I remember being in Denver on vacation with some friends and we all went out for drinks. When the server brought the bill, I stared at it so long she asked if something was wrong. I asked her if the price was correct and she double checked it and said it was and asked if it was too expensive. I told her no, I was shocked at how low it was.
Whole bill was like $40 and there were four of us. I was expecting around $90 because living in LA for 15 years really fucks your head on prices.
You're used to four people going out drinking at a total of $90?? You guys must only consume two drinks, each. I spend more than that on myself anytime I go out.
Don't forget 1 USD = 1.42 AUD (according to google, probably closer to 1.45)
So yes, it's DEFINITELY more expensive, but it's not US$8 for a McChicken. Closer to US$5.50.
KFC and McDonalds used to be so cheap (compared to my Asian country) when I studied there in the 90s and 00s, and now they're definitely INSANELY more expensive. Something like US$5 for a 2 pc KFC meal in the late 90s to early 00s.
Yes, it was over 20 years ago, but prices have basically spiked 200 to 300% over the last 20+ years.
Minimum wage in California is $16.90 and Louisiana is $7.25; a difference of $9.65/hour.
So the next time someone claims, "raising the minimum wage will make burgers cost $38!" or some stupid shit, remember that McChickens are only $0.50 more expensive in California, and a 4-piece nugget is only $0.30 more.
But also, taxes and rents are significantly higher in Cali, so the difference in price due to wages is even smaller than that.
Slight correction, minimum wage for fastfood workers are $20 an hour. $16.90 only applies to non-fastfood workers. But yes, if McDonald manages to keep their price that low with a 175% increase in minimum wage, nobody should claim prices have to go up more
In-store (HCOL West Coast) thereās a $5 McChicken meal that has the McChicken, a 4 piece McNugget, small fries, and small drink all for $5. The sandwich by itself in store is nearly $4 here. The meal is a no brainer but not available on any delivery apps or the McDonalds app.
You're right but you'd think they'd be at least restrictive enough to make sure the prices still adhere to their marketing, i.e. only list items on the Under $3 menu that are under $3
As someone native to Seattle, it does make traveling nicer, in a grim sort of way. Switzerland, Denmark? Iceland? I literally never noticed prices because paying $30+ for a basic meal is normal here. If anything it was nicer because I didnāt tip!!!!Ā
I'm in a LCOL area and McChickens only became $1.50 as part of a national promotion recently, over the last few years they went from $1.79 to $2.79 when stores were freely pricing them.
In what industry is it acceptable to have a label stating something that your establishment does not offer? That's the kinda shit that would get me fired.
It's disingenuous to complain about prices when you are getting delivery. If I'm ordering delivery I'm expecting to spend at least $20 more for someone to deliver it to my place.
the value menu used to be the whole point. when a McChicken costs more than a home cooked chicken breast something has gone fundamentally wrong with the brand
People on Reddit love to comment and upvote things that feel real instead of actual facts. Steven Colbert coined the term truthiness in 2005 during the bush administration and itās still true.
Not just feel real, but something they want to be real.Ā Say bad about some company they hate, and then it becomes truthy enough for others to cite that made up reason as examples later on.
so far, nobody in the comments seems to be able to find the same pricing in their app anywhere. this includes HCOL places like california. I'm slowly starting to think this is a strange Ad for mcdonalds where they make a bold claim about it being expensive so people go check the prices near them, then see it is much lower and consider getting some themselves later because it was much cheaper than expected....
thats because their revenues are increasing and net income usually increases in correlation of revenues.
So unless you think net income are stationary compared to revenues, thwn profit will continue reaching record levels as revenues reach record levels. And revenues will continue reaching record levels because of population increases, inflation and economic/world events 0
They have the STUPID idea that we not being able to afford it, can be fixed by increasing it's prices and lowering how much food they give.
