McDonald's suffers worst U.S. sales decline since 2020, warns of 'anti-American sentiment' abroad
McDonald's suffers worst U.S. sales decline since 2020, warns of 'anti-American sentiment' abroad
Good fuck McDonalds
"We have seen ... an increase in people in various markets saying they’re going to be cutting back on purchases of American brands," they said.
i'm lovin' it
TheStreet reported that Medium French Fries went from $1.79 in 2019 to $4.19 in 2024, a 134.1 percent increase. A McChicken went from $1.29 to $3.89, a 201.6 percent hike.
The price of the beloved Big Mac increased 87.7 percent, from $3.99 to $7.49. An order of 10 McNuggets rose by 68.8 percent, from $4.49 to $7.58. Of the five popular products examined, cheeseburgers saw the largest price increase—going from $1 to $3.15, a 215 percent spike.
These increases exceed the general average for inflation calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which shows that prices went up by about 21.5 percent between the end of 2019 and March 2024.
For at least since the pandemic I can get a better burger and fries from an actual restaurant, with probably three or four different places to choose from, for less. McDonald's is good in a particular way, but the two main things they had going for them were convenience and cost. With cost blown away the convenience isn't really enough to carry the day a lot of the time, even when I'm in a rush.
And they did it them fucking selves.
Yeah, not that I used to eat fast food a lot but with prices as high as they've gotten I just can't justify it. It's garbage food that's more expensive than sit-down options. Everyone has a phone, so with 10 minutes of pre planning you can order from anywhere and not have to sit there and wait which makes McDonald's lose ground in convenience too.
Pricing is about the only place McDonald's could win, but they're too greedy and we all know it.
I don't know why I bother with ordering ahead of time because every time I do they haven't done shit when I get there to pick it up.
Yup, they totally kept jacking prices up to get as much as they can from the consumer.
McDonald’s execs are not featured in this video but you can bet they were not sitting idly by when others were getting “as much as the consumer can absorb” read: keep increasing prices until sales increases stall.
Nope, just no, screw them.
I can't believe a Big n' Tasty used to be a buck with prices the way they are.
It doesn’t help that the prices have increased 142% since 2019
A fucking McDouble should have never gone over a buck fifty. Fuck McDonald's. They're not paying their employees enough to charge that much.
As an American, if i could buy not American right now, I would. Fuck this government.
You should check out !goodsuniteus@lemmy.ca to buy from companies that do not make political contributions.
OMG, this is fantastic! Thank you
As another American rock the fuck on Canadians. I’ve been trying to buy more to help even out that trade balance but my state already does 3:1 imports but gotta pump those numbers up.
Also you got any Canadian crack maple syrup recommendations perchance. Cause I’m getting low and need my pancake fix, maple butter too cause if I’m going for a heart attack I go for gold.
Thank you for this
Change your tax withholding this year. Just put the extra money in a Canadian bond and wait for them to raise a stink
Whatever the version of an RRSP is in the states, usually you can change your investment strategy in it even if it doesn't hold individual securities. Most would have an international investments strategy that keeps your money out of the USA.
Sometimes I can. When I have the option to get a European product from one of our local grocery stores — and there are some! I much prefer the imports. I feel like they’re safer these days.
If you hate this government, you should check out every single government before this.
As a Canadian in Japan, McDonald's is one brand I had a difficult time saying goodbye to after your Shit president threatened our sovereignty, because I genuinely used to have a good experience everytime I went. Clean store, polite staff, decently cheap food, and cool collabs with Japanese IP like Pokemon and Mario.
I'm sad my kids don't get to enjoy a treat there every now and then, but fuck the USA right now and anybody who supports the shitty administration.
As an American, yeah I agree with you, fuck the USA
Yeah if you're cool with torturing and murdering animals, supporting genocide, destroying the planet... McD's is pretty sweet! Especially for the kids!
Do you ever worry that by calling everything genocide you're going to undermine the seriousness of the term?
Our very existence tortures the planet. Every bit of convenience and joy we feel is based on someone else's hardship and sadness to some degree. So do you just live every day of your life feeling guilty?
