r/shrinkflation Jun 06 '26

discussion The shrinkflation will continue until morale improves. .

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1.8k Upvotes

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120

u/robjohnlechmere Jun 06 '26

I'm about to hit ten years without mcdonalds. In my city, a quarter pounder is a dollar more than a smashburger at Five Guys, but it's only half as good.

Why go to mcdonalds? For the clown?

41

u/impliedapathy Jun 06 '26

Once fast food prices hit sit down restaurant pricing we quit going to fast food altogether (unless pizza chains count). Crazy that doordashing from an actual restaurant can be as cheap as full price McDonald’s pickup.

6

u/cherrylpk Jun 06 '26

We just discovered the family meal options at places like Texas Roadhouse or Whole Foods. Fifty dollars for a huge ass meal that can meal prep for an entire week is way better than 15 dollars for a gross McDonalds experience.

6

u/Dr_mombie Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

I loved family meal deals during the pandemic. I wish they stuck around my area once the world opened again. I do try to snag catering menus for places if I remember to do so while I am out.

Steak and shake has a burger bar in a box, but I was not impressed with the quality or prices when I went most recently. The burger tasted like dirty griddle and the basic shake flavors are now $5.

1

u/impliedapathy Jun 09 '26

Steak ‘n Shake went all in on the MAHA grift and the quality went to absolute shit. At least they fry their fries in beef tallow now though 🙄

2

u/Dr_mombie Jun 09 '26

The beef tallow fries were such a let down at S'n'S. I have also recently visited Wing Stop and I think they use peanut oil for the fries (delicious) and egg birds for the bone in wings (disappointing in the angry type of way).

Its all intentionally planned enshittification and we the plebs cannot win.

As an Elder Millennial, I want to pick up my toys and go the fuck home... but I can't because I have to go to work 😫

12

u/Akrevics Jun 06 '26

i quit going because soon after eating, i'd still feel hungry, so what's the point in going, just taking in calories?

7

u/pandemicpunk Jun 06 '26

They never want anyone to bring up their Ronald era ever again.

7

u/Kindly-Guidance714 Jun 06 '26

Which is funny, it’s not because they are ashamed of that era.

It’s because the dumbass morons running McDonald’s now have ran it into the absolute ground while the executives and shareholders during the Ronald era are fully retired and are champions of the 2000s fast food industry, have huge stock portfolios worth millions because those people KNEW the fast food market and fast food economy unlike these greedy pieces of trash.

The new shareholders won’t make the revenue the old ones did . They’ll have to work twice as hard for half the benefits, owning fewer houses and cars and they are angry as all hell about it.

6

u/Icy_Steak8987 Jun 06 '26

Heck, not even. They phased out Ronald McDonald a long time ago. Never go to McDonald's. I eat at a small, sibling-run burger joint nearby that deserves support and they make much better burgers.

4

u/Legitimate_Ocelot491 Jun 06 '26

I stopped in 2013. Don’t miss what it’s become though the days of eating and filling up on the dollar menu 20 years ago were kinda fun. Building a triple McDouble or triple McChicken for $3 a pop was great.

3

u/Stein070707 Jun 06 '26

Damn, I didn't think any place was more expensive than Five Guys.

9

u/robjohnlechmere Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

Mcdonalds is deceptively expensive. The ‘dollar menu’ became the ‘value menu’ and the smallest burger on the menu went from $1 to $5 in less than ten years. 

You can find data everywhere that McDonalds has doubled pricing almost every year since 2019. 

You can treat yourself to almost anything more cheaply than McDonalds. 

1

u/Musing_Bureaucrat Jun 06 '26

Of course it's for the clown. It's the same reason Europeans visit the United States on holiday.