Why McDonalds Is Evil

本站添加: 2026-06-07

[00:00:00]Why fast food got so expensive and of course inflation shrinkflation.

[00:00:04]>> The backlash began with just a photo.

[00:00:07]Here at a rest stop off Route 95 in Darian, Connecticut between Dunkin Donuts and Sparrow sits a McDonald's.

[00:00:14]>> By the way, this could literally be in any American city off a highway.

[00:00:17]Literally, I'm just telling you this is how uninteresting most freeways and highways are in America.

[00:00:22]>> A traveler passing through was astonished by its prices. Instead of reaching for their wallet, they pulled out their phone to capture the absurdity. A Big Mac meal running nearly $18.

[00:00:33]>> I'm sorry. So, this is surprising to me because I've never seen this. A a Big Mac combo meal is $1,759 when I was a kid. Max, this [ __ ] was like 10 bucks.

[00:00:43]$9.99 for a Big Mac combo meal. $1,759 seems absurd to me. So, I'm wondering if this is fake or not.

[00:00:49]>> The picture was posted on Twitter and accompanied by a question and the response was overwhelming. That that's got to be like a a sign error, right? A pricing error.

[00:00:57]>> And it outlandish price tag went viral.

[00:00:59]It sparked conversation across social media. It made national news. It got so big that even McDonald's itself got involved, releasing [music] a statement accompanied by a handy graphic aimed to bust some myths about just how expensive McDonald's had become.

[00:01:13]>> Listen, if you're paying anywhere near $20 for a McDonald's slot meal, like for a burger and fries and a drink, you're like actually mentally lobbottomized.

[00:01:22]You can actually go to any decent restaurant and get a real burger and fries, probably better, bigger portions for that price or less. Holy [ __ ] >> A few years.

[00:01:31]>> There's no way.

[00:01:31]>> What gave this story such staying power was that it felt like the perfect example of a phenomena that was bigger than the Northeast and bigger than McDonald's, but instead one impacting all Americans at all fast and fast casual food spots. That these cheap and convenient dining options were just no longer cheap.

[00:01:50]>> Yeah, look at the Subway on screen right now. Do they still have the $5 foot long as Subway? Anybody who eats Subway? I mean, I think Subway is decent. Like, it's probably one of the better fast food restaurants. If anything, I think they're they're more of the like the fast casual, right? Do they still have the $5 burger meal proved that point anecdotally, but some further research proved as much, too.

[00:02:09]>> By the way, McDonald's is nowhere near good enough to like I'm sorry, 18 bucks for a meal. Are you crazy? Again, like you could go to any restaurant and get like essentially two meals for that.

[00:02:19]eat, come like order, take the food home, eat it, and you could probably still have half left for later. A McDonald's meal, you're you're eating that probably within 20 minutes.

[00:02:27]>> In the past decade, overall food prices were higher than the overall consumer price index. And then prices for food away from home have trended yet higher again than overall food prices?

[00:02:37]>> Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're telling me fast food has been outpacing our CPI, cost per index?

[00:02:43]Like I think that's like for all goods and services in America. Fast food has been outpacing that by how many? Like multiple tens of percentages. That is no. That is ridiculous to me. Listen, support your local businesses. I do every day. I love them.

[00:02:55]>> With trade wars, tariffs, stimulus checks, and increasing wages, fast food chains were forced to get more expensive and hand these prices off to the customer.

[00:03:04]>> Uh, by the way, I'm saying F McDonald's [music] because I tried that that latest Big Mac thing. Yeah, I fell for the scam. It was It was terrible. The something big. It had You guys know what I'm talking about. The one that the CEO drama was about. or at least that's what they'd like their horrible base to.

[00:03:18]What's lost in this broadly true but incomplete explanation is the fact that pricing is not just a reflection of strictly costs and constraints but broader business strategy. Fast food is not just getting more expensive because of factors beyond the industry's control. It's getting more expensive because the business of fast food is changing on the fly. Gouging, price gouging. Guys, don't fall for the slop.

[00:03:40]Listen, it's it's all supply and demand.

[00:03:42]If you guys keep demanding more food, they're going to give you the supply and they're going to raise prices. Stop buying these garbage places.

