• octopus_ink@slrpnk.net
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    7 days ago

    Fuck McDonald’s

    TheStreet reported that Medium French Fries went from $1.79 in 2019 to $4.19 in 2024, a 134.1 percent increase. A McChicken went from $1.29 to $3.89, a 201.6 percent hike.

    The price of the beloved Big Mac increased 87.7 percent, from $3.99 to $7.49. An order of 10 McNuggets rose by 68.8 percent, from $4.49 to $7.58. Of the five popular products examined, cheeseburgers saw the largest price increase—going from $1 to $3.15, a 215 percent spike.

    These increases exceed the general average for inflation calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which shows that prices went up by about 21.5 percent between the end of 2019 and March 2024.

    For at least since the pandemic I can get a better burger and fries from an actual restaurant, with probably three or four different places to choose from, for less. McDonald’s is good in a particular way, but the two main things they had going for them were convenience and cost. With cost blown away the convenience isn’t really enough to carry the day a lot of the time, even when I’m in a rush.

    And they did it them fucking selves.

    • fishy@lemmy.today
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      7 days ago

      Yeah, not that I used to eat fast food a lot but with prices as high as they’ve gotten I just can’t justify it. It’s garbage food that’s more expensive than sit-down options. Everyone has a phone, so with 10 minutes of pre planning you can order from anywhere and not have to sit there and wait which makes McDonald’s lose ground in convenience too.

      Pricing is about the only place McDonald’s could win, but they’re too greedy and we all know it.

    • GenXLiberal@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Yup, they totally kept jacking prices up to get as much as they can from the consumer.

      McDonald’s execs are not featured in this video but you can bet they were not sitting idly by when others were getting “as much as the consumer can absorb” read: keep increasing prices until sales increases stall.

      Nope, just no, screw them.

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=psYyiu9j1VI

  • merdaverse@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    “We have seen … an increase in people in various markets saying they’re going to be cutting back on purchases of American brands,” they said.

    i’m lovin’ it

  • Cyrus Draegur@lemm.ee
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    7 days ago

    A fucking McDouble should have never gone over a buck fifty. Fuck McDonald’s. They’re not paying their employees enough to charge that much.

    • Shrouded0603@feddit.org
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      4 days ago

      There was a Stunt? Only thing I Heard is They sold their food to him (something I wouldnt deem as controversial)

      • opus86@lemmy.today
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        7 days ago

        They let Trump do a photo op manning a fryer to mock his opponent that had worked at a McDonald’s in her teens. The clown makes burgers. If he wants to play politics, he doesn’t get my business.

      • mitchty@lemmy.sdf.org
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        8 days ago

        As another American rock the fuck on Canadians. I’ve been trying to buy more to help even out that trade balance but my state already does 3:1 imports but gotta pump those numbers up.

        Also you got any Canadian crack maple syrup recommendations perchance. Cause I’m getting low and need my pancake fix, maple butter too cause if I’m going for a heart attack I go for gold.

    • JohnnyFlapHoleSeed@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      Change your tax withholding this year. Just put the extra money in a Canadian bond and wait for them to raise a stink

      • Windex007@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Whatever the version of an RRSP is in the states, usually you can change your investment strategy in it even if it doesn’t hold individual securities. Most would have an international investments strategy that keeps your money out of the USA.

    • henfredemars@infosec.pub
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      9 days ago

      Sometimes I can. When I have the option to get a European product from one of our local grocery stores — and there are some! I much prefer the imports. I feel like they’re safer these days.

  • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    McDonald’s forgot their place as a cheap fast food burger. It’s almost as expensive as places like Five Guys now, and nowhere near the same level of either flavor or sheer quantity.

    It used to be that their app promos made up the difference but now it’s the same like 4 so coupons for specific items and a generic 15% off that really only covers taxes, not the 50%+ increase in prices in the last 2 years. It’s just not worth it anymore.

    Even ignoring the international portion, I wouldn’t be surprised if Americans started to notice as well.

