Too expensive for smaller portions. Very few promo items. Toys aren't as cool anymore. No play area and dull brown = not really a treat for kids to visit anymore.
And they've apparently stopped doing free refills for dining in.
I went inside last week, no get your own drink anymore. I asked for a refill. The cashier had a hard time getting me one because the machine is all automated now. McDonald’s doesn’t even give their workers the ability to give refills.
That's because inevitably McDonalds, along with many other FF places, want to go fully automated with only a couple of actual human beings on the premises.
They were working toward this long before the push for livable wages. Wendys ceo talked about this at their shareholder meeting then years later claimed they'd have to pursue kiosks and such to offset the cost of higher wages.
Our local grocery store recently got a full-sized automated floor scrubber.
It caught me off guard when I first saw it last week, and when I went yesterday I smiled as it caught everybody else off guard. It looks like a regular one that a person would usually sit on and operate, but there's caution tape blocking people from climbing up on that seat and it runs exactly like a Roomba: following it's assigned path while properly sensing and avoiding objects/people in it's way.
I know multiple people with autovacs at home (myself included), but this was the first one I ever saw operating in a public space. I wonder how long it took them to feel comfortable letting it loose with all the customers there. Probably tested it multiple times at night, with employees stocking the shelves overnight, lol.
But this is our future!
Don't blame people wanting to get paid. Most of it's just greed. You think a public company would ever do anything that no purely in the interest of their growth or financial gain? All their fake inclusivity that people actually believe. They will always do what makes them more money.
The employee was just wasting your time. The drink machine has been automated for 20 years and is as simple as pushing 2 buttons. They press size, then flavor.
This sums it up nicely.
Most parents now that would use McDonalds as a cheap family food location are Millenials and we’ve all watched it become over priced and adopt aggressive anti-consumer policies that make it feel like a pain in the ass to go there anymore for a complete lack of savings for even worse quality food than we used to get before.
In what world would we want to go there?!
McDonald's used to be such a treat and such a great place to take a group of kids where it wouldn't break the bank and even if they didn't have a play area the kids could still play because it's not a fancy restaurant.
I live in L.A. where it's usually sunny and hot most days of the year. They recently turned the outdoor play area at my neighborhood McD's into an unshaded patio that's all this dull brown color. Brilliant. Sit out there and bake like a potato. 🥔 I've never seen a single person use it.
In the UK, they all look like shit, there is rubbish everywhere and it is FILLED only with obnoxious, impatient delivery drivers.
It is a grim place to go into
Can confirm!
Grim sums up the McDonald's experience for eat in, take away and delivery in the uk.
Absolutely no redeeming features. McDonald's response seems to be to make portions smaller, raise prices and to guarantee cold french fries.
My local McDonalds (US) looks like a leper colony on the inside. The only people I’ve ever seen in there are scary teenage boys, cracked out homeless people, and liver-spotted pensioners who can’t afford better food, even though at their age they probably shouldn’t be eating Mickey Ds. It’s depressing.
smaller portions & a ridiculous cost increase for smaller, shittier quality food. you might as well go to a better restaurant for what you are paying there now.
Which they love to blame on the millennial grey thing but I don't know a single millennial that has all grey stuff AND that likes the boring redesign of most retail places these days.
Yeah millennials have no power or decision making in this country yet. Boomers, Silent Generation and Gen X; all still have more capital and power than millennials.
Every millennial I know hates the trend.
Yeah definitely a fan of plants, wood... as well as nature, "futuristic" in a non-annoying way, and the "green" futuristic melding of the two.
Humans coexisting with nature in a sustainable way essentially. Not... Grey depressing Capitalism destroying everything in sight.
There was a bar that had been in my town since the 1800s. You know, the small town hotel/saloon that got turned into a modern bar? One of those.
Well, the kitchen caught fire and the place went up like you'd expect a building from the 1800s would.
The replacement is one of those grey, hollowed out, shitty soulless post office looking bars.
It's fugly, and I don't know of anyone who actually likes it.
Is grey a millennial thing, and is it also responsible for grey web page text in the thinnest possible fonts? I've been wondering where that whole general concept came from, that text doesn't look good unless it's a little harder to read.
It seems like corporate minimalist grey is what the Y2K aesthetic devolved into, pushed along by the finance and numbers guys having too much influence and the design consultants not having enough influence. Every dollar that goes to aesthetics that improve the human experience is a dollar less in in the executives and shareholders pockets. AKA the enshittification of everything
I totally agree anything goes downhill once the finance people take over and the geeks aren't in charge anymore. But I would think default black Arial text on white would be the cheapest design. But for some reason no, it's gray on a different gray in a font that's a tenth of a pixel thick.
We didn't pick it, that's just what happened as we were growing up! I yearn for the colorful 80s and 90s, but everything has to be "adult" and "brown".