What device did you use to make your stupid comment? I hope it was posted using a device powered by renewables; used no rare earths; built by fairly paid, of-age, and vegan workers. Oh no? If you're cool with that, your comment is pretty sweet!
fuck the shitty us empire.
we are right in not wanting to be bullied by that shitty country anymore.
I think you're wrong.
There is no 'anti-American sentiment' only an anti-Trump sentiment.
After he's gone our European 'leaders' will be happy little vasals and bootlickers again.
I dunno about that. This status quo was created because America came out of WWII smelling like roses. All of Europe was rebuilding and so American prosperity of the time was basically like being the one only slightly scorched house on a bombed block. It's been long enough that the countries in question aren't in need of leaning on the one stable currency.
This could be the push needed to equalize the world stage and break off of old habits. Like take Canada for example. Food self sufficiency in Canada was always a concern. That's why there was a tarriff on US Dairy, because Canada wanted to retain domestic self sufficiency in one of it's food production spheres. That issue persisted through other sectors but there wasn't a strong political motive to make that shift. The government wasn't called to protect and incentivize strong domestic production to a great extent because the US generally has a better growing year in the south. To not have food security however is a weakness in Canadian's self determination if things go bad. Now that things have gone bad structure will be put in place and protected meaning a semi-permanent loss of market for American interests.
What Trump has proven is American volitillity in it's government structure and voting block and nobody will want to tie a shoddy investment around their ankles. In fact some might take it as the opportunity to cut loose a problematic ally.
There is no anti-american sentiment, just an overwhelming pro-genocide sentiment within empire.
Nothing says "I'm a greedy whiny bitch" like complaining about a 3.6% dip in profits.
I expect it's actually a political piece attempting to further the rhetoric that America is up in flames. And likely so they should.
But also, McDonald's prices are outrageous now. I can feed my family at a sit in restaurant for a similar price.
Fast food and major chains have gotten absurd. I used a gift card at Red Robin. It was $19 before tip for a dry burger and bland fries. Two bucks more could’ve gotten me a gourmet meal at a five-star place just down the street. The value just isn’t there anymore. Eating local almost always tastes better, feels better, and costs the same or less. Why settle for mediocrity when better is right around the corner?
I can go to Chilis and get a REAL cheeseburger, fries, and a drink, for $10.99. If I'm in their free club, I get a free chips & salsa on every visit, too. If I leave a $2 tip (18%), it's only $12.99, which is about same as a standard burger/fries/drink combo at McDonald's.
Also, McDonald's burgers are among the worst in the business, with nearly every other burger place beating them easily. We now have Culvers entering our market, and their burgers and fries blow away everyone else. They have really wide menu, and are actually cheaper than everyone else.
McD is also losing out go the quickly rising chicken tender trend, where their nuggests also compare poorly.
Their best thing is breakfast, where they are still the leader, but they are getting expensive there, too.
They've opend up a couple of new outlets near me, and they are obviously getting ready to go robotic. The dining areas are empty, with no drink stations, condiments, or even dispensers for straws or napkins. There is a wall that blocks the view of the kitchen area, so you can't see who, or how many people are back there. It could be completely automated right now, and you'd never know it.
Yep and get waaaayyyyy better quality food
I expect it’s actually a political piece
Yeah 100% propaganda. Just read the headline. They want anti-genocide protestors in concentration camps.
And all these shit companies directly supported Trump because they loved his "lower taxes hur dur" etc approach.. now suffer!
I know it's cool to just hate on capitalists for everything on Lemmy but like yeah it's completely normal to complain about a decrease in profits. That's like if you complained about a 3.6% decrease in take home pay, which ai suspect anyone would.
Don't compare the income of the rich and the poor. We use our take home pay to buy groceries. They use their take home profits to buy our country out from under us, to buy our land and our companies, to buy our politicians, to buy our time. We are not the same.
Their decrease in profits is pushback for bad behavior though. So it would be like getting a 3.6% decrease in take home pay because you got demoted for misconduct.
Or alternately, that extra money was from a non-guaranteed bonus and you got a smaller bonus this year.
3.6% of 40k is 1,440. Thats like one months rent. 3.6% of 25 billion is 900 million thats like what... one super yachts?
