McDonald's reported a surprise drop in sales worldwide on Monday (Jul 29), its first decline in 13 quarters, as deal-seeking consumers shy away from higher-priced menu items, including Big Macs. Persistent inflation has forced lower-income consumers to shift to more affordable food options at home. That ha
  • hydrashok@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    58·
    3 months ago

    I’ve pulled back as well. They’ve eliminated all their good coupons and increased all their prices to the point where a more upscale restaurant is on equal footing in price and far ahead in quality.

    McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and Burger King all compete on being cheap, filling, and of adequate quality for most people. Now they’re not cheap anymore and I can get Cane’s, Popeye’s, Culver’s, and Five Guys for nearly the same price. What incentive to I have to choose McDonald’s/BK/TB/etc? Also, I don’t drink soda, so no value meal options anywhere for that. I’ll never buy that $5 meal deal.

    Taco Bell’s chili cheese burrito is $3.79. Beef and bean burritos are $2.49 for gods sake. That shit used to be 89 cents. Even with inflation it should only be about $1.50. McDonald’s double cheeseburger is $3.79, too. BKs app deals are a joke and what was once a pretty good value meal is basically toast. Same at Wendy’s, and they’re also investigating surge pricing for food, even though they walked it back.

    I’m glad folks are voting with their wallets and saying no more to this crap. I get prices go up in the long term but damn, this feels more like price gouging than inflation.

    • protist@mander.xyzEnglish
      13·
      3 months ago

      In Texas we have a bunch of regional fast food chains that have popped up that are infinitely better quality food for basically the same price. Why would I ever go to McDonalds?

    • Zerlyna@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      3 months ago

      Yes!!! The 20% off 3$ is now $7 at McDonalds. And I ordered that new maple bacon chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-A… $12.50!!! No thanks.

    • JoShmoe@ani.socialEnglish
      16·
      3 months ago

      Yeah sure, they’re ridiculous right now. But when they’re all dead and gone or hard to find, you’ll be missing those cheap ass burritos and happy meals.

  • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.todayEnglish
    56·
    3 months ago

    Not surprising even a little bit. McDonald’s is not and never will be a premium burger. That is not their market segment. But they have priced themselves at and above many premium burger offerings. I get the desire to move out of the absolute lowest budget, but they’ve done it too much. There’s no point in going to McDonald’s when you can get a significantly better burger for the same or less money.

    • hushable@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      3 months ago

      The local burger joint down my street is chapter than McD. And there’s another premium place nearby that sells smash burgers for the same price as a big mac. Makes no sense for me to go McDonald’s anymore

      • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        3·
        3 months ago

        A dozen buffalo wings and a pound of french fries from Chilis’ It’s Just Wings app are within a dollar of a medium chicken sandwich combo at Burger King. Can’t tell you what prices are doing at McDonald’s because I haven’t tried eating McDonald’s in a year, their service is too terrible.

      • saltesc@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        3 months ago

        There’s the very rare exception of when I need some kid to throw food into my car while I keep driving by the window. But sometimes I still prefer starving and getting a nice meal later when I have time.

    • ms.lane@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      3 months ago

      Hungry Jacks in Aus (local Burger King licensee) is somehow even worse, Maccas put their prices up, but HJ’s put their prices to the moon.

      You can get a Dominos pizza (also crap) delivered (remember, we don’t do tips either…) cheaper than a Whopper w/ Cheese (not a meal, just the burger)

  • thejml@lemm.eeEnglish
    42·
    3 months ago

    A few weeks ago my daughter and I were out and about and almost went to McDonalds. We decided instead to go to our favorite local Italian place and it ended up being cheaper than McDs, if you don’t include the tip, for a much better meal at a sit down restaurant that supports local businesses. I really feel like McDonald’s priced themselves out of their own market… and they’re not even the most expensive “fast food”.

    • AlecSadler@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      13·
      3 months ago

      It’s wild to me the prices that McDonald’s is near me. You can save quite a bit by using the mobile app and succumbing to their data mining, but I don’t want to do that.

      You’re absolutely right that, well, sans alcohol, I can eat at a good chunk of sit-down, nice restaurants in my area for basically the same price as McDonald’s. Which is absurd.

  • MonsterMonster@lemmy.worldEnglish
    30·
    3 months ago

    Not a surprise. The quality has dropped, they’ve priced themselves out of the market so that ordinary cafes (diners) are cheaper.

  • JimSamtanko@lemm.eeEnglish
    19·
    3 months ago

    Could it be that it’s exponentially cheaper to make a better version of everything they have right at home?

      • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        5·
        3 months ago

        Yeah, my guess is that sales have been going up since then due to people gradually resuming their pre-pandemic habits.

        Edit: Looks like I’m wrong. Their earnings returned to pre-pandemic levels almost immediately, back in 2020. Source. (But I think these might not be global earnings since the trend doesn’t match what the article says.)

  • 9point6@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    3 months ago

    Well I stopped buying it a few months ago after the prices went up again despite them being incapable of getting 4/5 orders correct and just a general drop in quality

  • tiredofsametab@kbin.run
    111·
    3 months ago

    My fault. I moved from Tokyo to the countryside and there’s no food delivery so I went from at least once a week down to once a month or less. I’ll try harder to think of the profits next time.

    Well, I do have to go into town tomorrow for an appointment…

  • mommykink@lemmy.worldEnglish
    81·
    3 months ago

    I wonder what the impact of weight loss drugs will be once they hit the mainstream. Those things are just normal (but very effective) appetite suppressants. Combine 20+ years of bad PR with a real way for people to curb their very real psychological addictions to fast food and I can actually see a future where we look back on today’s fast food like we do to whatever the fuck the 1970s thought about jell-o

    • Mothra@mander.xyzEnglish
      4·
      3 months ago

      That was an interesting article. I had no idea there was ever a fad with jelly containing salads, beef, mayonnaise and seafoods. That episode of the Simpsons makes sense now

        • Mothra@mander.xyzEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

          Fair enough, I can understand why adding fruit to it has some appeal especially for kids. My mom used to add apple cubes or strawberries to jelly when I was a kid and I used to think it was fun. I can also give a pass to the dessert options in that article, they look tacky but edible in the grand scheme of things. Cabbage and tuna salad in jelly? Give me a break

    • hydrashok@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      41·
      3 months ago

      If you want really disgusting, my grandmother had a mayonnaise cookbook with all sorts of crimes against humanity presented as normal, everyday meals. Thankfully she was a good cook and thus never subjected us to those horrors, but I still get kinda sick just thinking about some of them.

      • Chee_Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        3 months ago

        Hahaha, that sounds horrific. What about the 78 page microwave recipe booklet you get/got with some brands? Remember those? Who the fuck is gonna microwave a whole chicken casserole to completion, what psychopaths is this written for?

    • ms.lane@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      3 months ago

      Most of those things are just Aspic - which is very common in Europe…

  • Jumi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    3 months ago

    Why go to McDonald’s or Burger King when there’s a Five Guys nearby?

    • elucubra@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      In Spain 5 guys is about 50% more expensive than McDonalds, but being an order of magnitude better, it is a no brainer. I just checked. In my area, a Big Mac menu is over 10€.

      You can get a basic set menu (two courses, bread, drink, dessert or coffee) at a neighborhood restaurant for a couple of € more.

  • reksas@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    1·
    3 months ago

    Not only am i not buying anything from them, i wouldnt accept it even for free.

  • Media Bias Fact Checker@lemmy.worldBEnglish
    410·
    3 months ago
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