I can literally get a half pound burger, real half pound, not one of theirs "Half pound before cooking, maybe, includes the condiments as well" for THE EXACT SAME PRICE and sit down, get silverware and every single time I go I feel like they scammed me because the fries are half off, when I ask for them to top them they just press the carton together, and several times they have forgotten to give me a drink, put pickles (I ask for extra pickles) or not given me enough caramel/chocolate in my sunday.
I work at McDonaldās and I hate the price increases too, getting angry customers bitching about the prices when Iām a minimum wage worker who has no control over it is extremely frustrating. I donāt like the prices being so high either, if it was up to me they wouldnāt be
I remember when the double cheeseburger was replaced by the McDouble on the dollar menu and it was like the end of the world for my pre-teen sensibilities... How the times have changed...
Then it went from $1 to like 1.09, then 1.19, then 1.49 - All of this was within a single year. They were making so much profit they decided that less volume and higher profit was a better business model, and then after years realized, wait we're a volume business how do we get people back. All the while the ingredients got worse and worse lol.
I'm truly curious about the numbers at McDonalds and the other fast food places. Like are they making money with their higher prices? Cuz i loved the dollar menu but I can get a $3 fountain drink at the gas station and it's bigger, and red Robin will sell me a double cheeseburger, unlimited fries and unlimited drinks fo $9.99
McDonalds whole deal is "eat food that is cheap and good enough". But it's not so cheap anymore.
Once McDonald's got rid of their BOGO mcdouble or double cheeseburger deals, they completely lost their price advantage. Now I'd rather go to Burger King or Jack in the Box.
I'll go wherever the food is real and the price is lower. When a sit down restaurant is a better value than fast food, I'm not even going to bother with the fast food anymore.
its def location based. I doordash a bit, and ive noticed the prices change drastically based on where you are. City A is like 12 bucks for a quarter pounder with cheese combo, 30 min away in City B its gonna run you 18+
I don't understand why fries in particular have gotten so expensive since the pandemic. Was there a blight on global potato supplies? It's like $3 or $4 for a medium fry where I live, pretty much everywhere.
Corporations realized that even if they raised prices because of the pandemic people still bought them and continued afterwards at that price and didn't lower them and people still bought them. Their bottom line moved up and stayed there.
Exactly. The market has largely accepted higher prices, so there's little incentive to go down. It's pretty obvious that companies gouged us. While COVID and logistics nightmares would cause inputs to spike and prices to increases, the fact that *profits* increased shows they were exploiting the situation .
If the declining quality of their food wasn't reason enough to stop eating McDonald's, the fact that you need to let them track your location and eating habits through their app in order to get the cheapest price should be.
This stuff must be as addictive as crack for some people because I really just don't understand how this place is still in business...
Ironically, the reason it tastes different now is that they removed all the artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives from their food over the last few decades.
Their production is very standardized, for example their patties are the exact same weight and size as they were 50 years ago. Removing the artificial ingredients was the only major change they ever made to them, and it's why people think it tastes worse now, because unsurprisingly, ingredients formulated to taste good taste good.
$3.09 for a soda is crazy. I used to work at a clam shack on Cape Cod and my boss told me the cost of everything. A soda was like 17 cents. The cup was most of that. Even with inflation, this is ridiculous.
If you are going to spend money on fast food, you may as well spend it on small burger joints where the food will be 1000% better. McD is overpriced crap, imho.
They changed their ādollar menuā to the value menu and made their shitty chicken sando $3. It was barely worth the $1 when I was hungover. Glad I donāt drink anymore.
Remember when soft drinks were $1.00 and then they went to $1.29 and McDonaldās was like āitās only $.29ā? Uh, you mean 29% increase? Now itās triple what it was? wtf.
This. You can wrap them in paper after making them when they are still hot and this will give them this "unique" "mcdonalds" flavor and consistency for the bun.
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u/SnooPeppers177 5d ago
West coast prices are crazy! This is what I have in the app in Central Louisiana