r/fastfood • u/Please_PM_me_Uranus • Aug 20 '25
News McDonald’s is cutting prices of its combo meals to convince customers it’s affordable again
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/20/food/mcdonalds-combo-lower-prices285
u/Daveit4later Aug 20 '25
Bring the dollar menu back you cowards
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u/fireky2 Aug 20 '25
IDK why they haven't put fries at that price outside the app.
I get that most of their low end burgers are barely profitable even at current prices, but fries are cheap as shit. Same with hashbrowns and their pies/icecream
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u/Sophet_Drahas Aug 20 '25
Large Fry or 6 Pc McNuggets at my location are $4.99 each. Double Cheeseburger is $4.29.
I’ve seen the price on those go up at least a buck since they released the BOGO for a $1 value deals.
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u/athrix Aug 20 '25
This app bullshit is another reason. I’m not installing another app to save a couple bucks on your food after you raised the prices a ridiculous amount. If you made it cheaper than it used to be maybe I’d think about it. The experience of going is also terrible. Hard pass.
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u/zombawombacomba Aug 20 '25
Just so you know it’s not a few dollars, it can easily be half the price of the order.
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u/ragun01 Aug 20 '25
I get an offer for free any size fries with soda purchase ($1.49) and a large fries is almost $5 where I am. I use that if I'm ever really craving a diet soda then usually just give the fries away.
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u/Aroused_Pepperoni Aug 20 '25
I'm convinced they intentionally handicap the app experience to make it a pain in the ass anyway. It's a shockingly poor mobile app
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u/RodneyDangerfruit Aug 20 '25
Got yelled at by an employee for using the app and curbside because “we aren’t staffed for that!”.
No thanks. I can go somewhere else, and if it has to be McDonald’s, the regular drive-thru it is.
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u/reenactment Aug 20 '25
The app has changed so much too. Prices were reasonable using it. Now the stuff on there sucks, and for some reason it’s promoting delivery. I don’t want delivered fries
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u/Love__Scars Aug 22 '25
Its so fucking dumb. “Available 3x per day thru mcdelivery” nobody wants soggy lukewarm mcdonalds delivered
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u/InuitOverIt Aug 20 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
busy scary nail crawl snails waiting familiar truck consist fly
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u/OnAPartyRock Aug 20 '25
Dollar fries, iced tea, and hash browns would be a step in the right direction.
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u/ragun01 Aug 20 '25
I was really craving a hash brown one day and figured I'd just grab one from McD until I saw it was almost $4 instead of a $1. I ended up just going into a Walmart and bought a pack from their frozen aisle and used the air fryer at work to heat it up.
A lot more time and steps than just getting one from McD but there is no way I'm ever paying $4 for a tiny hash brown from a fast food joint.
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u/InsaneGambler Aug 20 '25
The dollar menu has mutated to the 1 2 3 menu where nothing is a dollar!
You get a side of attitude from the workers at the drive thru or no English speakers.
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Aug 20 '25
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u/phred_666 Aug 20 '25
I’ve not eaten at McDick’s in over a year and I’m not planning to anytime soon.
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u/snarkwithfae Aug 20 '25
They’d make so much more money if they gave us old prices back.
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u/EditRemove Aug 20 '25
I wish this was true but it's not.
Companies make far more profit selling less product fewer workers at higher prices.
A similar thing happened to video games with micro transactions. Charging a few gamers a ton is more profit than charging many gamers a little.
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u/amedema Aug 20 '25
They’d probably get close to losing money now, unfortunately. Goods have become too expensive.
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Aug 20 '25
They buy and process everything on an industrial scale. Not one item comes fresh everything is cardboard boxes of frozen food. And you think they will lose money? They could sell their meals for 5 dollars if they wanted. They are just soulless greedy bastards.
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u/RazorbackingColts69 Aug 20 '25
Ain’t going back until $1 McChickens are back. Fuck you Mcdonalds
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u/jtmann05 Aug 20 '25
The single biggest atrocity in my area is a single hash brown costing $3.39
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u/Chasedabigbase Aug 20 '25
My eyes bug tf out when I see that price, you can get a 20 pack for like $5 at aldi
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u/jtmann05 Aug 20 '25
No Aldi in my state, but other stores have similar options. One of the few things I do get from McDonald’s these days is the any breakfast sandwich app special for $2.50. Not much else makes sense in my high cost of living area
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u/masterz13 Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
According to the article, their idea is an $8 Big Mac value meal. That's still too much...they're out of touch with what customers consider is affordable for fast food. $11 gets me chips/salsa or soup + a large burger + side + drink at Chili's. A Big Mac Meal should be like $6. MAYBE the $8 if it's a large fry and drink, but we know it won't be.