[00:03:47]Unironically, Burger King is on the screen right now and I think Burger King outpaces McDonald's in terms of size and and variety and um meal size. Like, yeah, Burger King is pretty decent. I'm not going to lie. I'm actually hungry now. Like, >> compare these two burger joints on either side of I5 in Burbank, California. One representing the cutting edge of fast foods change, [music] the other an industry outlier that simply refuses and never been there before.

[00:04:10]These two storefrs offer a very similar product at a very similar price. The Double Double at In-N-Out Burger cost $6.10 and the Big Mac at McDonald's at $649.

[00:04:21]>> But the thing is, I'm pretty sure In-N-Out, as far as my limited information about the restaurant is, they use better ingredients, n more natural ingredients, easier on the stomach, it actually tastes better, the sauce is better, everything is better, right? You know, whereas McDonald's I'm sorry, I think we're all under some psychological operation to believe that McDonald's is good. It's not. It's trash. The the buns are usually dry. The meat is usually dry. The lettuce, tomatoes trash, like the seasoning's not that good. When I was a kid, maybe like 15 years ago, I was like, I don't know, four, five, 6 years old or whatever the you know, like the McDonald's was good.

[00:04:54]It was fantastic in the 2000s, right? in the early 2000s, you know, it was, you know, the fries were hot, the burgers were piping steamy, the the bread, the buns were fluffy. You know, it was just >> both conceptually analogous item sold at about the same price is largely where the similarities between >> Oh, man. That looks amazing. And >> oh, that burger in I've never been to In-N-Out, so anybody tell me is In-N-Out actually good? Like I hear fantastic things about the place.

[00:05:21]>> Strategies and operations in fact are so different that In-N-Out wants you to buy a Double Double Burger, while [music] McDonald's on the other hand actively hopes you don't. While a bit cheaper on average, the consumer is going to find the Double Double an objectively better product. Personal preference aside, the Double Double is made up of ingredients that have never been frozen. The meat was processed by In-N-Out at one of these two locations that are both within a day's drive, while ingredients like buns have been contracted out to the same company since the 1950s.

[00:05:50]>> Listen, if In-N-Out is actually using fresh ingredients every single day, then shout out to them.

[00:05:54]>> That superior consistency and quality is then carried through the process of preparing those ingredients and interacting with the customer making the order as each location is laid out in an almost identical manner while staff is trained and expected to deliver a highly standardized product with a cheery welcoming attitude. I got to say they actually look like food workers. Like actual 1960s7s,8s even fast food workers. They actually looked up hard. I'm not going to. So they're using fresh ingredients. It actually looks like they're having fun back there. The food is great. The atmosphere looks clean. I mean, I can see why they're really successful.

[00:06:29]Apparently McDonald's has a shitty rating.

[00:06:31]>> Bank locations or annual rankings for customer satisfaction. In-N-Out is going to beat McDonald's.

[00:06:36]>> 3.7 stars for McDonald's. Of course, just slop and uh 4.6 stars for In-N-Out, of course, you know, but who makes more money? Who makes more money?

[00:06:44]>> And it has to as it's core to the company's strategy.

[00:06:47]>> This In-N-Out, and every In-N-Out, has a lot of staff to pay. Whereas McDonald's can run a slow shift with 5 to 10 employees, an In-N-Out will be staffed with 10 to 15, and during the lunch and dinner rushes, this number can regularly balloon to 25. And not only are there more people to pay, but they're getting paid better as this Burbank location starts its staff at $22 an hour with benefits and quick positional and pay advancement opportunities. So, you have a large fast food restaurant actually paying its workers a fair salary for the job. Their food is fantastic. It's fresh. It tastes good. The atmosphere is nice. It's clean. I'm assuming the employees, the cashiers are friendly.

[00:07:26]So, what are we doing? Why is McDonald's still having a monopoly in this day and age? Well, it's because of partly due to real estate. Um, they're as much as a fast food restaurant as they are a real estate company or uh, how should I say this? They own a lot of land. All the buildings of which they own, they're sitting on very valuable pieces of land.