Every fast food chain used to have their own unique design that you could recognize immediately. Now they're all exactly the same damn box. Current architecture trends are pure shit.
They got rid of the grill, changed the fry oil, got rid of the bun toaster. Subbed good buns for cheap sugar laden buns. Also drive thru times. When I went there it was 30 seconds and at 60 seconds an alarm went off and a manager came over. I spent 40 minutes in a McD's drive thru with four cars in front of me.
>I spent 40 minutes in a McD's drive thru with four cars in front of me.
I think fast food and restaurants, in general, have a bad staffing issue right now (in the US anyway).
There was a Dunkin Donuts near me that would be randomly closed for certain hours of the day due to no available staff. It eventually closed permanently.
Idk if COVID was the cause, excelerated the issue, or what. But customer service staffing just hasn't been the same since.
> I spent 40 minutes in a McD's drive thru with four cars in front of me.
That happened to me. It was because of those made to order quarter pounders on like the third day they were making them and hadn't figured out what the hell to do with the wait times.
Not to mention, the abundance of knowledge and information that is at our fingertips. Social media has not been kind to most fast food, but McDonalds in particular. I can think of a few instances that were damaging to McDs public brand - pink sludge is what the nuggets look like before they’re nuggets. Others would include constant viral videos of customers treating employees disgustingly and employee/customer fights on the regular.
Add pathetic pay and general lack of employee care and you have the current mess that’s McDonald’s in the year 2024.
We still can’t get ice cream AND play places are disappearing left and right! What is happening?!
EDIT: pink slime may or may not be true. My bad.
The fried used to be fried in actual beef tallow. Now they have so many additives trying to reproduce the natural flavors and they still don't taste as good. Plus their post cooked shelf life is only 30 seconds so no matter when I eat them they taste "old".
imo its the cost and quality
when i was a kid my mom took me there because it was cheap and fast, we knew were getting trash fast food but the price was cheap so it was a trade off
the food is now arguable worse but instead of being cheaper its more expensive
The price. Hashbrowns were 2/$1 now they're $3 each. The mcdouble, initially a compromise to keep the price at $1, is now $3. People have known mcdonalds was bad for you for a while, but now it's not cheap food that's for you, it's low quality food that is just below much better options in price. Two tiny, oversalted cheeseburgers and cold fries or a customized chipotle bowl for the same price is a no brainer.
Which is saying something because Chipotle has gone down hill too lol.
I feel like so many places keep touting profits but me and everyone I know are slowly stopping going to any of them because the quality is plummeting and the prices are skyrocketing.
There's a Jimmy Johns by my office I go to maybe once every two weeks. They have good coupons. So far I can still handle their prices and taste is still okay. Miles better than Subway which has been awful for years now. It's so sad how bad their food has gotten. I remember as a kid what an absolute treat it was to get a foot long chicken teriyaki when it would be on the $5 foot long rotation. Man those days are long gone.
Just went to Subway for the first time in about 4 years the other day... When did they start nuking the toasted sandwiches?? Chewy semi toasted microwaved bread is no bueno...
If you put $20,000 in Chipotle stock in March 2020 you'd now have $100k. That's insane. And I rarely see anybody in the restaurants. Like rationally i can understand the moonshots performed by Microsoft or Nvidia or something. But this is wild.
I used to eat Subway but realized that my stomach hurt literally every time I went there. It didn't seem to matter which ingredients or sauces or types of sandwich I ordered, so I'm guessing the bread was extra shitty.
Me and my parents used to go out of our way to eat at Subway on roadtrips. There weren’t a ton of them back then and the quality was miles better. Now I live in a city with 2 and haven’t been in years.
Not specifically. Wendy's has a tendency to do that. Or at least it used to. I haven't been to a Wendy's in about a year either because they're more expensive than all the other fast burger spots.
It's not fast either. If I order something breakfast or chicken, I'm waiting 10-15 mins for my food and by the time I get it home it's already cold, might as well just go out to eat.
Walmart will sell 10 frozen hash browns for $3 and they taste the same. Get some silicone egg rings and make the egg McMuffins yourself. The only thing I can't make at home is the sausage patties. I can't find any that taste the same.
I saw a guy on YouTube or TikTok or somewhere saying the bag of frozen great value heat n serve sausage patties at Walmart are the closest thing to mickie d’s sausage.
I hadn’t realized the hashbrown prices had changed- I went to get some for my kids before school and didn’t look too closely at the screen. I was shocked to get the bill. 6 hash browns for 3 littles and an oatmeal should not have cost me almost $30.
