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Why would someone pay the $10 for a Big Mac meal? Before the pandemic the customer-company dynamic made sense - I knew it was terrible quality, but it was quick

Why would someone pay the $10 for a Big Mac meal? Before the pandemic the customer-company dynamic made sense - I knew it was terrible quality, but it was quick, relatively tasty, and CHEAP. Now the employees will forget half my order and it will cost 2x what it should. Completely forgetting what their initial proposition was.

practicemaths 2y ago
In 10 years, $10 Big Mac is going to seem cheap.
- add-sub-mul-div 2y ago
  The absolute price isn't what's important, we know inflation happens. What's new about the situation is that 20 years ago there was a price discount relative to real food to go along with the lower quality. Today, the quality relative to real food is lower than before and the relative price is higher. We don't know if this will be corrected ten years from now.
  - sct202 2y ago
    If you use their app and shop the deals, the prices at McDonalds drop by 20-50% vs menu list price depending on what you get. The sandwiches in my area go buy one get one free all the time or 40% off.
    - quesera 2y ago
      "Shopping the deals on the McDonalds mobile app" sounds like a description of misery repackaged as a product for the American consumer.
      - crazygringo 2y ago
        It's not much different from clipping coupons for the grocery store, or keeping hole-punch coffee/sandwich cards in your wallet. Actually easier than either of those, to be honest.
        quesera 2y ago
        The convenience with which the misery is delivered, is its distinguishing characteristic. :)
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
    - spywaregorilla 2y ago
      That sounds like a negative to me
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > app and shop the deals, the prices at McDonalds drop by 20-50% vs menu list price depending on what you get The intent is to segregate price-sensitive customers from convenience-sensitive ones. (The app orders make in-store ordering quicker.) The problem is there are confounding factors in tech saviness and privacy sensitivity in requiring price-sensitive customers to go through an app. (As well as the basic awareness problem.)
    - add-sub-mul-div 2y ago
      That's what I've heard, but I wouldn't give in to surveillance for their bottom tier food.
      - bitmasher9 2y ago
        So you pay cash for your food? Otherwise they already got you
- red-iron-pine 2y ago
  "in 20 years a 5 cent burger will seem cheap" -- some guy in 1921
wenc 2y ago
A Big Mac in the US today is also much smaller than what it once was. It’s a Small Mac these days. A Burger King Whopper today is the size of a Big Mac of years gone by. The King still does burgers better than the clown.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  No it's not. Big Macs have not changed size. Maybe things just seemed bigger when you were a kid, and smaller in comparison. (A while ago they temporarily had 3 "sizes" of Big Macs but that was a promo.)
  - wenc 2y ago
    I’m in my 40s and have been eating Big Mac’s for more than 20 years and my baseline was not when I was a kid but from just 10 years ago. Big Macs have gotten perceptibly smaller while Whoppers have stayed the same. Maybe the weight is still the same (many ways to play that game) or whatever but there are tons of people who have noticed the shrinkage.
    - crazygringo 2y ago
      I mean, they haven't. I don't know why you think they have, but they haven't. You're mistaken. You've noticed wrong. Maybe you came across a claim about it on social media, but it's been entirely debunked: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/big-mac-since-1980/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/big-mac-since-1980/ And Whoppers have nothing to do with anything here. I don't know why you're comparing the two -- the Whopper is a single-patty quarter pounder, and it compares to the McD's quarter pounder. Not the Big Mac with its double patties and extra bread.
      - GreatLdisisp88 2y ago
        It is getting smaller. Your insistent it is not is weirdly just your specific opinion. I ate fornlike consistently over 30 years. Shrinkage is very observable.

practicemaths 2y ago

In 10 years, $10 Big Mac is going to seem cheap.

add-sub-mul-div 2y ago
The absolute price isn't what's important, we know inflation happens. What's new about the situation is that 20 years ago there was a price discount relative to real food to go along with the lower quality. Today, the quality relative to real food is lower than before and the relative price is higher. We don't know if this will be corrected ten years from now.
- sct202 2y ago
  If you use their app and shop the deals, the prices at McDonalds drop by 20-50% vs menu list price depending on what you get. The sandwiches in my area go buy one get one free all the time or 40% off.
  - quesera 2y ago
    "Shopping the deals on the McDonalds mobile app" sounds like a description of misery repackaged as a product for the American consumer.
    - crazygringo 2y ago
      It's not much different from clipping coupons for the grocery store, or keeping hole-punch coffee/sandwich cards in your wallet. Actually easier than either of those, to be honest.
      - quesera 2y ago
        The convenience with which the misery is delivered, is its distinguishing characteristic. :)
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
  - spywaregorilla 2y ago
    That sounds like a negative to me
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > app and shop the deals, the prices at McDonalds drop by 20-50% vs menu list price depending on what you get The intent is to segregate price-sensitive customers from convenience-sensitive ones. (The app orders make in-store ordering quicker.) The problem is there are confounding factors in tech saviness and privacy sensitivity in requiring price-sensitive customers to go through an app. (As well as the basic awareness problem.)
  - add-sub-mul-div 2y ago
    That's what I've heard, but I wouldn't give in to surveillance for their bottom tier food.
    - bitmasher9 2y ago
      So you pay cash for your food? Otherwise they already got you
red-iron-pine 2y ago
"in 20 years a 5 cent burger will seem cheap" -- some guy in 1921

wenc 2y ago

A Big Mac in the US today is also much smaller than what it once was. It’s a Small Mac these days. A Burger King Whopper today is the size of a Big Mac of years gone by. The King still does burgers better than the clown.

crazygringo 2y ago
No it's not. Big Macs have not changed size. Maybe things just seemed bigger when you were a kid, and smaller in comparison. (A while ago they temporarily had 3 "sizes" of Big Macs but that was a promo.)
- wenc 2y ago
  I’m in my 40s and have been eating Big Mac’s for more than 20 years and my baseline was not when I was a kid but from just 10 years ago. Big Macs have gotten perceptibly smaller while Whoppers have stayed the same. Maybe the weight is still the same (many ways to play that game) or whatever but there are tons of people who have noticed the shrinkage.
  - crazygringo 2y ago
    I mean, they haven't. I don't know why you think they have, but they haven't. You're mistaken. You've noticed wrong. Maybe you came across a claim about it on social media, but it's been entirely debunked: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/big-mac-since-1980/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/big-mac-since-1980/ And Whoppers have nothing to do with anything here. I don't know why you're comparing the two -- the Whopper is a single-patty quarter pounder, and it compares to the McD's quarter pounder. Not the Big Mac with its double patties and extra bread.
    - GreatLdisisp88 2y ago
      It is getting smaller. Your insistent it is not is weirdly just your specific opinion. I ate fornlike consistently over 30 years. Shrinkage is very observable.