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

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

#61

Post by why_at » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:37 PM UTC

happytoexplain wrote: post #56

why_at wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah fair enough. I'm not sure I really agree with the piece either tbh. More likely these different narratives are coming from different groups of people.

I'm not even convinced of the main premise that McDonald's is now much more expensive relative to other things. I think it just feels that way because we had a few years of high inflation.

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

#62

Post by Leonard_of_Q » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:41 PM UTC

Hm, McDonalds? Last time I made an attempt to get something there was in 1997 after Hacking in Progress in the Netherlands. I was cycling back home, bicycle cart full of computer/network stuff behind my bike, wooden shoes on, a caricature of a Dutch hacker. At HiP I got a voucher-thing for a free hamburger at McD so when I happened to cycle past one in Lelystad I got in line behind a car in the drive-through. Once it was my turn the ...person... who's supposed to take orders told me 'only cars allowed in the drive-through'. Well, I had 4 wheels, was as long as a car and wasn't bothering anyone. I've seen people on friggin' horses go through those 'drive-through' lanes and this being the Netherlands and me wearing wooden shoes and all I'd have thought I'd be welcome but no and no sale. Well, that was the last time I went to any of those places, they've been on my blacklist ever since.

Now maybe I should state that I never went there before either because I'm not into fast food but hey, why waste a good story?

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

#63

Post by [deleted] » Wed, May 06, 2026, 9:51 PM UTC

MattRix wrote: post #53

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)

[deleted]

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

#64

Post by tavavex » Wed, May 06, 2026, 10:06 PM UTC

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…

> One of the local supermarket chains here in Denmark (Salling Group) even puts a star on the price tag for products of European origin.

Many store chains in Canada have also started putting maple leaf icons on price tags for Canadian-made products over the last year or two, after the US did whatever they've done. But it's harder to avoid US-made products here, because so much is imported and it's the only country we share a real land border with.

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

#65

Post by greycol » Wed, May 06, 2026, 10:13 PM UTC

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #55

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

That is precisely the problem, you look at the inflation and compare it to what you payed 5,10,20 years ago and your either getting less or paying more than that inflation. Average price inflation of a big mac in the US for the past 25 years is 4% versus average CPI inflation of 2.29%. So instead of increasing in price by 65% it increased 166%.

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

#66

Post by jerlam » Wed, May 06, 2026, 10:18 PM UTC

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…

There's two definitions of "premium" and the author seems to have chosen the less commonly used definition.

1. Higher quality

2. Higher price

Products claim to be higher quality so that they can ask for a higher price. McDonalds doesn't seem to be doing this, they are just asking for a higher price. Most people would not call this premium, they would just call it expensive.

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

#67

Post by jerlam » Wed, May 06, 2026, 10:33 PM UTC

I think it would be more interesting to talk about why all these upper-middle-class people are seemingly willing to overpay for things, instead of people eating McDonalds on social media.

There are a multitude of old brands that have hopped on this bandwagon. Brands like Lego, Pokemon, and Disney that started for children are now shifting their target market towards adults with money, maybe without kids, and are willing to pay for their childhood pleasures. I guess McDonalds is one of them too.

I can't remember where I read it, but someone described the ideal Lego customer as a "new software engineer in their mid 20s with a paycheck they want to spend on toys they wanted as a child", in response to Lego's newest release being a $200 branded set.

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

#68

Post by nabbed » Wed, May 06, 2026, 10:53 PM UTC

qwertyuiop_ wrote: post #57

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 ?

Am I supposed to?

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

#69

Post by freetime2 » Wed, May 06, 2026, 10:54 PM UTC

This article is from 2024. It sounds like McDonald's has since realized they have a problem with their perceived value and that viral tweets about $20 Big Macs are not good for their image. Apparently they are taking steps to curb excessively high prices at certain locations (prices are set by franchisees) by conducting "value assessments" and potentially revoking the "right to renewal and transfer" for franchisees that don't comply [1].

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/mcdonalds-value-franchisees....

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

#70

Post by nerdsniper » Wed, May 06, 2026, 11:00 PM UTC

franktankbank wrote: post #59

nerdsniper wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In some jurisdictions it is, but in most it is legal. It’s one of those things that just didn’t require any regulation in the past.