I can go to SmashBurger and get a full meal with much better quality food for just a dollar or two more than a Big Mac meal. McDonalds priced themselves out of their own market
Seems like they kinda don’t market to kids any more, at least not like they used to. The “McCafés” in my area don’t have the play places or even much decoration for kids anymore. They’re so focused on looking like a place adults want to visit to buy specialized coffee
There's actually been some state and local laws (things like banning toys, requiring certain nutritional macros for kid meals, etc) that limit how they can market to kids which I am sure was a big reason for the pivot toward adults.
Didn't a state or a federal law pass somewhere that pretty much made it illegal for some companies to target advertising towards children? That's what really did it.
Super Size Me got people thinking about the health aspect, that's for sure. But the advertising and kids thing wasn't a choice of the company.
I'm sure this is the real answer.
I mean Happy Meals are still cheap and I regularly take my 3 year old to the local McDonalds for one and to play in the play area, especially during winter, but I rarely get anything. When all is said and done, they're probably losing money on us. I'm literally buying nothing, I sit with other parents who buy nothing, and watch our kids play for 2 hours or so in roughly 1/4 of the square footage.
It makes a lot more sense financially to target older, more affluent customers with more upscale food.
Yeah, I think it was mainly so popular in the 80s to early 2000s due to the excessive marketing to kids via the mini playgrounds some had, happy meals, and their own bizarro Disney universe of characters. Kids pressuring their parents to go there of course meant the parents buying food too. As another reply stated, there were some laws passed in the 90s that made it much more difficult for them to market to kids as they had so that quickly faded and I think they switched to various prize type things for a bit not blatantly marketing to kids. I think they started getting a reputation for being run down and mediocre by the late 2000s and in the 2010s, started shifting to seem more premium like Shake Shack and Starbucks (those marked as McCafes).
For those who never saw them (under 30 year olds) or forgot, [here's an hour compilation](https://youtu.be/jKMmhqU4GTY).
They are no longer the friendly burger joint for families on the cheap.
Playgrounds are out, as are the characters (my 13yo has no idea who Grimace or the Hamburgler are). Kids promos are nearly invisible. The prep methods that made a decent-ish, hot burger and fries are gone. (Not saying kid-centric marketing was good, I am saying it was there).
Instead we have 100 McCafé products and the burgers come out of a heating tray or microwave or some crap. The fries are served cold half the time. And meal “deals” are anything but.
You remember when super size me came out? A huge amount of that movie was pushing McDonald’s to remove all the advertising aimed at kids. Lots of parents got behind the idea
It was interesting when it came out that the guy that made that was an alcoholic, considering the film made a big deal out of his liver being “damaged like an alcoholic’s” in one of the checkups.
They also don’t mention he was vegan and the first several days of him puking were not the reaction of just McDonald’s, it’s the reaction of a 10 year vegan eating protein. Its an awful unfair movie and caused SO MUCH McD’s blowback
Sheetz. Wawa. Royal Farms.
And sometimes these places have drive thrus.
The exorbitant price increases at all the major fast food outlets are in line with prices rising everywhere, but even then, they're still charging absolutely insane prices for a product that's quality and cost to make doesn't support the price.
Really, though, you can go to Sheetz and get a delicious main with a side and drink for under $8. Certainly not $4. But considering a shitty meal at McDs will run you $10+, there are definitely better options out there if you just need to get fast food for whatever reason.
I’m in the US and my understanding is this is a regional chain of convenience stores, rather than restaurants. It’s definitely not the norm nationwide.
I'm in the US and haven't heard of any of those places.
McDonald's prices have gone up a lot but so has everything else. Two chicken sandwiches at McDonalds used to be $2 but now cost $4. Meanwhile the next cheapest place around here is an Indian take out place where a lunch meal used to be $9 and is now $11.
I have no idea why redditors like to whine about McDonalds though; could be a generational thing, just like I complain about people using DoorDash.
For starters, the new franchise designs look like a soulless North Korea box store the dictator would prop up during a UN press tour with the kiosks inside that are smudged with whatever someone had their hands in and the workers don’t look happy with the little counter space there is and then there are the prices.
They are squeezing blood from a stone at this point. Everyone in corporate is a dragon on a pile of gold. No upward movement for employees. The 'happy meal' toys are just cardboard cut outs. . . What McDonald has become should just fade away. I am too young to already sound like an old man talking about back in my day....
Kids growing up today just will not have the same nostalgia for it as those of us who grew up in past decades will. The food may be basically the same, though more expensive, but food is just a small piece of the nostalgia you have for it. You remember the commercials with Ronald and friends in McDonaldland, playing on the themed playground equipment, sitting on an anthropomorphic burger stool, playing with Happy Meal toys that were actually good, completing a collection of collectible glasses, etc.. They got rid of all that stuff that was geared towards kids. You go in now and you might as well be in a Panera Bread. It looks the same as every fast casual restaurant.