[00:07:45]So, they're essentially one of the largest landlords I believe in America, if not the world, in terms of their assets of land. And it's funny in the comment section, you know, in terms of the inflation shrinkflation and the price gouging. Someone says, "I want to thank all the fast food chains for raising the prices since co I'm saving a lot of money and I'm a little healthier." Oh my god. Like unironically, I'm so much more healthy, too. Um, pre-COVID, I was just like like inflamed, very inflamed, um, out of shape. And now, I mean, it's not like I was ever obese, right? Skinny fat at best. But now, I mean, I'm the best I've ever looked, you know? Another person said they started hitting prices of sit-down restaurants. If I'm going to spend that kind of money, I can just go there and order and pick up. Literally, literally uh you know, I said this earlier, I think in another video. Why pay these prices for slop when you can go to a, you know, a mom and pop store, get real food, decent quality while supporting your community? You know, literally no point.

[00:08:38]>> Consider these three transactions. One buying a Big Mac meal in Aztec, New Mexico. One buying a Big Mac meal in Newcastle, Colorado. And one buying the same product again, this time in Burbank, California. That looks horrible. See, this is my typical McDonald's experience. It looks so good in advertisements, but then when you actually get the burger, it it just looks like a ompic riddled depressed looking frumpy version of what was advertised. And I just don't like that, man.

[00:09:04]>> The difference in prices between the three reflect what McDonald's can't control. The independent franchisee pricing that accounts for labor costs and other local factors. But consider the medium through which each transaction occurred and a phone screen.

[00:09:17]And now McDonald's's greatest tool for business optimization comes into focus.

[00:09:21]Yeah.

[00:09:22]>> Historically, a common refrain for those in the no was that McDonald's is a real estate company.

[00:09:27]>> Well, [ __ ] I called it. Hey, you guys can't say I'm dumb. You know, sometimes I know I act [ __ ] but like I you know, I I I did bring up the real estate thing, you know, and they own a lot of land, you know, because of the buildings that are sitting on top of that land.

[00:09:39]You know, >> this still holds true. They own much of the land on which their franchise locations sit. They count on rent as a core income stream. But in the last decade, McDonald's along with its [laughter] large competitors have increasingly become a tech bunnies, too.

[00:09:52]>> Oh, because let me let me call it again robotics, right? AI and robotics taking more people jobs. I don't, by the way, I don't agree with this [ __ ] You know, I Okay, I can't get into the tangent, but I just hate when people say, "Well, a robot can do it, bitch." Okay, if a robot does everything, what the [ __ ] are humans supposed to do? Where where are humans supposed to get money to purchase products and services and to keep the economy afloat? You guys ever think about that? You guys want robots and AI to take care of everything? Okay, then what are humans supposed to do? I guess humans should just tech allowed McDonald's to focus.

[00:10:22]>> Just let the entire economy be ran by robots and clankers.

[00:10:25]>> A critical aspect of the company's shortcomings that all day breakfast. You know what I hint at? Convenience.

[00:10:31][laughter] Customers wanted shorter wait times, faster orders, and ways to order ahead.

[00:10:36]In short, this meant screens. In 2019, the restaurant chain acquired a company called Dynamic Yield to help further optimize and personalize the ordering experience through past user data and trends.

[00:10:47]>> So basically an algorithm for your fast food.

[00:10:50]>> It was the largest acquisition by McDonald's in 20 years and it forever altered the ordering [music] process.

[00:10:57]Take again getting a Big Mac. Now really no matter its price, a Big Mac is either a loss leader or only deres a tiny turn of profit from McDonald's location.

[00:11:06]>> Oh really? a loss later or a tiny bit of profit. So, is that why they're [ __ ] making a Big Mac $10 for just one sandwich? $18 apparently for a whole combo meal. Is that why are they trying to turn a profit finally? How are other location and other establishments able to turn a profit for much better ingredients and much better burgers while McDonald's can't? I I don't understand that.

[00:11:26]>> If you were to order one in the past, then whether in the drive-through line or counter line, you'd be faced with a whole host of promotions of new products, drinks, or all day breakfast items. The old McDonald's was so good.