It all depends where you live, but I can go to a proper sit-down restaurant, one of the cheaper ones, but still a sit-down restaurant that actually cooks real food, and spend as much or less than I would at McDonald's.
I can even get a pint of beer with a sit down meal for not far off the cost of McDonalds.
I stopped going there ever since they cause the capture of Luigi.
I realized how far they go for anything.
I stopped when it became obvious they were price gouging their customers. None of their food is worth the price and it hasn't been for probably close to a decade.
I stopped when they were proudly supporting zionazi scum
McDonald's forgot their place as a cheap fast food burger. It's almost as expensive as places like Five Guys now, and nowhere near the same level of either flavor or sheer quantity.
It used to be that their app promos made up the difference but now it's the same like 4 so coupons for specific items and a generic 15% off that really only covers taxes, not the 50%+ increase in prices in the last 2 years. It's just not worth it anymore.
Even ignoring the international portion, I wouldn't be surprised if Americans started to notice as well.
"If you're not making a 33% profit, what are you doing it for?" - a quote from the Netherland's McDonald's chain owner. He also owns a bright red farari when visiting the drive through. He is a massive leech. Glad to not be working there anymore. The food quality is crap and overpriced.
You're way better off eating Taco Mundo. Much better ingredients for the same prices. Even a frozen pizza from ristorante is way better than what Mac has to offer. Or Burger Me who actually rewards loyal customers with free burger coupons rather than McD's sales app. I genuinely do not understand why people still go there. You can make your own burger with better quality and price at home...
Yeah, for reference, here are all of the deals currently available for me in the McD's app...
And that's it. Meanwhile...
A Quarter Pounder with Cheese or Big Mac is $7.29, for the sandwich alone. The meals are $13.39 and $13.19 respectively. Why is there a difference? The sandwiches cost the same independently and the fries and drink are the same for the meal.
Or let's get into the grift now... they're ripping you off with some of the meals. A regular basic Cheeseburger is $2.69, and the meal is $10.39. so they're saying the "discounted" meal bundle price to add a regular drink and fries is $7.70. So they're saying the fries and a soda are worth nearly 3x as much as the cheeseburger, which is already ridiculous. But let's ignore that and look at the cost closer... a regular medium fries is $4.99 and a regular medium soda is $1.39 which comes to $6.38... so they're actually ripping you off for an additional $1.32 if you get the meal versus the items separately. So you're paying an additional 10% by getting the meal... Isn't that what the discount should be?
Good
After McDonald’s dumbass trump stunt during the election, the only reason that I’ll ever go there again is to take a dump in their bathroom on a road trip.
I missed it, what'd they do during the election?
McDonald’s allowed trump to close a store down for a stupid photo op where trump pretended to work.
It was very “trump, he just like us!”
There was talk about how Camilla was a McDonalds worker when she was young, compared to nepo asshole Drumph who never worked a day in his life. So he organized a photo shoot at a local McD's with him wearing an apron and looking confused. The closed the McD's for the occasion and only invited magats to use the drive through.
Trump was doing a McDonalds drive thru gig or something, idk was weird and dumb
I wish there was more domestic anti-McDonald’s sentiment.
That shit is nasty.
There was a time when McDonald's had a reasonable combination of cheap, fast, predictable, and safe. You weren't going to spend $4.50 on a meal that was ready in seconds and it wasn't going to make you sick.
Basically none of that is the case anymore. You're going to wait like you're at a steakhouse, you're going to pay like you're at a steakhouse, and you're going to get freshly analed gristle on a bun.
McDonald's is better abroad (in my experience in the EU) so they actually have higher standards than us to begin with. I think that is largely true across the board but especially in this case.
They have better standards than the US because US standards would probably violate EU minimum standards.
Doesn't mean that they are good or even acceptable relative to the alternatives. Most kebab places in my city have better burgers for lower prices and the dedicated burger shops (not the tourist traps) have slightly higher prices but much better quality and quantity.
That, maybe. But hear me out:
A Double Quarter Pounder meal is now roughly $11-12 dollars. They don't put the prices on the menu half the time, and the people in the drive-through never give you the price. They just say "pull around."
Maybe don't run a shitty business that's overpriced.