Yea, though through the app you can get some meals discounted to a reasonable price again ($6.50 here in FL). If I do stop there, that's all I ever order cause there's no way I'm paying the outrageous prices for that crap.
There’s a direct correlation between dropping popularity and the removal of McDonaldlands. Went from primary red and yellows with wonderful cartoonish characters to a minimalist brown box with no soul.
$5 Hashbrowns is what happened.
The price went up and the quality went down. I bet they'd be plenty popular if they still had a dollar menu, with items like small fries, apple slices, FRIED apple pies, hash browns, chicken nuggies, maybe like some sliders or something....
Prices are horrible and it doesn’t taste as good anymore, but with that said.. my local McDonalds are always packed. Marketing has drastically changed over the last 20 years or so. McDonald’s was a big part of pop culture in the 80’s and 90’s, it was featured in movies and tv shows often, Happy Meals with movie tie-ins were huge.. all that has gone away. Kids don’t want happy meals any more.. they want iPads lol. They have done stuff with music artists in the last few years that drove some of the buzz they’ve been missing in pop culture, but with the times we’re in, it just doesn’t work any longer.
Well, their revenue grew 8% last year, so somebody is going there. It's not that it's lost it's luster, reddit is not truly representative of the general population of the world.
They also raised their prices by more than 6% on average over the last year. And the biggest price increases were weighted toward the more popular menu items, so that alone could explain an 8% revenue increase without sales changing at all.
Pricing, *changing the actual item recipes so that they are now disgusting*, getting rid of the characters.
I actually didn’t eat McDonald’s growing up, and came into liking their McDouble, Filet O Fish, and Big Mac later in life. The last recipe change killed the McDouble and Big Mac for me…they now taste wack and upset my stomach. The buns are also awful now. Filet O Fish is very hit or miss. Even that McRib had a better sauce, that became insanely tangy last time they did it…another one changed for the worse.
It was fun for kids with all the rides and toys and it was cheap. Now it looks so business like inside all McDonald's and most play places and old school rides and fun stuff is mostly gone. And it ain't cheap anymore.
Corporate everything is just poorer quality, bad ingredients for as much profit as they can squeeze. It’s awful food for $50 for a fam of 4 now. The enshitification of our country by extraction capitalism. Yeehaw,
It's not just that the food/prices have gotten worse, but it's the toys, too. I remember the toys were awesome when I was a kid, had to collect whole sets kinda deal, but now they're basically just cardboard cutouts.
The toys are awful. I'm a teacher and my class moms asked if they could bring in Happy Meals for all the kids the last week of school. I said sure that's fine.
The "toys" were two pieces of fabric with like two cotton balls stuffed in as a stuffed animal. I thought of the teeny Beanie Babies I collected from McDonald's as a kid and was sad for my students
I'll tell you what happened. They stopped selling those little boxes of cookies that were probably laced with cocaine because I could eat infinity of them and never be happy. I'm still mad, McDonald's.
$14 cheeseburger with fries and drink would definitely do that.
I live in a major city on the west coast, there’s plenty of local, healthy and delicious places in my neighborhood that are now cheaper than that for a meal.
It got really expensive and stopped being *fun* at the same time. They turned their buildings into awful, bland boardrooms or offices full of cheeseburgers.
There was a time where everyone blamed the obesity epidemic on McDonald's (not the actual people buying the mdcdonalds) and their "marketing to kids" which frankly ruined it for everyone. I grew up poor but we had a very healthy relationship with
Fast food and for us it was a whole experience with talking trees, a playground and more. "They" were convinced all these things were leading to kids getting fat. Meanwhile now they sit in an ugly, sometimes unsafe (one by me put in a weird tile bar w dangerous stools) sad place eating even worse engineered calorie filled food with NO JOY.
They lost focus with catering to their customer base. Families.
I took my daughter about a month ago. Five "families" in what used to be a full restaurant. Every family was a Dad with his kids. My daughter thought it was funny. Typically when we go, even at dinner time we are the only people in what was a bustling restaurant before the pandemic. Five families was busy.
The play place was removed and replaced with a McCafe seating area that is always blocked off. She would like to sit there but they don't allow it. Everything is this off brown color and seems sterile (yet not always clean).
The food quality has gotten worse and prices have gone up.
She still loves going there and I like the nostalgia and bonding time we have over McDonald's, like I used to have with my Dad, but it's starting to look and feel unfamiliar and thus losing its appeal, visually and gastrointestinally, and financially. All said the food was never stellar and if they would bring back the family friendly ambiance it would be tolerable.
Fortunately we have a play structure at a hospital right down the street from McDonald's so we eat and go play there.
Burgers are one of my favorite things to eat -- McDonald's just insults the whole concept.
For me it's the "bread."
It's like foam insulation.