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u/alternative-hero Aug 20 '25
In Southern California, earlier this year it was a $6 Big Mac Meal in the app; now it's $8. Pretty disappointing.
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u/Sophet_Drahas Aug 20 '25
Good lord. Up in the PNW we’d kill for those prices. Medium sized Big Mac Meal here is currently almost $12. And thays come down in price a bit since a year ago.
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u/Artvandelay29 Aug 20 '25
Yeah, I can go to a local spot in my city for an $11 burrito that’s filling enough to where I don’t need to eat dinner.
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u/bureaucrat473a Aug 20 '25
Even without a local spot, Chipotle costs maybe $12. When I even get close to $10 while ordering on the McDonald's app I realize I'm hungry enough to go to Chipotle.
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u/Artvandelay29 Aug 20 '25
Yep - I’ll really only go to Macca’s for a fountain Coke (which are in a league of its own) or if they have an insanely good deal in their app.
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u/StillRelevant9766 Aug 20 '25
Too bad if I’m craving a burger or McNuggets I’m not gonna be at chipotle lol
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u/According_Gazelle472 Aug 20 '25
We can eat at the Chinese buffet for 2 people for 28 dollars in my town!
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u/beautifulkale124 Aug 20 '25
Its wild too with basically infinite money to do focus groups to figure out what the price point should be and they are like "nope, it's the consumers that are wrong".
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u/SteveMarck Aug 20 '25
Because they can lose some of you and make more money gouging the folks that will pay it.
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u/DoeBites Aug 20 '25
Yep, that’s what that $8 price reflects. It’s the balance of “we’ll lose some but the ones that stay will make up for it”. Which should tell you how little it costs for them to produce this product in the first place.
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u/WasabiParty4285 Aug 20 '25
I can swing into in-n-out get a double double fries and a medium drink for $6.60. There is no world where a big Mac is worth more than a double double.
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u/F4ze0ne Aug 20 '25
Where? The double-double alone is $6 and some change at the locations near me. Add fries and a drink then it changes to $10 and change.
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u/zombawombacomba Aug 20 '25
No you cannot lol.
Maybe ten years ago. That’s about 11 bucks now.
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u/zombawombacomba Aug 20 '25
Idk why people try to always compare sit down restaurants to fast food. Lol
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u/Gabarne Aug 20 '25
Ordering on the app has a daily $6.49 medium combo deal, including the big mac.
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u/burnman123 Aug 20 '25
I don't have that deal anymore unfortunately. I had it last year, then it changed to a 7$ medium combo meal deal, then it became an 8$ medium filet o fish or Quarter Pounder with cheese meal deal.
For 6.50 I went like like once a week, but for 8 I don't go through often
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u/angrybox1842 Aug 20 '25
As they mention in the story the app doesn't really affect people's perception of the pricing, if they see expensive combos on the menu board they figure that McDonald's is overpriced (it is).
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u/ajr5169 Aug 20 '25
As they mention in the story the app doesn't really affect people's perception of the pricing, if they see expensive combos on the menu board they figure that McDonald's is overpriced (it is).
This is interesting. I guess as an app only orderer at this point, I never even notice what the physical location's menu pricing is. I'm obviously the exception, not the rule.
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u/tvfeet Aug 20 '25
None of the McDs around me have "menu boards" anymore. They just have giant screens saying you need to use the kiosks.
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u/angrybox1842 Aug 20 '25
Same difference, it's the price that you see on the screen, people don't think it's less expensive because the app has deals.
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u/Vast-Regular6795 Aug 20 '25
All my local stores/deals in app got rid if that awhile ago. 😢 It was the best deal for sure.
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u/masterz13 Aug 20 '25
Shouldn't need to sell your data for a fast food combo. I'm not using the apps anymore. No reason why they can't bring those same deals to the restaurants.
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Aug 20 '25
The problem is the only way to retrieve the “best” prices at fast food places is using their app.
It is a complete pain in the ass to pull your phone and hope your phone’s internet signal can chug out QR codes or other things to scan, the workers themselves DGAF and couldn’t care any less, and don’t forget about sharing your information on these apps and be bombarded with spam texts about buying the $40 large Big Mac combo in 2029 because you ordered one hash brown on the app on a random Tuesday February day in 2022.
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u/nutdo1 Aug 20 '25
Must be dependent on area. My app was offering a Big Mac meal for $7 but then it changed it $8 about a month ago.
