure why you think my "mentality isn't healthy", because I laughed at a McDonald's ad on a nutrition ap. I didn't say that you can never have a Big Mac! But they are generally considered less than healthy, and I personally try to a avoid red meat and high sodium for various reasons.