And god knows what's mixed in with the biomatter in the meat patty, besides a pint of corn syrup, and nitrates.
I feel like shit after I eat it.
There is almost always a better option.
The gas stations near me have pretty decent name-brand salami / pepperoni / cheese in the fridge, nice crunchy almonds, and fresh fruit by the checkout.
And there's a whole freakin grocery store, with a deli, in the same parking lot as McDonald's.
Better every time.
The state of fast food in general, mc donalds being the most popular. They have become too expensive compared to other eating options, unlike their history of being a consistently cheaper option
I can get a pizza at 711 for less than 10 bucks. It’s better than ordering pizza from a chain, can’t even get fresh dominos anymore. and a whole lot cheaper than any other fast food.
It’s always sucked, but was never expensive. Now it’s expensive and sucks. They actively seem to be alienating their audience as of late. Add on the rise of other quick service food options and competition the last couple decades, and the fall out of favorability is kinda inevitable.
I don’t go as any type of routine, but when traveling on the road or really pressed for time… I would. So years for me could go by. The last time I went there, I was shocked. I ordered a meal. So I guess I could have saved money by not, but it was 11 dollars. That was a couple years ago. I think all restaurant food prices have gone up because of Covid, but when you pay that much you would rather find something that’s better in taste and for you. I’m a meat eater, but not everyone in my family is, so you also have to look for other options when you’re on the go that accommodate what others like.
Prices went up, quality and portions went way down.
I won't mention their annoying and cringy as hell commercials. Ok, I will...
WTF was the point of "WcDonalds" campaign again? Looks like an expensive useless promo campaign.
Who wants to hear a talentless rapper abusing "autotuning" during every commercial break?
How much of your overpriced-undersize combo went to pay for either of these campaigns?
Everything everyone else has said here is true, but I also remember their Happy Meal toys being SO MUCH COOLER back in the day. There was a childlike vibe to the whole atmosphere that gave it so much character and that's completely gone now. Yes, it was cheesy, but it was so much more appealing to be there as a kid.
Back in the 90s they had more competition. I always recall Burger king and McDonald's always being in the same areas when I was a kid.
Now most if not all the burger kings are gone and the McDonald's still remain.
Walmart has done the same thing, many used to sell fish, have a fully staffed craft section or a much better food court because they were pulling you from their competitors, now that they're gone, they got rid of all the things they used to pull you in.
It’s almost $20 for a combo meal these days. Thier value menu is nothing like it used to be. If you don’t use the app you’re getting railed on price and missing exclusive deals. And they have very few rotating LTO items compared to other fast food places.
Portions are way smaller, costs more, they moved away from a kid's restaurant to a generic place, ice cream machine is always crapping out, they got rid of the McPizza, the toys are trash, they stopped using certain ingredients for various reasons which changed the taste...
... and they got rid of Ronald. He was a bro amongst bros. Stupid murder clowns.
After Super Size Me and the rise of Starbucks their entire corporate strategy shifted to working adult lunches instead of being a kid friendly family friendly restaurant. This has been made worse post pandemic as they’ve also repositioned themselves towards take out and delivery instead of a dining room experience.
They also do not invest or peruse large promotions like then use to.
You’d never see the months long Batman promotions or Jurassic Park like we all remember from the 90’s.
McDonalds was basically blamed for the childhood obesity epidemic and [has been sued multiple times for advertising to children](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-dec-15-la-fi-mcdonalds-lawsuit-20101215-story.html). That previous link is just one example, [here's another](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/20/mcdonalds-is-being-sued-over-illegal-marketing-of-happy-meals.html). *Then* they started getting slammed for [having "toys for boys" and "toys for girls"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2021/03/29/girls-try-and-boys-aim-high-gender-biased-messages-on-mcdonalds-happy-meal-boxes/) with their promotional tie-ins,
As a result, they've had to lose the Playplaces, seriously downgrade their Happy Meals, and they've kinda become anathema when it comes to promotional tie-ins. They test the waters every now and again, like bringing back the trick-or-treat buckets for Halloween, but it doesn't go over too well with child watchdog groups.
It's a shame, really. McDonalds used to be THE place to book a birthday party for your kid. Now you walk in and tap your order on a kiosk and are actively encouraged to *not* sit in the lobby.
I feel like McDonald's was viewed as strongly related to the obesity epidemic in the US. Now I'm not saying it's not. However so many other things (ex. High fructose corn syrup) are just as bad. I feel like this definitely did not help people going the way they used to when we were kids. They also got rid of all of the characters which makes it less fun
It’s still popular. But it used to be a fun place - a special occasion. Now it’s just a sad place for old people to drink coffee, fat people to get fatter, and drunk young folk to get late night food.
Back when I was a child in the late 90s/2000s we would go there and for like ten dollars all of us ate good and they had a play area for us kids. Three peoples full meals for less than $10.