    • Shou@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      “If you’re not making a 33% profit, what are you doing it for?” - a quote from the Netherland’s McDonald’s chain owner. He also owns a bright red farari when visiting the drive through. He is a massive leech. Glad to not be working there anymore. The food quality is crap and overpriced.

      You’re way better off eating Taco Mundo. Much better ingredients for the same prices. Even a frozen pizza from ristorante is way better than what Mac has to offer. Or Burger Me who actually rewards loyal customers with free burger coupons rather than McD’s sales app. I genuinely do not understand why people still go there. You can make your own burger with better quality and price at home…

      • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Yeah, for reference, here are all of the deals currently available for me in the McD’s app…

        1. $2 Breakfast sandwich (and they no longer have 24 hours breakfast).
        2. Free medium fries with a $3 purchase.
        3. Buy One Happy Meal get one for $2
        4. 20% off a $15+ purchase

        And that’s it. Meanwhile…

        A Quarter Pounder with Cheese or Big Mac is $7.29, for the sandwich alone. The meals are $13.39 and $13.19 respectively. Why is there a difference? The sandwiches cost the same independently and the fries and drink are the same for the meal.

        Or let’s get into the grift now… they’re ripping you off with some of the meals. A regular basic Cheeseburger is $2.69, and the meal is $10.39. so they’re saying the “discounted” meal bundle price to add a regular drink and fries is $7.70. So they’re saying the fries and a soda are worth nearly 3x as much as the cheeseburger, which is already ridiculous. But let’s ignore that and look at the cost closer… a regular medium fries is $4.99 and a regular medium soda is $1.39 which comes to $6.38… so they’re actually ripping you off for an additional $1.32 if you get the meal versus the items separately. So you’re paying an additional 10% by getting the meal… Isn’t that what the discount should be?

        • Shou@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          The price of a mcflurry is €4,80. You can buy a magnum scoop ice cream (€5) with twice the volume and greater quality. Also, we have a shitty discount play. So rn, you can buy 2 for the price of 1. So that’s way better than a half-melted mcflurry with barely any chocolate chunks in it.

          • Tja@programming.dev
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            8 days ago

            Magnum pint ice cream is the best I’ve tasted short of some artisanal products. Better than Ben and Jerry or any other mass market.

            Just looked it up and it belongs to Unilever, UK based multinational, so quite okay.

    • lazynooblet@lazysoci.al
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      8 days ago

      I expect it’s actually a political piece attempting to further the rhetoric that America is up in flames. And likely so they should.

      But also, McDonald’s prices are outrageous now. I can feed my family at a sit in restaurant for a similar price.

      • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 days ago

        I expect it’s actually a political piece

        Yeah 100% propaganda. Just read the headline. They want anti-genocide protestors in concentration camps.

      • Bamboodpanda@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Fast food and major chains have gotten absurd. I used a gift card at Red Robin. It was $19 before tip for a dry burger and bland fries. Two bucks more could’ve gotten me a gourmet meal at a five-star place just down the street. The value just isn’t there anymore. Eating local almost always tastes better, feels better, and costs the same or less. Why settle for mediocrity when better is right around the corner?

      • barneypiccolo@lemm.ee
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        8 days ago

        I can go to Chilis and get a REAL cheeseburger, fries, and a drink, for $10.99. If I’m in their free club, I get a free chips & salsa on every visit, too. If I leave a $2 tip (18%), it’s only $12.99, which is about same as a standard burger/fries/drink combo at McDonald’s.

        Also, McDonald’s burgers are among the worst in the business, with nearly every other burger place beating them easily. We now have Culvers entering our market, and their burgers and fries blow away everyone else. They have really wide menu, and are actually cheaper than everyone else.

        McD is also losing out go the quickly rising chicken tender trend, where their nuggests also compare poorly.

        Their best thing is breakfast, where they are still the leader, but they are getting expensive there, too.

        They’ve opend up a couple of new outlets near me, and they are obviously getting ready to go robotic. The dining areas are empty, with no drink stations, condiments, or even dispensers for straws or napkins. There is a wall that blocks the view of the kitchen area, so you can’t see who, or how many people are back there. It could be completely automated right now, and you’d never know it.

