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I find it funny the Ad I see the most on Imgur is also at the top of this price increase chart over the years. I know Imgur needs money to operate, but is there any other way that wouldn't screw the general public?
Also curious to see if this gets downvoted or flagged by mods
thisiswhyicanthaveanythingnice
Yeah. Voting for Trump is really gonna make a Big Mac cheaper. Keep telling yourself that. Idiots.
HeShallKnowYourWaysAsIfBornToThem
FALSE: A Big Mac was $3.99 in 2014, $5.99 now, that's a net 50% not accounting for inflation. Accounting for inflation, that $3.99 would now be worth $5.26. Therefore, the price of the Big Mac has gone up 14%, or an average 1.4% per year.
RevolutionOnHerLips
It's a good thing minimum wages have kept pace with inflation and we aren't using the same rate from 15 years ago...
EgglyBagelface
Greedflation
Jimmytheeel
Hey, if you're eating mcds, you already know what you're getting
capnadorable
I haven’t bothered to go to McDonald’s in more than 10 years at least, it was obvious how ridiculous their prices were getting with no change in quality at all. It reminded me of the story about grey goose vodka, not sure if it’s true but I read they were struggling so they simply increased the prices and dumb people started thinking it was a premium expensive alcohol and it saved the brand.
zanarchy805
Now let’s see corporate profits.
TheFishFace
Their profit margins haven't really changed from what was said last time this was posted. Inflation is not uniform across the economy, there is a lot of competition in the fast food sector so it's unlikely to be able to inflate prices much, and fast food isn't necessary so if they do try to price gouge it just... Doesn't matter
Svartsinn
All these articles about higher fast food prices meanwhile the local deli still sells bigass sandwhiches with fresh cuts for $9. Fast food must have a captive customer base that largely doesn't know how to cook or where to buy real food.
mardukkur
As you see from this post, so many people just get mad and keep throwing their money at garbage as if they have no choice. “$100 for a small french fry, outrageous! This means revolution!” How about don’t buy that? “BOOTLICKER ARGLEBARGLE!”
SweetRelishTadpole
Somebody thinks way too highly of their bad food
MightyIink
The franchise wars from Demolition Man are really happening and soon Taco Bell will become a luxury restaurant.
kjb72
They do have that cantina chicken now. Shits expensive but everything on the menu is now. Tonight I got two beef taco supremes and it came out to 9 bucks. I miss the days when you received an entire bag full for that much. Most of the order was wrong but oh so cheap.
Kagenical
I long for the days of the 1.39$ (CAD) Menu. At least I'm lucky enough to live close to a good McDicks so I don't get dicked too hard if I'm forced to order at 4am.
BigDaddysMeatWagon
Just... Don't eat at fast food. If they die, they die. Just get take out. You can even order it ahead of time. Way cheaper, way tastier.
invisibulman
Is this out of line with underlying food cost inflation? Eating is getting expensive man...
mardukkur
Yes it is.
jwillustrat
I’m so happy I stopped eating fast food years ago.
rbudrick
I read that most of corporate McDonald's profits are from real estate, not food. The franchisees pay their bill for the land or whatever. If anyone wants to elaborate on this, feel free cuz I'm too lazy to re-look it up.
PubstarHero
So I'm unsure about how it works for people who buy in, but if you graduate from Hamburger U (yeah its a real thing) you basically get told "We will bankroll your franchise, but we select the location". You then have McDonalds pay for the land and all the construction, and you pay higher than normal Franchising Fees to pay back the loan they gave you for the location and construction costs.
TheOtherLucas
welcome to late stage capitalism, where corporations tell the media to say that the increased prices are caused by inflation and not 'greed-flation', on an unrelated note, check out our latest record profits report and the 500 million dollar bonues for our executives.....deploying middle finger.
eromitlab
McDonald's prices are so high now, you can get real food for the same price.
bound4doom
This, exactly. Heck most breweries still have good burger and beer specials. Local place by me I can get a real BBQ bacon burger with Fries or tots, and a beer for $16, actually less since I am a mug club member. I get to sit down eat a meal take some time. I was in a hurry a couple weeks ago and went through MCdonalds, Sad tasteless QP, Fries, and bottled water was $16. Only reason to go to fast food now is in a hurry.