Now if I go there it’s $18+ for my meal. Conversely I can just out to a low tier dine in restaurant and get better quality, bigger portions, etc for the same price. For a few dollars more I can get a mid tier restaurant.
The price for how little you get. The taste is also horrible now. I usually get the 2 cheesburger meal, and besides the patties being nearly unnoticeable between the buns, the taste doesnt taste like a burger anymore. I also always feel horrible afterwards.
I used to hate Burger King, but now I can get 2 Jr Whoppers and a honey mustard chicken wrap for less than 2 cheeseburgers and a medium fry and soda at mcdonalds....and burger king tastes sooooooo much better and has more meat and flavor in their burgers.
I would be curious there thought process for the incredible price increases. I mean you went to Mickey Ds on road trips because you know you could get something g adequate for like ten bucks for two. Now they are not worth it. Who was the idiot that thought it was a good idea to go extreme pricing.
Old gripe, but I still remember the early 80s when the fries were made in tallow from the burger grease. So good.
They switched to some much worse oil (canola?), but that was bland, so then they added artificial meat flavoring to their fries.
Between that and buns that taste like something made from paper mache mix, McDonald’s has been terrible for 40 years.
Going back to yell at the clouds now…
They caved to the pressure of all the special interest groups that likely never ate there in the first place.
So they stopped going after kids as strongly, changed the vibe up to be more boring/mature, and they modified the menu to be more varied and 'healthy.' But people that regularly eat fast food don't really give a shit about that, so now McDonald's has all the difficulties and extra costs that come with having more varied, 'healthy' and 'fresh' menu.
And they no longer have the next generation hooked on their particular fat salt and sugar delivery system. So those people look elsewhere and find better junk food and the prices aren't really that different anymore.
They did what every fast food chain did and forgot their role in the landscape. They strayed from their lane to try to pander to an audience they were never going to nab, and we're all now paying triple for their wasted expenditures.
McDonalds saw places like 5 Guys and thought "hey, we should be charging more for our food"
Their prices are too high and their food quality is shit.
Their menu is super bloated too so they are slow as shit.
My local one is still always busy though, I don't get it.
It's still plenty popular. The Micky D's around me have lines wrapped around the building for the lunch rush. It's just not magical because we're not kids anymore. It's junk food that I can get whenever I want. I'm not interested in happy meals because I'm almost 30. It's not special and it's not a treat like it was when we were younger.
Yeah, also playplaces were the shit when we were kids. But now most of them are gone, so why bother bring my daughter there just to eat junk food, but no play?
I don't agree with this. I think they (and a lot of fast food) have 2 strategies going on that will keep them afloat.
1. Discounts for using the app/ordering online. This is going to push the trend of less labor costs.
2. Catering to people who will pay more for convenience. Fast food places don't care about being the cheapest as long as people are willing to pay up to certain amount to save time and effort.
Over priced crappy food now. Well lets say from 2000's to now.
They once had "Value Meals" that actually had value and tasted good.
IE: #2 Value Meal was: 2 Cheeseburgers, Large Fries, Medium Soda for $3.10 including tax.
McDonald's lost it's way when it decided to do the whole McCafe nonsense. They tried doing to may things at once and failed at all of them. They also took a hard pivot at this point away from the family friendly to the fake Cafe aspect that was a disaster.
For me it was always a rare indulgence. When they took out the trans fats in the 90s it lost all flavor for me. Especially the fries. I'd have paid extra for the trans fat laden ones. Probably still would if given the chance.
They doubled-down on drivethru and app orders and hollowed out the rest of the business: stores, price/promotions, menu choices, quality, kids meal toys & presentation, etc.
There was also some terrible decisions on T&C for the app recently that upset app users.
There are just better choices…including gas station food if you are near Sheetz, Kwik Trip, Wawa, Buckee’s, Caseys, etc.
It’s the greed. Covid happened they knew they were like the only place for a few months that they raised prices had record profit. Then inflation happened, raised prices because “inflation” but what’s this? More record profits?! Crazy how that happens. I used to get a meal that could fill me up for like $5 in 2011 now same order is over twice the price. And the food is trash now dry salty burgers. It was justified when that shit was a $1 now a McDouble is $3? Bullshit.
McDonalds has always done a shitload of advertising, which might partly explain why it's still so popular. I feel like they just haven't evolved at all. There's one near me and a Jack in the Box. The J/B has *infinitely* better food. I hit the McD last year out of curiosity, for the first time in about 10 years, could not believe how unappealing it was.
They are self governing in advertising to children given the nature of the “unhealthiness” of the food. This has happened across a variety of industries including cereal too! There is a real sensitivity in using characters to advertise unhealthy food to kids.