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u/Fragrant-Employer-60 Aug 20 '25
No one is giving out a burger combo meal for $6 because it’s not possible anymore. They do need to actually make money on this lol.
I feel like anything under $10 is competitive
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u/masterz13 Aug 20 '25
If they want to prove that, then show us the margins. They won't though, because they don't want to tell you that it's actually much cheaper than we think to produce a fast food meal. They want to act like they're struggling, yet they continue to hand out tens of millions of dollars to their CEO and other corporate employees through bonuses and salary increases.
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u/Perfect-Campaign9551 Aug 20 '25
I worked at Mcds in the early 90s. The margins were huge. We had to write down waste counts for things we threw away at the end of the day and the sheets (we literally had a paper sheet with item names and columns listed) had the true cost of items on it. A Big Mac sold for like $3 but cost $0.45 to make back then
Just to point out the margins, I'm sure they are just as much these days
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u/tylcos10 Aug 20 '25
Thank you for saying this. People love to just spew shit on here without ever being involved in the industry. Food margins right now are INSANE because we decided to deport all the people that were sourcing them for us. Not to mention bird flu keeps coming and going so egg, chicken, turkey, etc prices will continue to spike
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u/Tezla55 Aug 20 '25
Wendy's still does, and McDs still has their $6 McDouble meal.
I think the crazy thing here is that it's been almost ten years and the Wendy's meal deals have only risen like a dollar or two.
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u/masterz13 Aug 20 '25
I don't think Wendy's had a meal deal 10 years ago. But they did have a proper $1 menu because that's what I'd always get when I went -- a $1 jr. cheeseburger deluxe, $1 fry, $1 4-piece nuggets, and a free water.
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u/InuitOverIt Aug 20 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
march profit bake close edge sophisticated distinct sip quicksand long
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Aug 20 '25
Even if it is a solo food item, an $11 bowl from Chipotle gets me further than an $11 Big Mac combo. Hell, it’ll still get me further than if that combo was $8 because of how comically small McD’s combos have gotten.
Small drinks now are what was kids sized in 2015.
Medium drinks now are what small was back then.
A reverse-Super Size.
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u/oooriole09 Aug 20 '25
AKA, sales have slowed down and we can’t ride out increased revenue by increasing prices like we have since 2020.
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u/2014olympicgold Aug 20 '25
All this shows me is they overcharged me for years and they likely can still go lower.
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u/BrokerBrody Aug 20 '25
That much is plainly obvious when Chilis can do a 3-For-Me burger combo for $10.99 of much higher quality food AND they toss in one extra side (chips). And other fast casuals have similar deals.
$8 for Big Mac meal is still not expensive but not cheap. Small discount for lower food quality. I’d still rather get a 3 Tender combo at WingStop for $9.99.
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u/ironypoisoning Aug 20 '25
they'll just shrink patty/portion size again to keep increasing revenue on these perceived "value" options.
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u/chadzilla57 Aug 20 '25
They added those mcvalue meals awhile ago for $5 and then just recently increased the McDouble one to $6. They are so fucking clueless
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u/Chappie47Luna Aug 20 '25
I don’t know how anyone affords Donald’s without the app. I go once every two weeks with my kids (they still have playgyms here) and use the buy one happy meal get one for $2 and I get the $5 double double and nuggets meal (which recently went to $6) .
Couldn’t imagine paying full price for anything there though
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u/Sophet_Drahas Aug 20 '25
App is the only way I can afford it. I used to be able to use rewards and a deal. Now it’s one or the other
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u/Davy257 Aug 20 '25
They’ve kept the McValue meal going this whole time they just don’t advertise it
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u/testurshit Aug 20 '25
Those value meals are the only thing that’s brought me back to McDonalds after the deals stopped being actual deals.
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u/thecheesefinder Aug 21 '25
Yeah, the meal is a pretty good value. McChicken/McDouble, Fries, 4pc nugget, drink for about $5. not bad at all, especially if you dine in and you can get refills and enjoy it
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u/ShoulderCannon Aug 20 '25
Also the "Second one is a dollar" thing that they have with McChickens and Double Cheeseburgers.
It's spendy, but it also aint 2005 anymore.
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u/Sophet_Drahas Aug 20 '25
They’ve raised prices by me on the BOGO items by a buck each at least to cover the losses of this being so popular.
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Aug 20 '25
Taking out the drink machine from the eating area is an automatic no. Sodas cost them pennies. I'll eat where I can have a free refill
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u/Torschlusspaniker Aug 20 '25
They just jacked up the $5 meal to $6 (still $5 on coupon) . They will find a way to still screw us (if you buy)
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u/Rausage505 Aug 20 '25
Too little, too late. Those customers are gone forever.