A couple of weeks ago I was moving to a new house. I woke up early to move a load of things, and on the way was a McDonald's. I stopped in because it was convenient and got an Egg McMuffin with a hash brown and an OJ. It was $9. $9!
You can't charge outrageous prices and then go, "Man, why aren't people showing up?"
I can get a burger and fries from several local shops for less than McDonalds. The quality is better and there is more food in the bag.
Oh how the turns have tabled.
Have they tried SUING People who ARENT eating there?
Oh no, did the shitty mega corporation suffer consequences for its role in contributing to destabilizing a government to save 2% on its taxes? Pobrecito!
Is that government the US or another one? Did they make substantial contributions to Trump or Vance?
Not only did they contribute, they had Trump do an ad for them while he was on the campaign trail.
US, yeah, and I'm certain they contributed in some way. Most mega corps contribute to republicans in some way or another, either directly to campaigns or they contribute to policy groups or advocacy/lobbying groups that contribute to republicans or help create policy for them. Basically, everything else can burn as long as we save 1% on our taxes-- wait, why did the lights go out?
It's funny how McDonald's was the crown jewel of Western capitalism/imperialism. I remember media saying that having McDonald's in your country means you are modernized and pro "democracy" and that your country is an ally of the west.
Now McDonald's is a sign of corporate greed and western dominance over your country. I guess that's what you get for letting a real estate company make and sell burgers.
Hopefully, this death dealing business model goes the way of the dodo.
Not just Western dominance. American dominance. We need to rid ourselves of these corporations, even in Western Europe.
It's nice to hear some good news.
"Consumers today are grappling with uncertainty," McDonald's Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said.
"Grappling with uncertainty." Predictably a writhing scumbag running this gross American company. What we're forced to deal with, is the extremely blatant certainty of the fascist rapist Chris here probably voted for, being a repugnant disaster. Fuck you, Chris.
"Consumers today are grappling with uncertainty,"
such a eerily polite way to say that the country is going to shit.
Uncertainty they endorsed by having the rapist chomo do a photo op in their restaurants
I want to ask him if that's how he talks at home.
Keep up the good work, boycott all fascist american brands.
My local restaurant's hamburgers >>> that local hot-dog stand's hamburgers >>> McDonalds
I can get a burger and fries from most places in my area for just a few bucks more. Totally worth it.
don't think I've ever had a burger that was worse than the McDonald's ones.
I'm baffled by why it's it popular at all. their quality is the worse (or at the same level of other junk food franchises).
Drive thrus and brand recgonition
Incoming White House briefing calling McDonald’s commie traitors
Macdonalds is utter shite. There's just no other way to say this.
Tariffs make baby Ronald cry.
After that stunt with Trump, they will never get my money again.
There was a Stunt? Only thing I Heard is They sold their food to him (something I wouldnt deem as controversial)
They let Trump do a photo op manning a fryer to mock his opponent that had worked at a McDonald's in her teens. The clown makes burgers. If he wants to play politics, he doesn't get my business.
Anti-American does good to your health!
Good. Everything American outside of America should fail and collapse.
I would support a motion to throw a party in every fucking McDonald's that closes down.
The burger giant reported U.S. same-store sales fell 3.6%, the largest three-month drop since Q2 2020, when they plunged 8.7%.
Pump that shit up, y'all! Don't forget McDonald's hosted the domestic enemy to the United States Constitution, Donald Trump, for two separate PR stunts. They are complicit in his treason. They don't deserve another cent of your money - there are tons of other options to get your greasy salt fix.
When they let him "work" there and didn't chastise the franchisee for politicizing their brand, I was 100% done. They were my favorite go-to fast food for over 30 years. I'll never eat there again.
Use the Spell Card "Monster Reborn" to ressurect the fucking Dollar Menu
"anti American". Nah, it's overpriced shit, that's all. Love from Australia.
I have never understood people's weird obsession with going to Macca's at the end of a night out, instead of the obviously better choice of literally any local kebab shop run by whoever
Oh God in my younger years ( a long long time ago ) after a nightclub in North West England I would hit the kebab shop and my mates would go for KFC. To this day I don't bother with that greasy stuff unless it's bought for me say at work or similar.