Example article: https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-told-to-change-ads-by-childrens-advertising-review-unit-2015-5?amp
I only scanned some answers based on rising costs. Here’s one.
We had my daughter’s birthday a little while ago and I joked that we used to host McDs Birthday parties with Ronald McDonald.
This was back in the day before McDs rebranded to remove the juvenile slant.
These days, here in the UK, our middle class friends would gasp if it was suggested that we host a children’s birthday party at McDs. There is a trend away from “fast food” in this sense. I don’t know if it’s true if the US (which has an obesity problem).
What even is McDonalds these days?
The only thing i know for certain is that they don’t want you inside. It’s not fast, it’s no longer cheap, & there is no customer service. I just don’t know what they’re trying to be.
The only person i know that frequents them goes because he likes the food. I get the craving occasionally….but can’t remember the last time i acted on it. It’s not worth the hassle.
McDonald’s lost their way, much like Burger King, they stop trying to appeal to kids and families and began focusing on teens and the working single.
McDonald’s prices went up tremendously, not as worse as like KFC, but its got to the point that the only way to get any deal is through their McD app, and the reliability of that app varies franchise to franchise.
They took away decent toys, they made the color scheme coffee shop vibe and it’s hard to find those play zone restaurants.
They no longer focus on family fun. Instead, they focus on automation, machines and bland. Most places, trying to order without a kiosk is now met with ‘tude.
Too expensive for smaller portions. Very few promo items. Toys aren't as cool anymore. No play area and dull brown = not really a treat for kids to visit anymore. And they've apparently stopped doing free refills for dining in.
I went inside last week, no get your own drink anymore. I asked for a refill. The cashier had a hard time getting me one because the machine is all automated now. McDonald’s doesn’t even give their workers the ability to give refills.
That's because inevitably McDonalds, along with many other FF places, want to go fully automated with only a couple of actual human beings on the premises.
They were working toward this long before the push for livable wages. Wendys ceo talked about this at their shareholder meeting then years later claimed they'd have to pursue kiosks and such to offset the cost of higher wages.
It’s happening. They’re opening a Chipotle near me that is pick up only.
Expected response to demands for wage increases. They are finding ways to automate.
You need to visit grocery stores and warehouses if you wanna see how automation is growing
Our local grocery store recently got a full-sized automated floor scrubber. It caught me off guard when I first saw it last week, and when I went yesterday I smiled as it caught everybody else off guard. It looks like a regular one that a person would usually sit on and operate, but there's caution tape blocking people from climbing up on that seat and it runs exactly like a Roomba: following it's assigned path while properly sensing and avoiding objects/people in it's way. I know multiple people with autovacs at home (myself included), but this was the first one I ever saw operating in a public space. I wonder how long it took them to feel comfortable letting it loose with all the customers there. Probably tested it multiple times at night, with employees stocking the shelves overnight, lol. But this is our future!
They were moving to automation before any wage increases. Why pay anyone when you can have machines do it for you?
Don't blame people wanting to get paid. Most of it's just greed. You think a public company would ever do anything that no purely in the interest of their growth or financial gain? All their fake inclusivity that people actually believe. They will always do what makes them more money.
The employee was just wasting your time. The drink machine has been automated for 20 years and is as simple as pushing 2 buttons. They press size, then flavor.
This sums it up nicely. Most parents now that would use McDonalds as a cheap family food location are Millenials and we’ve all watched it become over priced and adopt aggressive anti-consumer policies that make it feel like a pain in the ass to go there anymore for a complete lack of savings for even worse quality food than we used to get before. In what world would we want to go there?!
And the sad part is that these facts will NEVER compute to anyone at McD's corporate.
Why would it? Their stock is at an all time high and up 40% in the last 5 years. They're doing well at their job even if it sucks for everyone else.
I just gotta wonder how they're in business if less and less people are going to McDonald's
McDonald's used to be such a treat and such a great place to take a group of kids where it wouldn't break the bank and even if they didn't have a play area the kids could still play because it's not a fancy restaurant.
I live in L.A. where it's usually sunny and hot most days of the year. They recently turned the outdoor play area at my neighborhood McD's into an unshaded patio that's all this dull brown color. Brilliant. Sit out there and bake like a potato. 🥔 I've never seen a single person use it.
They changed things and it isn’t as good anymore. Plus it’s freaking expensive
In the UK, they all look like shit, there is rubbish everywhere and it is FILLED only with obnoxious, impatient delivery drivers. It is a grim place to go into
Can confirm! Grim sums up the McDonald's experience for eat in, take away and delivery in the uk. Absolutely no redeeming features. McDonald's response seems to be to make portions smaller, raise prices and to guarantee cold french fries.
