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McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

latimes.com

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Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#111

Post by stego-tech »

pseudalopex wrote: post #106
stego-tech wrote: post #44

These articles deliberately skew reality to fit an anti-worker narrative. All the focus is on costs of labor and materials, with not one single sentence devoted to McDonald’s own financials - like the growth of their margins, the share buybacks performed, the executive compensation, or the franchising model itself. When I was rallying for a higher minimum wage and was challenged on it driving up costs, I made it abun…

Looking at McDonald's finances would have made the article better. And it mentioned their claims about labor costs. But it cited analysis which contradicted those claims.

No problem stands alone in a vacuum, and nothing at this point has “one easy fix”. These articles that try to paint higher wages or corporate consolidation as the sole reason for complex and nuanced issues aren’t just toxic to discourse around addressing these problems, they also collectively dumb down people into the debate equivalent of sports teams with no room for other positions.

The entire piece reads as a sympathy puff article to paint McDonalds in a “woe is us, our business dictates we raise prices to only serve the wealthy” posture, which is insincere at best, and almost certainly shit journalism.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#112

Post by walthamstow »

somenameforme wrote: post #103
walthamstow wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I paid £5.09 for a sausage and egg mcmuffin meal with coffee and a hash brown this morning. I think that's pretty reasonable, especially for London.

I have quite a lot of difficulty eating out once you start cooking at home, because think of what you are buying: - one English muffin (is it called an English muffin in England?) - one slice of cheese - one egg - one slice of ham - one cup of coffee - one hashbrown £5.09 for that? Obviously when you buy from a restaurant you're paying for their labor, rent, electric, and much more so it makes sense - McDonald's fran…

It was hot and tasty and delivered near-instantly to my car at 6am. There's no way the fair price for that is less than a fiver.

If you've never lived here, I'm not sure you can really say what £5 is or isn't worth anyway.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#113

Post by buran77 »

swatcoder wrote: post #98
jihadjihad wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The three beverages they ordered, two coffees and a soda, amounted to nearly $20 I don't live in CA, but this just seems insane? Even in "captive" locations like airports etc. where prices for stuff are higher than a typical brick-and-mortar location, I don't even understand how two coffees and a soda could approach $20. If they'd DoorDashed it, sure. But those numbers don't make sense.

You're probably imagining two black coffees, and all three drinks being of modest size like medium. But if you turn those into "specialty" coffees and upsize them, and then add ~10% sales tax, it's very plausible that the price was closer to $20 than $10. Between prices inflating and people's tastes being pretty unmoderated and indulgent for a long while now, the total cost of "everyday" expenses adds up quick. Even…

> if you turn those into "specialty" coffees and upsize them, and then add ~10% sales tax

Right off the bat, it's McDonalds, there are no "specialty" coffees. And the sales tax is irrelevant, what matters is what comes out of the pocket.

$20 for McD-quality coffees and soda is insanely expensive. It puts it above places like Starbucks which makes no sense because there's a Starbucks literally 50m/150ft away from that very same McD.

Pictures of the menu at the closest McDonald’s to MacArthur Park show the coffees at ~$4 and sodas at ~$2-3 all large, which is a more realistic number but still only around half the quoted amount.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#114

Post by theGnuMe »

somenameforme wrote: post #7

I feel like this whole article is seeking to 'maximize engagement', which I'm using as a lofty euphemism for trolling its readers. ------ Mariam Gergis, a registered nurse at UCLA who also works a second job as a home caregiver, said she’s better off than many others, and still she struggles. “I can barely afford McDonald’s,” she said. “But it’s a cheaper option.” On Monday morning she sat in a booth at a McDonald’s…

Those are close to Starbucks prices so I imagine McCafes. You can get a mediocre McD coffee for $1.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#115

Post by lysace »

notepad0x90 wrote: post #108
lysace wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meat-based proteine is important in so many different ways. Yes, it is possible avoid meat and still have a child develop well. It was also possible to install Linux on your PC in 1991/1992. Most people couldn't, but the really smart (or special) ones could.

I meant beef specifically, not meat in general. Our ancestors didn't eat bovine meat every single day like we do now. Plus cows take up lots of grazing ground, and I'm not happy about how they're treated worse over time because we keep eating more of them, and that requires more and more cruel ways of supplying that beef. Chicken and sheep seem to be more sustainable. But either way, I think it is good for our health…

Ok. Just noting: Realistically, your concerns are not going to change the eating desires of actual humans in the real world.

So the plan is a beef tax, then?

Here's a reality check from Sweden:

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/svenskarna-dissar-kottska... (the public service broadcaster)

https://www-svt-se.translate.goog/nyheter/inrikes/svenskarna...

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#116

Post by nawgz »

jameslk wrote: post #22
nawgz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Companies cannot set prices arbitrarily [Source required] Edit: how are you downvoting me? Go look at corporate profit margins now, 10 years ago, and 40 years ago. If you believe you can hand wave with simplified BS like "Supply and Demand" you probably have some heavy reading on price elasticity to catch up on.

[flagged]

[flagged]

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#117

Post by swatcoder »

buran77 wrote: post #113
swatcoder wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're probably imagining two black coffees, and all three drinks being of modest size like medium. But if you turn those into "specialty" coffees and upsize them, and then add ~10% sales tax, it's very plausible that the price was closer to $20 than $10. Between prices inflating and people's tastes being pretty unmoderated and indulgent for a long while now, the total cost of "everyday" expenses adds up quick. Even…

> if you turn those into "specialty" coffees and upsize them, and then add ~10% sales tax Right off the bat, it's McDonalds, there are no "specialty" coffees. And the sales tax is irrelevant, what matters is what comes out of the pocket. $20 for McD-quality coffees and soda is insanely expensive. It puts it above places like Starbucks which makes no sense because there's a Starbucks literally 50m/150ft away from that…

Huh?

Of course there are "specialty" coffees at many McDonald's. Well over a decade ago, recognizing the margin and admitting the public interest in sweet, creamy, coffee drinks, they began a shift into direct competition with Starbucks, et al and offer a full menu of Americanized espresso and blended coffee drinks. Like at Starbucks, these easily run over $5 for the large sizes, and they're widely available.

Because of both brand loyalty, or because they also want other things from McDonald's that Starbucks don't carry, it's a extremely successful and profitable product segment for them, even when a Starbucks is "literally 50m/150ft away".

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/full-menu/mccafe-coffees....

https://www.mac-menus.com/mccafe-menu/

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#118

Post by pseudalopex »

stego-tech wrote: post #111
pseudalopex wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking at McDonald's finances would have made the article better. And it mentioned their claims about labor costs. But it cited analysis which contradicted those claims.

No problem stands alone in a vacuum, and nothing at this point has “one easy fix”. These articles that try to paint higher wages or corporate consolidation as the sole reason for complex and nuanced issues aren’t just toxic to discourse around addressing these problems, they also collectively dumb down people into the debate equivalent of sports teams with no room for other positions. The entire piece reads as a symp…

The article discussed several factors increasing costs and decreasing low income household spending. My impression and yours were very different.
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