$4.69 for a Big Mac extra value meal? WTF?

[tridim]

Last time I went to McD's (about two years ago) I payed $2.99 for the same food. Some of their other meals were almost $6.00! Where do they get off pricing their food in line with non-fast food restaurants? Are people actually buying their crap food for that price? I ended up getting three items on the dollar menu instead. I can still get a full meal (with actual nutritional value) at Sonic for $4.00.. I will never go back to McD's.

[jilln]

1. It's an even bigger ripoff than that...

that's not even food. About as nutritious as cardboard, except with more fat and cholesterol.

[tridim]

3. It still tastes good though

Extra value meals are now neither extra, nor a value, nor a meal.. Discuss.

[ret5hd]

5. try not eating fast food for 3 months...THEN try mcdonalds...

i guarantee you, you will ever say "it still tastes good" again.

[qanda]

2. We buy frozen turkey burgers when they are on sale

We get 12 patties for $4 and trust me when I say that they are much better than that junk at McDonalds. In about the time it would take to wait in line at a fast food joint, I have lunch made for four and at a fraction of the price. Sometimes I love being poor.

[malmapus]

4. Same here, I buy the bulk frozen patties from Costco

I forget the price, like $12 for 60 or something insane like that. But yeah I'm good for a while :D

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ret5hd]

7. have a great visit.

[Ron Mexico]

8. ??? Don't hold your breath.

I won't go to McDonalds again.

Or are you implying that making fun of people who sue for obesity is somehow taboo here? I'm not sure I understood your post.

[kick-ass-bob]

9. .

:popcorn:

[Blue-Jay]

21. Oooo!

:popcorn:

[Deep13]

10. That multi-$billion ad campaign is pretty persuasive.

They have psychologists on the payroll to figure out the best ways for advertisers to get into people's heads. McD's is in no position to complain when people suffer health problems as a result of doing exactly what McD's wants them to do.

[Ron Mexico]

12. It's a legal product.

Is it Budweiser's fault if I become an alcoholic drinking their beer? Their ads are pretty persuasive, too.

[Deep13]

15. Irrelevent

The product does what it does regardless of it's legal status.

I don't see anything wrong with having companies pay for the foreseeable social costs of their very profitable products. It has nothing to do with negligence or wrong doing.

[Ron Mexico]

18. So anything that

I abuse, I can stick the company with the costs by claiming that their advertising is effective and their products are profitable? Is there no requirement for willpower, responsibility and common sense? You'd have to be an absolute idiot not to know that eating three squares a day at McD's is a bad idea.

[Deep13]

22. And what personal responsibility does the company have?

Yeah, people ought to know better. Those running McD's DO know better. All I am saying is that as a general proposition, those who make profits ought to bear the real cost of doing business and not fob off onto the public costs that are not obvious, like inventory or labor.

[Ron Mexico]

24. To follow the law and whatever

oversight / regulations they're subject to. If they sell a legal product and people abuse it, I'm not going to blame the corporation.

I've got plenty of problems with corporate greed, but the stupidity of some of their customers is not one of those problems. Maybe I'm lacking in compassion, but I don't have an ounce of sympathy for people who eat junk constantly and then whine about being out of shape.

[democracyindanger]

17. Hilarious.

Spoken like someone who hasn't a clue how advertising really works. But the "psychologists on the payroll" bit is easy to swallow, despite being fake. It's like a McNugget. You made a McStatement. Or would that be a McArgument?

[Ron Mexico]

19. I don't need to work on Madison Avenue to know that

eating junk food constantly is a bad idea. Is there no call for personal responsibility and good judgement these days? Am I really to believe that "Your Honor, I became a fat pig because I couldn't resist the call of "da-da-da-da-da, I'm lovin' it" is a worthwhile argument?

Why not enlighten me if you think I'm really missing something?

[democracyindanger]

26. Wasn't talkin' to you.

I actually agree with you to a point--people need to take some personal responsibility.

So...um...yeah.

[Ron Mexico]

29. Sorry.

I'm getting hit pretty hard by some others for pushing the idea of personal responsibility, so it was a reflex response. Mea culpa. Glad to see at least someone agrees with me to some degree.

[Deep13]

27. What you are missing is how ...

... thoroughly corporate advertisers control our culture.

[Ron Mexico]

30. So why are they not able to

make me buy products I hate? If they were so effective, I'd be buying Doritos, Pepsi, Coke, Oreos, a lot of that Chef Boyardee crap, etc. For that matter, I'd be eating at McDonalds.