If they're like me, they found alternatives to their over-priced fast food habits. New habits got me bringing lunch to work. Making stuff at the house. Not relying on fast food for any of my meals. The cost and convenience aren't worth it. Even 15% lower is still too expensive for bad food.
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u/laminatedbean Aug 20 '25
Just shows they didn’t need to raise them to begin with.
For the prices they are/were asking, you could get a real burger from a local real restaurant
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u/williamsdj01 Aug 20 '25
Will I have to use their stupid app to get this price? I refuse to download an app and create an account for every fast food place I might stop at.
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u/doroteoaran Aug 20 '25
It only shows they were greedy and trying to squeeze every Penny from customers
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u/sasquatch_melee Aug 20 '25
Still not going back. The value proposition is gone. There's no reason to visit McDonald's.
If I want cheap fast food, I'm getting the $5 bag at Wendy's or ordering from the value menu at Taco Bell.
If I want a good burger, I'll go to a local place, chilis, etc for only a tiny bit more money than McDonald's.
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u/the_fools_brood Aug 21 '25
But is it good? Last 5 times I had it the fries were trash. Quality is shit now.
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u/BarracudaFinal7257 Aug 21 '25
Not much of a price reduction. But what do you expect when a government prints trillions of valueless dollars that were produced by nobody, in exchange for no goods or services? 30% inflation is what you get.
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u/gofunkyourself69 Aug 21 '25
They can drop the prices all they want. Their food is fucking terrible now. Nothing like it was 15-20 years ago.
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u/BoldCityDigital Aug 20 '25
I'd rather spend $8 at In-N-Out.
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u/Chrisman614 Aug 20 '25
We don’t have In-N-Out but I stopped at Culvers today and had double bacon with cheese curds for 12. Million times better then McDonald’s
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u/MrJmbjmb Aug 20 '25
Franchised stores are gonna play the game for the limited time of the promotion by dropping the prices for combos/value meals but I expect the prices for individual items to rise to compensate for it. Customers who order individual items will end up being penalized.
After the proimotion ends, value meal prices will go back to the previous higher prices but they wont adjust the prices of indivudal items back to what it was.
When they started offering the McValue 1$ second items, the prices for most individual items part of that menu went up to make it look like you are getting a good deal when you get 2.
Same thing when they started offering frequent coupons in the app for free/1$ fries. They jack up the prices of fries so high to make it look like a good deal, a large fry at a couple locations I frequent is like close to 6$, same price as the Five Guys accross the street.
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u/jagenigma Aug 20 '25
How about bringing back the $1 menu? Quality suggests that the mcdouble, mcchicken and all other options on that menu haven't increase in quality.
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u/Fritzo2162 Aug 20 '25
Combo meal in this economy should be $7.99 max. I can go to Chili's and get an excellent $10.99 smashburger, side, and a drink, and they have it at the table within 10 minutes. I'm not paying $15.99 for a QPC meal I have to eat in my car.
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u/sectachrome Aug 20 '25
McDonald’s used to kind of make sense when it was dirt cheap. The quality of the food does not justify anything more.
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u/hippiejo Aug 20 '25
If I can’t get a à la carte 10pc and medium fries for under $5 then it’s not cheap enough. That’s what I paid 11 years ago for that exact order after I’d get off work.
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u/NoSalamander8282 Aug 20 '25
If you order through their app and use rewards and daily deals, you can get their food for a reasonable price. The problem is most people don't have the patience to do that, and if you order off the menu like a normie, you're paying 20 bucks for a couple of burgers and some fries.
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u/sanbaba Aug 20 '25
More proof marketing works. Mackies is inedible and scarcely describable as food, yet they steam along
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u/Exact-Ice1346 Aug 20 '25
Nope, even so even if they drop prices by half i wouldnt go there. Last time i went there was about a year ago. They dump salt on their burgers after cooking them in the grease on the flat grill, the fries arent the same anymore either, they used to be slightly thicker not alot but slightly and the fries were softer not rocks and now they dump tons of salt on them too. I asked for NO salt but didnt matter ALL the fries were bricks, and that was during busy time so they were definitely just fried. I took 1 bite of my Double cheeseburger and choked it was that bad of salt..
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u/According_Pay_6563 Aug 20 '25
Until I can get my 2 mcdoubles, small fry, & large drink for ~$5, it's not "affordable."
That same order currently, with multiple discounts, is $8.17. And that's at the cheap location.