[00:11:36]>> Posters and banners on the menu. And when you went to order your simple sandwich, you'd be asked if you'd like to turn it into >> Oh my, this is kind of nostalgic. The old packaging of McDonald's. Oh my god.

[00:11:46]>> As French fries and especially fountain drinks have far better margins.

[00:11:50]>> By the way, as a kid, I was the uh the weirdo who loved honey mustard. Don't mind me. I just I had to say that. I loved it, man.

[00:11:56]>> Perhaps you'd be tempted to do so because McDonald's, after all, has years of experience and tricks in getting you to spend a little bit more. McDonald's has a long used meal pricing decoy strategies, for example, to make the large meal feel so similarly priced to the medium that you go ahead and opt for the large. If you were to leave with just a sandwich, that'd be a loss for the chain. If you were to leave with a sandwich, a drink, and an odd end add-on, McDonald's would count that as a win.

[00:12:21]>> Yeah, cuz uh drinks have, I think, uh very high margins. It's just water and um syrup, right? carbonated water and syrup and they're charging like a couple bucks for that when it probably cost them less than like 50% like 50 cents I mean to make and uh fries right fries have a heavy markup too when it's just potatoes right fried potatoes so yeah makes sense actually >> but now dynamic >> and then they probably make a ton of money on their sauces as well I think they charge for sauces right >> yield the kiosks the McDonald's app and drive-thru have all taken this to the next level [music] through far more personalized sales tactics >> cost cutting dig Digitized, personalized, customized menus means long gone are the days of the drive-thru board listing every possible meal item.

[00:13:04]>> Factual. And if you have an app, people are more prone on apps of any services to add more to the cart just out of sheer temptation and advertisement and psychological warfare. It's actually sickening and maniacal once you think about it.

[00:13:16]>> Today, if you're planning on ordering at the counter or off the digital menu at the drive-thru, you're only going to see the options the company wants you to see. At this New Mexico location, the only listings and prices are for extra value meals. If you're planning on just ordering a Big Mac and not the meal, you're going to have to ask. And if you want to know the exact price before committing, you'll have to ask for that, too. You can still order anything off the menu, of course. But a curated menu passively pushes your order towards what they want to sell. And this goes both ways, too.

[00:13:43]>> That's dystopian, right? That very dystopian. Someone said in the comment section, TLDDR McDonald's does literally anything except improve their food. I mean uh not only shrinkflation but decreasing the quality of the food but also inflating the the price of the food. I mean good guy. Someone else said these companies just slowly creep up prices to figure out the maximum amount of profit they can make by by how demand changes literally it's it's basically the stock market of fast food. That's essentially what I was thinking this entire time. And you know they slowly creep up prices to see how it correlates to uh I guess demand to see like how many cents they can increase to relative to how much demand decreases and they find that sweet spot. It's like a an evergreen realtime algorithm that constantly adjusts depending on market trends. Even one person said here I think chains will start to implement surge pricing subtly. They are preparing us for it with all the apps with deals and discounts. They will probably shift to the $20 Big Mac. But hey, you have the app. If it ain't rush hour, they will give you a $5 off bonus or something to bring you in during the low hours and not push any promotions or discounts during high hours to even out the income. I mean, listen, at this point in time, I feel like we're all cattle. I feel like we're all just uh robots or lemmings. Uh you know, uh Woodwick, basically. I feel like we're all just being very intentionally and at this point explicitly exploited by major corporations milking us dry for everything that we're made of. You know, trying to destroy our minds, trying to destroy our bodies, trying to destroy our souls. And this is why in my lifetime, I hope I see McDonald's go bankrupt. I genuinely hope that McDonald's suffers everything it deserves because it's just not quality food. It's not even good anymore.

[00:15:28]They've abandoned their core principles.

[00:15:30]Genuinely speaking, the last time I had the what is it called? That m that MC Yeah, the big arch here. The CEO was talking about >> the big art >> like this. It was so trash. It was horrible. It was horrible. But yeah, guys, support your local mom and pop shops. Go get a burger for five, six, seven, eight bucks, you know, at a local establishment. Get a side, get a drink, and I'm sure it'll be less than 15 bucks. Don't spend $18, 18, 19, 20 plus tax on a slot meal like this. It's not worth it.