Yeah, I can get an actual pub burger for 3-5 more than a quarter pounder... and I don't hate myself after it? Why should I go to McDonald's?
I haven't been to McGenocide in a long while
If you can’t sell sugarburgers in America, what can you sell?
Maybe McDonald’s can introduce a payment plan system. It’s already how Americans afford groceries.
McDonald's is a real estate business, that just happens to specialize in generic burgers as a brand. It isn't a surprise that the company doesn't care about a quality dining experience, when repairing icecream machines was a money maker for them.
Costs the same as a sit down meal, low standards often tepid, virtue signalling vegan menu, deforestation contributions, we have Greggs for trash Panda food
Finally some good news!
Mcdonald routinely supporting genocide caused millions to stop consuming that trash, and now the anti-Americans are catching up! Nice to see capital crumbling brick by boring brick.
Why won't people pay $15 for our meatboard burgers, cold fries, and a half hour in our pristine drive through?
Burn 5 dollars in gas idling in the lineup.
Don't forget the clown in the pickup thats pissed because you wont rear end the car in front of you.
That's a good thing. Love to see the impacts.
Will still continue avoiding them.
Not only is the quality still bad but its so overpriced compared to local alternatives. Its actually easy to boycott them because of this.
I live in a small town and the only garbage that i see around are McDonald's bags and drinkt that get thrown on the side of the road. I think it's a special kind of people that eats at McDonald's, and they don't care about quality, prices and the mystery shit they eat.
Well earned hate.
They really had to go above and beyond. From their insane price hikes to their genocide apologia. They earned what is happening to them. They pursued this outcome.
Expensive and slow. I don't mind waiting for the food to be cooked if it reduces waste, but the "restaurant" experience is now awful in the UK. Most of the offers on the app are for delivery only. Then have to wait alongside a queue of uber drivers with giant boxes.
I feel Mcdonalds have given up on the restaurant sit down experience. I believe they may end up with a subscription based home delivery service, where they don't need to worry about front of house staff and can just send out like warm boxes while raising the monthly price. We seen what happened when Disney gave up everything and tried to go all in with Disney Plus.
Mcdonalds was never about quality, but a fun cheap fast place to grab a bite. It's a shame because I do have some fun memories, yet another example of late stage capitalism.
Yep, any time I've been inside a Maccy's since covid has been a long wait while countless delivery drivers walk past and pick up online orders. I've tried delivery and it's been shit every time, lukewarm food with soggy fries. I don't think their food is suited to delivery, IMO it's only popular because of momentum.
Its insane to me people have fast food delivered... like if you gonna spend the money in high delivery feees, atleast order from good food places.
Good. Fuck ‘em for the sake of GP, and fuck ‘em for hosting TFI. Get fucked.
I have boycotted them for years now, mainly because of the prices and service. And also subway, though that's for the price gouging they did during covid.
Macdonald's have forgotten the "fast, cheap, good. Pick two" rule.
And gone for the "slow, expensive, and yet still bad" tactic.
Fafo.
The recent support of tRUMP is just another nail in the McCoffin.
Dont forget they support jizzraels genocide too
"McCoffin" 😆
Might it have something to do with McDonald’s used to be cheap now it’s over $10 for a burger, fries, and drink for just me. If I get a meal for my family it’s well over $40. That’s just too much for cheap fast food.
I mean, I'm an American. I have a pro-American sentiment when it comes to food and drink.
I also happen to have an anti-overpriced-crap sentiment when it comes to the things I eat and drink.
In my area, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese is $10.50. Now, I may not compare exact apples-to-apples here, but let's go for it.
From my local supermarket, I can get 20 1/4lb. patties for $25 - that's the premade patties, not from the butcher section. That means not only can I decide how well-done I like my burger, I can season it as I choose. And I have confidence in my local supermarket that when they put on the side of the box "Ingredients:80% Lean, 20% Fat Ground Beef", they mean it. That makes each patty $1.25.
Now, if I want to buy the exact same ground beef, but not formed in patties, that's $3.25/lb (usually in 2-3 lb. packs, but I can ask the butcher and get a custom size) - so now we're down to $0.81 for the patty.