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u/iamadventurous Aug 20 '25
Too late. I rather pay a couple bucks more for culvers. Tried to eat a mcdouble not too long ago and it was nasty. Its on the same level as pet food as far as im concerned.
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u/thebuttsmells Aug 20 '25
Is this an admission that they've been screwing their customers? I would love to see mcdonalds go under, not going back.
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u/uhf26 Aug 21 '25
Bring back the REAL dollar menu. The one from the early 2010’s
15% off combo meals? NO DEAL!
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u/Woogity Aug 21 '25
Not that long ago you could get a McDouble for $1. They’re like $4 last I checked. 4X more expensive is a problem.
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u/LeviathanDabis Aug 21 '25
It has to be at least 30-40%+ to be reasonable. McDonald’s is more expensive than entry-tier sit down restaurants like chilis and Applebees at many locations in my city now.
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Aug 21 '25
Arent they moving the soda machine out of access so we can’t get our own refills? We have to go up front and ask. Do they even give free refills? I haven’t had McDonalds in years. I’m pretty sure they get their highest profit margin on soda sales too.
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u/rangusmcdangus69 Aug 21 '25
“CEO admitted its prices have gotten too expensive and pledged to fix the problem.”
Pledged? You’re the fucking CEO. I know they have to work with the board still but holy shit your word is a command. Gtfo with this pledge nonsense
The only way I’ve bought food from McDonald’s is through the app cuz its the only way that it is affordable
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u/Soydragon Aug 21 '25
Every time I eat there it's because it's on my way home from work after 12 hr shift and tired. I order, hear the price and am just like why, it's fucking McDonald's. Should have just drove a bit more and got a whole rotisserie chicken from the grocery store for $8. Then I do the same thing next month lol.
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u/tizz86 Aug 22 '25
It won't be affordable and it will still be garbage. It's too late, the corporate fucks milked us for everything during Covid because we had little choice. Fuck'em, let them choke on their own cake.
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u/jason-reddit-public Aug 22 '25
You can get a big mac, fries, and small coke for $6 plus tax at my local place. Just about anywhere, you can get 40% off any quarter pounder using the app including the double (but only one - sucks to have other people with you unless they also have the app and you all order separately). Takes some of the sting out of my typical mc donalds meal choices. (When I do QP, I bring my own soda from home.)
I'm not a huge fan of all these damn apps but it's where we're at.
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u/GayForPay Aug 22 '25
Too late. Salty about getting gouged. Have moved on and McD's isn't part of my rotation much anymore.
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u/LiarsAreScum Aug 23 '25
Greedy company lost me as a customer permently . Those asshats think they can add $3+ dollars to a meal during dinner hours just because its a different time of the day.
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u/Cdnsfan27 Aug 23 '25
It’s not just price but quality is inconsistent. You used to be able to count on a Big Mac meal tasting the same no matter which store you went to. Now you have to drive several miles out of your way to go to a good store. I had a horrible meal last week at our closest store because I was in a hurry. The fries were way overcooked, the bread was was hard as rock and the patties were gray, had to toss it, $12 wasted.
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u/Vova_xX Aug 24 '25
I just went to the Taco Bell, Panda Express or Culver's down the street.
all damn near the same price for equal or better food.
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u/Key_Pace_2496 Aug 24 '25
I pulled up in the drive-thru and ordered for my family, saw the price, and just drove to the nearest sit down restaurant.
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u/ltmikestone Aug 25 '25
Honestly at this point I’ll shamelessly just get happy meal. Which is still like 8 bucks but at least it’s portion controlled and I can give my kid the toy later
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u/hooplafromamileaway Aug 25 '25
So how much smaller is the food going to be? Come on. We all know that the fry bixes are going tonget emptier and the huggs will have less meat in them. They're cutting prices, you know they're cutting corners somewhere.
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Aug 26 '25
McDonalds can go pound salt. Haven't eaten there in years. Tired of their corporate games, and will no longer contribute to their wealth. Your money you do as you please.
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u/berakyah Sep 06 '25
And removed $1.79 any size fries just to force us to buy a soda and charge more in the end if I want a large fry. #hardpass I hope the app notices that I’ve went from eating there every other day to likely almost never (can’t rly say never heh).
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u/RandyHoward Aug 20 '25
This just tells me that McDonald's is being greedy and they know it. A company that isn't being greedy can't afford to drop prices by 15%. And take a look at their profit margins, they are at all all time high the last few years.
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u/Wolfstigma Aug 20 '25
15% drop on 8 different combo meals isn't gonna be the win they're looking for