McDonald's is a premium product now (2024) • Hacker News Board

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

#51

Post by copperx » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:08 PM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #22

A few years ago my wife and I stopped at a McD drive thru and ordered two meals. The total was over $20. I was aghast and I questioned the cashier if there was some mistake. It's only gotten worse. On a local subreddit recently someone was asking where to get a decent lunch that "doesn't break the bank" and turns out that their target spend was $10. My answer was "Pack a peanut butter sandwich and an apple at home an…

If you're on a GLP-1s and crave junk food (quite uncommon), almost all fast food places have a small combo that's around $5 that'll satisfy. At least Wendy's, Taco Bell, McDonald's, and others do.

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

#52

Post by pocksuppet » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:09 PM UTC

Our_Benefactors wrote: post #23

hootz wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once you see the goomba, you can't unsee it...

…goomba? Wtf are you even talking about?

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Goomba_fallacy

It has nothing to do with goombas, except the first person to illustrate the fallacy chose to draw goombas.

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

#53

Post by MattRix » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:11 PM UTC

jjmarr wrote: post #40

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 t…

surely you can see how this is a rare specific situation you encountered and not some actual systemic mcdonald’s problem (there are LOTS of reasons to complain about mcdonald’s but this seems like a strange one)

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

#54

Post by josefritzishere » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC

There is nothing premium about McDonalds. We need to stop upmarketing cheap crap and accept the fact that middle class Americans are not middle class anymore. You are poor. This is hard to swallow but, we live in a country with a declining standard of living. https://www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-life-is-a-lie

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

#55

Post by 0xbadcafebee » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:18 PM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #22

A few years ago my wife and I stopped at a McD drive thru and ordered two meals. The total was over $20. I was aghast and I questioned the cashier if there was some mistake. It's only gotten worse. On a local subreddit recently someone was asking where to get a decent lunch that "doesn't break the bank" and turns out that their target spend was $10. My answer was "Pack a peanut butter sandwich and an apple at home an…

You ordered two complete meals (a drink, a side, and an entree), you probably got it in 30 seconds, and the total was less than the cost of comparable meals at virtually any restaurant. And you were aghast? ....You are aware inflation makes things cost more over time, right? 2% per year means things cost 10% more after just 5 years

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

#56

Post by happytoexplain » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:22 PM UTC

why_at wrote: post #50

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…

I read it more as a segue into the main point about conflicting narratives in the American public regarding food. Despite our excuses that we have to eat unhealthy fast food because it's cheap, we still eat it it once it's expensive. We all talk about how there is an obesity crisis yet we constantly promote and glorify unhealthy food on social media. >Or maybe no one is fully logically consistent in their views. In t…

"We" do not all have the same opinions. You are lambasting an imaginary segment of the population.

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

#57

Post by qwertyuiop_ » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:27 PM UTC

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…

How do you communicate your guilt based purchases to the local citizenry ?

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

#58

Post by pimlottc » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:28 PM UTC

Vrondi wrote: post #36

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.

But then you have to eat fries without salt

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

#59

Post by franktankbank » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:31 PM UTC

nerdsniper wrote: post #6

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…

I stopped going because the McDonald's closest to me stopped serving water. The only way for employees to fill a cup with water is to use the sink, and that's not an option offered to customers. There's no way to buy or be served a water, not even a bottle of it.

That sounds illegal.

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

#60

Post by zhdc1 » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:34 PM UTC

happytoexplain wrote: post #49

zhdc1 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re just about dead even. Maybe slightly higher. Not unreasonably higher. Inflation is a pain in the rear.

First, the parent implies it decreased , not stayed the same. Second, are you sure? Everything I can find indicates that the Big Mac slightly increased (and further, the "Big Mac index" is a meme, which may dampen increases for image reasons), and everything else on the menu, on average, increased even more than the Big Mac. Is my data bad?

> Maybe slightly higher.

…