MatrimBloodyCauthon
My mom just went to mcdonalds on the way to something and yeah, she said never again.
AFSamizdat
I'm not trying to tow some corporate bias, but this isn't a very good comparison to make the point. It is a poor understanding of inflation. The agreement herein just proves an upvote bias towards f'corporate greed without actually demonstrating it.
Clockworkdancerobot
something about the means of production...
Tenzil
comacomacomacomachameleon
For a better chart, compare food inflation to fast food inflation. 31% is the aggregate.
pocsaclypse
having expressed curiosity about downvotes or flagging will almost certainly result in both
korndogg83
josefrijoles
Boycott all garbage food that seems like it shouldn’t be that much.
CrisprCAS
What, drive-ins don't count? Since it's not listed, can someone google 'Sonic Inflation' for me?
toddthewraith
while we're at it, i don't see Panda Inflation either
Ialwayslookhungover
darthstormer
Imagepoof
This only makes me want to Google it more...
camn333
FTUG
mizzamir
RaynWisp
>:( !
goflyblind
Malak224
ExtraWoody
Richarmeleon
I don't think that's right. Rouge's tits are supposed to be as wide as she is tall when you draw fanart.
cloel
When you saw this post and had this picture ready... Was there ever a time before where you knew more that it WAS YOUR TIME??
ExtraWoody
HurkWurk
I do IT support for a local franchisee who owns 20ish stores for a common chain. profit has remained a consistent 3 to 7% for the last 20 years, depending on store location and the popularity of more profitable items like soda vs non-profitable items that are high labor and food costs. I cant speak for all markets, especially "counter service drink" establishments, but for more mainstream, there is more to this than inflation and labor. 1/2
stonecw
This is the answer that should be getting more traction ... but nOOOOOO; we don't want to condier anything beyond our preconceived notions. Christ, Imgurians like to (rightfully) bag on the GOP and MAGA-idiots, but can't see their own biases.
HurkWurk
there has been a ton of regulation in the industry as well that has caused quite a large cost increase for both non-wage labor costs and operational costs like building improvements that are requirements, that used to not be, etc. when you are forced to spend ~$60,000 per store on new air handling units for example because of tighter air regulations, that increases costs.
sobeman
Fact is regardless of the reason, no one is going to pay those prices for long.
HurkWurk
I think people have said the same thing since burgers were 5 cents. fact is, we will, and it will become normal, then prices will go up again.
quzar
Could you give details on the 'tighter air regulations' that would require new units? I've done my share of HVAC fiddling and the only thing I can imagine is if they were still using an R-22 system, which partially banned and started being phased out 30 years ago, systems that used it stopped being made 15 years ago, and they finally banned the manufacturing of 4 years ago.
HurkWurk
in the area i live, single evacuation fan hood systems are now required to be redundant and all ductwork that was not rigid had to be replaced along with new fire detection and suppression equipment for the cook stations and of course all this ties into the HVAC and required changes there as well. some of the newer stores were cheaper, but the average was around 60k per store over a 10 year period. the county their store was in made the upgrades mandatory as part of any facility upgrades.
HurkWurk
yes, new package units were required at most of the locations as well due to age.
quzar
Ahhhh ok, that makes a lot more sense. It wasn't HVAC specific regulation but having to do with other things that tie into it. Thanks for the details :)
Cabreza
Do people still eat at McDonalds? Like seriously who is paying $8 for a damn Big Mac?!
deezoovo
$8 for single burger? Or full menu? Here in Czech Rep is price of Big Mac $4.68
mardukkur
Most of these companies are seeing fewer customers, yes. They’re at serious risk of a death spiral. Lose customers, raise prices to cover costs, lose more customers etc. And good riddance, local mom & pop spots have always been better and now they’re cost competitive too.