[Deep13]

25. Why do you say it is false?

If you are running a multi-billion dollar global marketing campaign, don't you think you would check with those who know how the mind works to see if the ads will work? If so, you not go one step further and let them design the ads. You seem very niave about how corporate branding and the cultivation of loyalty works. Why do you think their mascot is a clown? Why do you think they invented happy meals? They want to imprint brand loyalty on children so they will grow up with a warm and fuzzy image of McD's. Based on the responses I am reading, it has worked.

By the way, McD's is the most litigious company on earth. They will sue anyone with a clown or a Mc in it's name no matter how long that little company has been in business. So don't give me any crap about the cost of litigation.

[democracyindanger]

31. Even funnier.

You seem very niave about how corporate branding and the cultivation of loyalty works.

It's what I do for a living. And you seem to have the same naive everything-I-know-about-advertising-I-learned-from-watching-Bewitched-and-Bosom-Buddies knowledge that perpetuates nekkid-lady-in-the-icecube silliness.

[gmoney]

20. Hogwash...

A million or two in legal fees is NOTHING to a corp like McD's, and would only represent the smallest fraction of a penny of the cost of their "food."

Probably has more to do with declining sales, higher advertising costs, and increased greed on the part of the management/shareholders. Probably other factors, too... for instance, I bet people who DO eat at McD's regularly are NOT particularly price sensitive when compared to the perceived benefits of convenience, placating the kids, lack of other options, etc.

Plus, they are trying to offer some higher quality items to lure adults back for lunch and dinner, and they charge a pretty high premium for those items.

So, Ron, do you also believe that US medical costs are so high because of malpractice settlements? :rofl:

[Ron Mexico]

23. Do you deny

that it has something to do with it? I know doctors who quit because malpractice insurance was too high for them.

For that matter, where do you get a figure like "a million or two?" How many times do they have to shell out a million or two per year?

Whatever part litigation plays in the price increase, you can bet that the cost of litigation has been completely passed on to consumers. Maybe it isn't as high as I think it is, but I seriously doubt it's as low as you think it is.

[gmoney]

32. But the insurance rates are not high because of settlements...

...it's because the insurance companies are criminals, essentially, jacking the prices on insurance that people MUST have in order to do their jobs, drive a car, stay healthy.

Notice how term life insurance is CHEAPER than it's ever been? Partly due to competition, but also because few people are REQUIRED to have term life insurance.

In states where settlements were capped, the malpractice insurance rates were NO LOWER than in other states where settlements were not capped. Also, doctors who have been sued for malpractice tend to be bad doctors who have been sued MULTIPLE times. Of course, these bad apples are used as a justification to raise EVERYONE'S rates.

The insurance companies got creamed when the stock market tanked last time, so they're making it up on the backs of policy holders. Insurance companies have a license to steal and are among the worst, most predatory types of businesses in the world.

[Ron Mexico]

33. To be perfectly straightforward,

I haven't noticed a decrease in the price life insurance. I'm not denying that there is one.

You may be right in terms of malpractice and its effect on the cost of health care; I confess up front that I am woefully uninformed on this issue. However, there's no doubt in my mind that whatever additional cost malpractice adds, it's pssed on to us.

Oh, and for the record, I am NOT for capping settlements. I am for a screening process that will filter out truly frivolous suits. No matter what anyone says to me, if you (not you personally) eat three Big Mac meals per day over the course of a year, you've got nobody but yourself to blame. At the same time, the Repugs' idea of $250,000 for the medical suits is absolutely fucking ridiculous. Even my dittohead father laughed at it.

When I first moved to Arlington, the nearest McDonalds had Big Mac meals for $2.79. Over the next 8-10 months I saw it go up to $4.49, and this is when lawsuit after lawsuit was in the paper.

I will never vote for capping settlements when settlements are warranted. But fat fucks who use McDonalds to follow the food pyramid will never get my sympathy, no matter if their suits added 80% or 8% to the price.

[LeftyMom]

11. You're paying for the ad budget

Watch cartoons for a whild and you'll see where your money got spent. McDonalds has ads on just about every kids show including the ones on PBS.

[Initech]

13. McDonalds? Blech, I'd rather lick the food off the floor.

Probably has more nutritional value, too.

[miss_kitty]

14. gas prices. N/T

[Taverner]

16. Gas prices, marketing costs, and the fact that less people go there

All contribute to this.

[tridim]

34. Less demand should = lower prices

I don't think that's it.. But you're probably right about the gas prices and marketing.

[sir_captain]

28. In NYC, it's at least $1 more than that, even

closer to $6