McDonald’s, the world’s biggest fast food company, is reeling under President Joe Biden’s economy and is trying to give customers a break on rising prices.
But the reveal of one new meal deal on Wednesday is leaving customers fuming over a major catch.
The chain has been hiking prices across the country due to inflation, but most especially in California where the Democrat legislature recently passed a new $20 minimum wage, for some — and not all — fast food places, including McDonald’s.
But with the wage hike comes higher operating costs, something that spurred McDonald’s to raise prices.
Last month, the popular fast food joint was stung by reports that at least one location in California had charged more than $25 for a 40-piece Chicken McNugget meal. The deal included the chicken and two large fries, but no drinks.
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In response, the chain nicknamed Micky D’s will introduce a new $5 meal deal this summer, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The new deals will feature a McDouble or McChicken, fries, a drink and four McNuggets.
“Our sales and guest-count momentum has slowed considerably,” a McDonald’s owner said in an email sent to fellow operators last week leading up to franchisee votes on whether to back the deal. “The fact is that we’ve lost our momentum and we need to get it back.”
The announced deal has not been a hit with all customers.
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While many are excited over the deal, others are a bit vexed over the fast food giant’s plans.
The $5 deal comes with a major catch, that some hungry customers are not happy with — the meal deal is only set to run for a month starting on June 25.
But the short period for the promotion is not all.
The company has allowed locations with higher operating costs and higher labor to opt out of the deal, according to the U.K. Daily Mail. So, not every location will even have the $5 meal offer, and likely right where customers would need the price break the most.
Other would-be McDonald’s customers have also taken note of the big profits that the fast food joint reported recently. Last year, for instance, McDonald’s reported a corporate profit of $14.5 billion, according to the Daily Mail.
The profit margin sent one social media user to blast the chain, saying, “It looks more like corporate greed to me. McDonalds profits are also up almost double. And their net profit margin has gone from 20 percent to 33 percent.”
Another wrote, “McDonalds gross profit for twelve months ending in 2023 was $14.5 billion… maybe if they lowered the cost of their food, people would eat there again.”
Another reason customers are raising eyebrows is that the promotion is being paid for in part by its drink provider, Coke, which is kicking in $4.6 million. So, the meal deal program isn’t even being footed entirely by McDonald’s.
Despite the criticism, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski insisted that “affordability” is the company’s top concern as the economy continues to spiral down the drain.
McDonald’s is far from alone in slamming up against the wall of falling affordability.
The Journal added that fast-food traffic declined another 3.5 percent between January and March compared to the same period last year.
Starbucks, Jack in the Box and Wendy’s also reported economic pressures causing them to raise prices. These other companies are looking to launch their own meal deals to keep up with the competition.
But struggling customers are feeling the pinch.
According to the Mail, prices have soared since 2014. Back then, a McDouble was $1.19 on average and today it is $3.19, a medium fries was $1.59 whereas now it sits at $3.79, and a Quarter Pounder with cheese meal deal went from $5.39 to $11.99.