PUNKem733
You'd be surprised how zombie like people are for their, 6 tons of sugar in all the shitty food they serve. Yes they'll grumble about prices but many people are still going their as almost a habit, well it is a habit for that sugar fix.
muliphen
Honestly couldn't tell you the last time I had McD's, or any fast food for that matter. Save your money and eat food that is actually food.
Snarkywisecrack
I last ate fast food in 1986. I will eat from a deli or pizza shop.
muliphen
Well done!
Mightynineftw2000
I almost can give taco bell a bit of a pass. They held super cheap prices for a very very long time. It was inevitable their prices had to skyrocket
quzar
Yea, similarly Starbucks gets little credit since they were always quite expensive, so they didn't have much room to go.
dohcohv
The 5-layer is a big driver as it more than tripled in price, but it was way cheaper than it should have been. It was $0.99 for a bean and cheese burrito or $0.99 for a 5-layer that was bigger and heavier with more expensive ingredients. Eventually the 5-layer was going to have to go up.
Fatbird
No, because they follow the same general business model as Subway. Subway exists to price things as cheaply as possible in order to sell as many items as possible and make revenue off of sheer number of products sold. Subway is the #1 most populous restaurant in almost every state by a huge margin to further facilitate this revenue style. That was *also* Taco Bells intention, so their inflation should be similar to Subways. It isn't, so fuck 'em.
mizzamir
They took away the double decker taco which was one of the only bright spots in my otherwise dreary life. I will never forgive them.
jmuije
They have a Double Stacked Taco now which is almost exactly the same, they just added tortilla crunch sticks and cut about 1/4 of the beef.
jmuije
It's not QUITE the same, but... it's not bad by any means. I kinda enjoy it even.
mizzamir
It has that nasty nacho cheese in between the tortillas instead of beans. Bleh
jmuije
Fair and understandable... The Double Decker WAS the better taco, by far.
spaceindian
I miss dollar menus.
hushpuppyextraordinaire
The whole thing is Still a dollar menu though
FabergeBurrito
Explain
hushpuppyextraordinaire
5 dollar, 10 dollar, 20 dollar,
TheMiamiVicePresident
Give it a few more years at this pace and we’ll have $20 menus, small burger or side of fries for just one bill!
prosper020
Don’t worry, soon they will start charging a dollar to see the menu.
INeverWaitForIt
I don't miss dollar menus, but I miss my life when dollar menus existed.
FabergeBurrito
Someone asked me for a dollar cheeseburger. I said, "Honey I haven't seen a dollar cheeseburger in 20 years."
spaceindian
ouch, that hurts me right in the old but sounds about accurate
dohcohv
Our McDonald's has a $1$2$3 value menu. Nothing is under $3.
Nanntuckett
To be fair I think you can get a 2 for $3 on that menu.
dohcohv
I was wrong, the 4pc nugget is "only" $2.69.
Nanntuckett
Hot damn. Maybe the one near me is cheaper but there definitely isn’t anything for $1. I could’ve sworn I got 2 mcChickens for $3 not too long ago. Times are changing I guess.
GoldblumNoises
2 mc doubles for $3 is definitely on the app, not sure about in store
ElbowDeepInAJedi
I use the McDonald's app every day and get the $1 breakfast sandwich since it's a profit loss for them. I throw them in my freezer and when I have 20 or so I defrost them and bring them to the homeless camp. Fuck McDonald's
SwiftyGuy
You say Fuck Mcdonalds and yet still get Mcdonalds? Even that profit loss can’t be that much. Far better just to get your food from somewhere else.
RedWingedBlackbirds
Nice!
dizzyturtle
Last month Arby's had a free sandwich with any other purchase, every week on their app. I would get like a $10 sandwich and just pay $3 for fries.
SleazyBijou
Good job… I need to weaponize my hate also… mark me inspired!
MatrimBloodyCauthon
I wonder if this works everywhere. Thanks for the idea.