The rolls, I can get store brand. 8 for $1.50. That's $0.19 cents a roll. That means that if I buy my own ground beef, I've now spent exactly $1 on a quarter pound burger. So let's talk toppings.
The cheese first - one slice of American on theirs; I would go a different way, but stick to them. Springing for a little extra, $3.59 a pack for Borden Melts cheese, 16 slices. $0.22 per slice. Our burger is now at $1.22 COGS, and I have the makings for 7 more in buns and probably that in beef, plus I could make each burger with 2 slices of cheese, so each burger is $1.44 so far.
Onions, I can get for $1.50/lb (or less!), and each onion is less than that. But I definitely have enough to do a burger and meal plan - let's say an ounce, about $0.10. Mustard, I'm not going to factor in the cost, because it's so little as to be a joke. Buying a jar of good mustard can last you a year or more. Ketchup I'll say the same for. It can last a long time and the amount per burger is negligible. So let's be generous and say $0.10 each. Pickles can be more expensive if you get good ones, but store brand we're talking $0.16 per ounce (with brine), and you're not putting on a full ounce of pickle. So in toppings, we're adding ~$0.50 value.
Total cost of the burger is around $2.00 at retail, not at scale; about $3 if you want premade patties. Sure, there are costs to be amortized like rent and tax and cooking - and the biggest cost, labor. But each individual burger shouldn't be socked with an 80+% markup from COGS, and taste worse than the home-made version.
Why should I buy from McDonald's ever again?
I haven't been to McDs in ages, but holy fuck is a burger actually over $10?
Yup, and that's just a burger. Mind you, I live in spitting distance of NYC, so I do admittedly have a cost that's inflated due to high taxes and high minimum wage. But all my other costs were based on my local supermarket that's within walking distance of the McD's I used for price reference. If I'd used the Walmart that's in the same lot, it'd be even more extreme.
Why should I buy from McDonald's ever again?
Minecraft Happy Meal toys!
Ok like I agree with 99% of what you said and prefer not to eat McDonald’s as well. Overpriced and poor quality. But labor is the kicker. The time you spent going to the store, are you eating the burgers daily if not your buns and onions will go bad pretty quick so you’re heading to the store multiple times to use that meat (if cooking one burger a time) plus time to cook. Like McDonald’s sucks for sure but where do you draw the line at what 10 dollars of your time is worth? Like this fictional one burger at a time universe sounds exhausting to me.
Obviously at scale this doesn’t matter. I don’t just buy burgers to eat one burger a day I get a load of groceries for a week at a time. Some meals are easier to make than others. Etc. I just felt the way you write your post was like time is free. It’s like the opposite of free.
I agree. But I think I sort of mentioned, what I found was that through serendipity, it works out to the packages being pretty accurate to 8 .25lb burgers, aside from the onion, mustard, ketchup, and pickles.
I would make a family meal out of that - in fact, I think I might this weekend. You're right, time isn't free. But I'm not going to pay more than double the retail COGS for a sandwich that's produced on commercial scale and not cooked by hand. If that's what they need to do in order to keep the lights on, then they need to cut overhead or negotiate more effectively to reduce COGS. But we all know that these are not 'keep the lights on' prices. They could cut the price and still make a profit.
If it was a locally owned small business where I believed that my support would be valued, or where they were reinvesting into the local community, I think I'd accept it. Heck, I do accept it. One of my local places serves a $13 burger. I buy it, because I know where they get their beef, and their veggies, and the staff and owners are in my area. Everything but the tax comes back into my local economy. That's not how McD's works.
Supplying free meals to an army committing a genocide and gloating about it probably has more to do with it.
Plus, their cheap crap food is now not so cheap I believe.
Companies slowly starting to realize that you can’t charge ANY price… quality and price doesn’t match
mcdonalds is currently a BDS target for their complicity in the "israeli" settler genocide on the Palestinian people
Fuck you McDonalds. For so many reasons. Letting the fucking monster play employee on his way to destroy this country was just icing on the cake.
McFascism
Their food is so bad except the fries
Me who hasn't eaten any McDonalds for decades purely because it's unhealthy.
Yeah, doing my part and all that...
I've not done it cause it's bad food for shit prices. It has been a mystery, why they have been in buissnes the last 15 years.
