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McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

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Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#31

Post by danudey »

nabbed wrote: post #2

I stopped going to McDonald's (which I previously visited about once per month) mainly because they got very expensive, and the price does not match the quality of the food (and they also are not that fast anymore). If I am going to spend that much, I could spend a little more a go to a much nicer mom-and-pop place. A secondary reason is that they are American. Although I am American, I am currently a resident of ano…

There's a McDonald's near my home that I can order from if I'm craving garbage food quickly and don't feel well enough to leave the house, but they only get my order correct about 20% of the time. Another 20% of the time they make the wrong thing (e.g. the wrong kind of breakfast sandwich), and the remaining 60% of the time they forget to put half the order in (e.g. we ordered three of the Minecraft happy meal cube things a while back, plus an extra chicken sandwich, and we only got two of the cubes and no sandwich, plus we were missing two of the drinks for the meals).

The tariff issue is another reason not to patronize them, but at the same time if everyone in Canada stopped eating at McDonald's then McDonald's corporation would take a hit and thousands of Canadians would be immediately unemployed and thousands of Canadian suppliers of ingredients (beef, eggs, chicken, vegetables, etc) would lose a ton of business, so while I'd rather order from A&W for dozens of reasons I'm not outright boycotting American chains the way I am with American products.

Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#32

Post by Vrondi »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #12
nabbed wrote: post #2

I stopped going to McDonald's (which I previously visited about once per month) mainly because they got very expensive, and the price does not match the quality of the food (and they also are not that fast anymore). If I am going to spend that much, I could spend a little more a go to a much nicer mom-and-pop place. A secondary reason is that they are American. Although I am American, I am currently a resident of ano…

In Canada they have a CAD$5 McValue meal deal, so USD$3.67 for a McDouble, small fries & small drink. Do they not have similar deals in your jurisdiction?

In the USA midwest, it is around $12-13 USD for a sandwich and fries, no drink.

Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#33

Post by conception »

lux-lux-lux wrote: post #7
jabsters wrote: post #3

Published July 31, 2024

It’s being dated is actually quite fatal to his thesis, as not only did McDonalds significantly underperform the market over the past few years but mid 2024 was also the exact time their attempt to pivot to higher income brackets stumbled and they were forced to introduce stuff like the $5 meal deal to stop hemorrhaging customers.

But in the last 4 weeks they’ve significantly cut back on the number of deals they offer in-app and increased the price of items in their point scheme. It used to be “you can get a good deal in the app” but no longer.

Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#34

Post by danudey »

messe wrote: post #11
bko wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Actually, it's not. Speaking from experience. I'm a sample size of one, but that's still one better than your extrapolation from zero. One of the local supermarket chains here in Denmark (Salling Group) even puts a star on the price tag for products of European origin. For larger purchases, I'm doing research on the product anyway. I still sometimes buy American at times; sometimes there's no avoiding it for certain…

Given that the US is the only country in recent memory whose politics have shifted from "pretty normal for a western nation" to "unpredictable rogue state", it's not as though the list of "countries to avoid" changes that often.

Countries like Russia, Iran, and China have been very consistent in their philosophies and actions; countries like France, the UK, and Japan have also been pretty consistent. The only real change lately is the US.

Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#35

Post by freetime2 »

Back in the early 2000s, I would frequently order a "McDouble" (double cheeseburger) for $1 from their value menu. I can't get exact prices from their website (looks like you need the app), but they list the McDouble in their "under $3 McValue Menu" [1]. Given that inflation has nearly halved the purchasing power of a dollar since then, this doesn't seem too bad.

They also list a $5 meal deal that includes a McDouble, fries, 4 chicken nuggets, and a drink. That still seems like a really good price to me.

They do, however, have an asterisk that says "prices and participation may vary" - so not sure if it's widely available or not. It seems like McDonald's may now allow more pricing variation between franchise locations than they did in the past, so whether or McDonald's is still feels inexpensive may also depend on where you live. Being able to order a $1 McDouble in a high-COL city like San Francisco where nothing else cost a dollar always felt a little crazy to me, so I can see why it had to end eventually.

[1] https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/full-menu/extra-value-mea...

Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#36

Post by Vrondi »

cube00 wrote: post #13

I stopped after I realised I was paying a premium price for stale cold chips and luke warm burgers. It got so bad they ran a promo that if your chips weren't hot and fresh they'd give you a new batch for free. Guess it cost them too much because they killed that promo pretty quickly.

Order fries with no salt, and they will fry a whole new basket to fill your order. You have to wait, but you get fresh hot fries every time.

Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#37

Post by bayesnet »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #21
bryanlarsen wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Canada they have a CAD$5 McValue meal deal, so USD$3.67 for a McDouble, small fries & small drink. Do they not have similar deals in your jurisdiction?

A typical burger + fries + drink at McDonalds where I am in the US is now about $20. You can get something much better quality (& larger size) at FiveGuys for same price, and even some nice quality restaurants have lunch specials that cost the same. McD was never good, but when it was $10 it was still an OK occasional convenient lunch option. At $20 there is zero reason to go there.

That’s bonkers. I’m on the east coast (not nyc) and a quarter pounder medium meal is $10.49. Meanwhile Five Guys is $20.29 for a regular meal.

Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#38

Post by unselect5917 »

I don't go to McDonald's at all because not even the fries are gluten free. They used to be glorious beef tallow fried, and now they're seasoned with a wheat based flavoring.

Basically the only fast food left to me is Taco Bell, which as you may know earned its place by surviving the franchise wars.

Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#39

Post by quentindanjou »

ryandrake wrote: post #18

I kind of lost the point of the article when the author veered into the entirely separate topic of McDonalds being unhealthy. It's like two totally separate articles in one. Article 1. McDonalds (along with other traditionally cheap-food places) is now very expensive and not for poor people. Article 2. McDonalds serves (and people are out there eating) unhealthy food. Article 1 is news if you haven't been in a McDona…

For me point 2 amplifies point 1. You could justify a higher price if the quality is better (and by quality, I mean both the health and type of ingredients used: not the type of product).

So not only they go more expensive but the quality stays low and actually got even lower).

Re: McDonald's is a premium product now (2024)

#40

Post by jjmarr »

Last time I went to McDonald's, someone stole my food and I didn't get a refund.

I ordered a McChicken + fries at the kiosk. Waited for 15 minutes at the counter before I asked where my food was.

The manager took my receipt, said the order was already picked up, and asked me what credit card I used.

The manager said I told her the wrong credit card number. I asked for the receipt back so I could do a chargeback and the manager threatened to call security on me.

So no, McDonald's isn't a premium experience. It was full of homeless fentanyl users last time I went. Maybe one of them stole my food, or maybe it was the employee that stole my receipt.

Either way, I've never had this problem at Five Guys. I am willing to pay $25 for a combo to avoid an experience like that.

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