Groucho713
If I could do this in a vacuum, I'd be all over it. But simply the gasoline and time to do this would cost me >$5 per sandwich. I'd help the homeless much more by donating my time or my working wage. And the negative impact on McDonald's is less than nothing, as they make more off your app usage/metrics/data than you're costing them in lossleader sales. 🤷♂️
justfillingthespace
Literal modern-day Robin Hood shit. Good work!
petpet3d
That'll learn em!
ElbowDeepInAHeadlessHorseman
Any fast food restaurant it only makes sense to use their app. You can save about 20-25% off the posted menu prices.
Gofdunk
Taco Bell don't give discounts on the app.
YoudSwearImAVirgin
Think I saw a post on reddit where someone said their account got banned for utilizing their deals/rewards section to where mcdonalds wasn't making much money off that account. Was a couple of months ago I saw this so can't link it
poscduke
I get the $6 qmroysl with cheese meal every week and they haven't done anything
2graves
It doesn't cost them more than that lol
BigDaddysMeatWagon
Doubt.
ThatShiftyMonkey
Highly doubt. Their app is also collecting location and shopping data trends and selling the profile data to advertisers. If McD makes zero $ on throwing food at you, they're still making $ on you engaging in their app. Also, one person over utilizing an app would likely lead to their friends also using the app and buying food. Companies are absolutely fine with a handful of 'dead weight' accounts advertising the app to their friends for them.
Josiahkf
I doubt that. when I lived in canada I would login 4 accounts sitting in curbside to get like 25 dollars of food for 6.00 like 20 times a week for my family, for years lol they didnt say or do shit.
Rogahar
It very likely requires someone in the store to actively track and/or report it, which I imagine most Mickey Ds managers dont give enough of a shit to do lol
minipancho94
yea when the boycott started over Palestine i regret not suggesting a coordinated mass redemtion of points/rewards to absolutely tank their margins even further. most peoples points are expiring now if they've been boycotting though. but its a weapon we should use in the future.
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minipancho94
nah, they dont expect coordinated action as such, and the boycotts have been effective enough for them to express concern about them over a recent earnings call/investor meeting IIRC. now imagine if we coordinated over a week with thousands of people getting tens if not hundreds of thousands of $ of product at cost to the company (IIRC corporate eats the cost for those deals). considering the banks cant go a week without a bailout, what makes you think macca's in gonna fair much better?
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minipancho94
virtually all app based deals and coupons are done via corporate and the cut comes from their end. physical coupons tend to be what you get from local franchises, and will be limited to that franchises location. additionally any effective protest will be disruptive. you think the woolworths that had sit-ins didnt lose out on tips for their employees? the franchise owners are then going to put pressure on corporate if they're affected.
darthstormer
If you RaIsE MiNiMum wAgE, OuR PrIcEs WiLL gO Up!!
UserNameRegister
Stop striving for the bottom of the barrel. Work for what your worth. If you accept the minimum then that's what you believe the job is worth.
VaultGirl69
I hope you aren't referring to millennials. I assure you, those of us who are getting annual raises, those raises don't keep up with inflation or GDP growth because of wage theft and stagnating wages. And don't get me started on those with disabled partners. This country straight up sucks and everyone but us knows it.
Nobanob
Andilldoitagaingoofy.jpeg
arumunus
The one I've been seeing is "Its making adults apply and taking entry jobs from kids!"
Ma'am fast food (and retail) has had all ages working it for -years- now. Nobody's losing jobs.
tempestfoxthree
Almost like capitalism encourages companies to charge the maximum they think they can get away with.
rossimus
I mean, they technically would, but at least people would actually get paid along the way. This is sad because only the second part happened.
zugz003
https://youtu.be/Y-7SVfOhTEE
yallmfsneedjesus
I mean....it did though.
DontDoWhatDonaldDontDoes
They had to self fulfill the prophecy to ensure socialist ideas can't take root
AShartInTheWind
To be fair, higher wages isn't a socialist idea.
DontDoWhatDonaldDontDoes
To the GOP it's straight from the lips of Marx
TheWombatStrikesAgain
More like: "Prices will go up, regardless of circumstances. But we'd like you to believe every concession to the workers made it worse."