    • KumaSudosa@feddit.dk
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      8 days ago

      And all these shit companies directly supported Trump because they loved his “lower taxes hur dur” etc approach… now suffer!

    • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      I know it’s cool to just hate on capitalists for everything on Lemmy but like yeah it’s completely normal to complain about a decrease in profits. That’s like if you complained about a 3.6% decrease in take home pay, which ai suspect anyone would.

      • Hacksaw@lemmy.ca
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        8 days ago

        Don’t compare the income of the rich and the poor. We use our take home pay to buy groceries. They use their take home profits to buy our country out from under us, to buy our land and our companies, to buy our politicians, to buy our time. We are not the same.

        • andallthat@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          yes, 3.6% less profits for most of us means “should I pay the electricity bill and starve for a couple of days?”. For Ronald McDonald it probably means “here’s another round of layoffs to streamline operational efficiency or whatever”

      • piccolo@sh.itjust.works
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        8 days ago

        3.6% of 40k is 1,440. Thats like one months rent. 3.6% of 25 billion is 900 million thats like what… one super yachts?

      • EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com
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        7 days ago

        Their decrease in profits is pushback for bad behavior though. So it would be like getting a 3.6% decrease in take home pay because you got demoted for misconduct.

    • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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      8 days ago

      There was a time when McDonald’s had a reasonable combination of cheap, fast, predictable, and safe. You weren’t going to spend $4.50 on a meal that was ready in seconds and it wasn’t going to make you sick.

      Basically none of that is the case anymore. You’re going to wait like you’re at a steakhouse, you’re going to pay like you’re at a steakhouse, and you’re going to get freshly analed gristle on a bun.

        • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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          8 days ago

          McDonald’s even at its peak was a heavy dose of salt, fat and carbohydrates, mostly empty calories, but again: cheap, fast, safe. My understanding is there are athletes that would carb load on McDonald’s french fries because they were readily available basically everywhere and were very unlikely to make you sick.

          Quality has slipped, prices have drastically increased, service is an order of magnitude slower…you have to be an idiot to eat at McDonald’s now, the value proposition has fallen below remaining hungry.

    • krashmo@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      McDonald’s is better abroad (in my experience in the EU) so they actually have higher standards than us to begin with. I think that is largely true across the board but especially in this case.

      • Saleh@feddit.org
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        8 days ago

        They have better standards than the US because US standards would probably violate EU minimum standards.

        Doesn’t mean that they are good or even acceptable relative to the alternatives. Most kebab places in my city have better burgers for lower prices and the dedicated burger shops (not the tourist traps) have slightly higher prices but much better quality and quantity.

        • Miaou@jlai.lu
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          8 days ago

          Depends heavily on the country. MacDonald’s in France is quite good IMO, in Germany, it’s absolutely nasty.

  • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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    9 days ago

    Oh no, did the shitty mega corporation suffer consequences for its role in contributing to destabilizing a government to save 2% on its taxes? Pobrecito!

    • biofaust@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Is that government the US or another one? Did they make substantial contributions to Trump or Vance?

      • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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        8 days ago

        US, yeah, and I’m certain they contributed in some way. Most mega corps contribute to republicans in some way or another, either directly to campaigns or they contribute to policy groups or advocacy/lobbying groups that contribute to republicans or help create policy for them. Basically, everything else can burn as long as we save 1% on our taxes-- wait, why did the lights go out?

      • Seleni@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Not only did they contribute, they had Trump do an ad for them while he was on the campaign trail.

  • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    The burger giant reported U.S. same-store sales fell 3.6%, the largest three-month drop since Q2 2020, when they plunged 8.7%.

    Pump that shit up, y’all! Don’t forget McDonald’s hosted the domestic enemy to the United States Constitution, Donald Trump, for two separate PR stunts. They are complicit in his treason. They don’t deserve another cent of your money - there are tons of other options to get your greasy salt fix.