VodkaReindeer
Have you heard of this mythical country called Japan where the prices didn't go up for 30 years?
VikingYetiChef
Problem is that wasn't meaning "we will need to raise price to afford our workers" they ment "if we have to pay higher wages .. we will punish the customer for it".
myotheralt
So prices went up anyway, an minimum wage has almost been addressed
Volpe42
It is exactly what happened at the McDonald's around here. They used it as an excuse to triple the cost of a lot of the items
Idonotkillpeoplethatismyleastfavoritethingtodo
Personally I stop going to those places. I wish more people would/could. I don't live in the US though so I'm sure it's very different for me.
Fatbird
Literally every restaurant uses that excuse and people keep fuckin' believing it.
Volpe42
We didn't believe it, didn't keep em from doing it though.
ElsoKukaba
I mean, this graph doesn't exactly disprove that.
DangerTrain
When do you think the minimum wage increased? Where on this graph?
AFSamizdat
True. This graph also compares specific corporate fast food price increases relative to overall inflation. Which is a poor comparison, considering inflation includes price increases averaged across sectors. I.e. egg prices have an overall % increase greater than the automotive market. I would think McDonald's would be impacted more greatly by egg prices than automotives, not otherwise reflected in these metrics.
wabitgirl
True. And all of that misses the point that this graph DOESN'T SHOW THE PRICE OF THESE THINGS RELATIVE TO THE FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE WHICH IS ALMOST A FLAT LINE FOR THE ENTIRE TIME PERIOD DISPLAYED ON THE GRAPH, AND ALSO THE MOST IMPORTANT AND SIGNIFICANT METRIC AGAINST WHICH THIS DATA CAN BE ANALYZED.
wabitgirl
Im' sorry, I was wrong. It's literally a flat line, and has been since fucking 2009
AFSamizdat
True. But the only specific point I could gather from the post was that price increases outpaced inflation. But the marker for inflation is a sector average. Introducing wages I think goes beyond the point, not to invalidate it. Wages should definitely increase.
OddlyPacific
Show us on the graph where federal minimum wage increases.
ElsoKukaba
This graph does not show restaurants on federal land
DustyMcKnuckles
I thought your joke was funny.
TeamRocketBlastOffAtTheSpeedOfLightSurrenderNowOrPrepareToFight
Federal may not have gone up, but a lot of states have raised minimum wage, and this graph is prob based on average prices.
CacklingOctopus
Let's be real though. No one is paying the federal minimum anymore. But it's not even relevant to the argument.
The *proportion* of the profit that workers get paid has been steadily decreasing for decades. Public companies in the U.S. exist to benefit neither customers nor workers. They exist solely for execs and shareholders, and will keep costs as low as they can get away with.
Too many middle and working class people think this is just the nature of business. It's not. This was engineered.
onecowboytoo
Blame the Dodge brothers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Co.
darthstormer
About here
ElsoKukaba
I guess you think when a major city or large state raises min. wage that shouldn't affect menu prices for some reason? Where federal min. wage increase would?
OddlyPacific
No dude. It’s the profits that make the prices higher. It’s the continuous growth that stockholders expect.
DukeDarkwood
The price increases aren't going to the workers. They're going to CEOs, boards of directors, shareholders. And the prices are going up nationwide, not only in specific locations that increase minimum wage.
XennialDad
I work for a not-for-profit and I used to make ~3.4x our entry level employees that didn't have high school diplomas or GEDs. I have 2 degrees and decades of experience. Our lowest office staff position that required a college education was paid 1.5x entry level. State minimum wage went up, and I now make ~2.2x and office staff is now equal to minimum wage and new no-high-school staff. The rest of us could be paid more to bump us back to the same percentage, but as a not-for-profit 1/?
curolina
I will say that 10 years ago, McDonalds was starting people at $7.25/hr. Now they're hiring at $12.50/hr. That's a roughly 58% increase in salary for workers in that time. Assuming that's an industry average, the price increases are pretty much in line with worker pay increases.