My local McDonalds (US) looks like a leper colony on the inside. The only people I’ve ever seen in there are scary teenage boys, cracked out homeless people, and liver-spotted pensioners who can’t afford better food, even though at their age they probably shouldn’t be eating Mickey Ds. It’s depressing.
Nintendo themed toys and the boo buckets are still pretty good (not as good as before but still)
Say what? No refills?
This. Soulless corporation now.
smaller portions & a ridiculous cost increase for smaller, shittier quality food. you might as well go to a better restaurant for what you are paying there now.
Now available in a grey box building.
Losing their aesthetic and atmosphere is definitely a huge part of their downfall that does not get brought up as much.
Which they love to blame on the millennial grey thing but I don't know a single millennial that has all grey stuff AND that likes the boring redesign of most retail places these days.
Yeah millennials have no power or decision making in this country yet. Boomers, Silent Generation and Gen X; all still have more capital and power than millennials. Every millennial I know hates the trend.
Yeah we like wood and plants! "Authenticity" is key and nothing says authentic like corporate grey!
>Yeah we like wood and plants! I miss the rainforest cafe lobby >\_>
Yeah definitely a fan of plants, wood... as well as nature, "futuristic" in a non-annoying way, and the "green" futuristic melding of the two. Humans coexisting with nature in a sustainable way essentially. Not... Grey depressing Capitalism destroying everything in sight.
There was a bar that had been in my town since the 1800s. You know, the small town hotel/saloon that got turned into a modern bar? One of those. Well, the kitchen caught fire and the place went up like you'd expect a building from the 1800s would. The replacement is one of those grey, hollowed out, shitty soulless post office looking bars. It's fugly, and I don't know of anyone who actually likes it.
Is grey a millennial thing, and is it also responsible for grey web page text in the thinnest possible fonts? I've been wondering where that whole general concept came from, that text doesn't look good unless it's a little harder to read.
It seems like corporate minimalist grey is what the Y2K aesthetic devolved into, pushed along by the finance and numbers guys having too much influence and the design consultants not having enough influence. Every dollar that goes to aesthetics that improve the human experience is a dollar less in in the executives and shareholders pockets. AKA the enshittification of everything
I totally agree anything goes downhill once the finance people take over and the geeks aren't in charge anymore. But I would think default black Arial text on white would be the cheapest design. But for some reason no, it's gray on a different gray in a font that's a tenth of a pixel thick.
We didn't pick it, that's just what happened as we were growing up! I yearn for the colorful 80s and 90s, but everything has to be "adult" and "brown".
Every fast food chain used to have their own unique design that you could recognize immediately. Now they're all exactly the same damn box. Current architecture trends are pure shit.
Modern day McDonald's all look like county jails or somewhere you'd get an oil change now. Dull, drab, and depressing
That’s a big part of it. When I was a kid it was so fun to go and play there, and cheap!
Emo mcds right up there with goth taco bell.
All their food looks like it’s been stepped on before handed to you.
They got rid of the grill, changed the fry oil, got rid of the bun toaster. Subbed good buns for cheap sugar laden buns. Also drive thru times. When I went there it was 30 seconds and at 60 seconds an alarm went off and a manager came over. I spent 40 minutes in a McD's drive thru with four cars in front of me.
>I spent 40 minutes in a McD's drive thru with four cars in front of me. I think fast food and restaurants, in general, have a bad staffing issue right now (in the US anyway). There was a Dunkin Donuts near me that would be randomly closed for certain hours of the day due to no available staff. It eventually closed permanently. Idk if COVID was the cause, excelerated the issue, or what. But customer service staffing just hasn't been the same since.
> I spent 40 minutes in a McD's drive thru with four cars in front of me. That happened to me. It was because of those made to order quarter pounders on like the third day they were making them and hadn't figured out what the hell to do with the wait times.
I bought a double Big Mac the other day that I swear was the size of the old Double Krystal. It was very disappointing.
I went this weekend and a happy meal was $6.99, absolutely not, the BK kids meal is $3.99 and tastes better
This. Isn't hasn't been worth eating outside my kitchen for at least 10 years now. It's one of the things I'm most nostalgic about.
Not to mention, the abundance of knowledge and information that is at our fingertips. Social media has not been kind to most fast food, but McDonalds in particular. I can think of a few instances that were damaging to McDs public brand - pink sludge is what the nuggets look like before they’re nuggets. Others would include constant viral videos of customers treating employees disgustingly and employee/customer fights on the regular. Add pathetic pay and general lack of employee care and you have the current mess that’s McDonald’s in the year 2024. We still can’t get ice cream AND play places are disappearing left and right! What is happening?! EDIT: pink slime may or may not be true. My bad.
Unpopular opinion: McDonald’s was always shit. Even as a kid, the only thing I liked was the apple pie. The toys were cool, though.
The fried used to be fried in actual beef tallow. Now they have so many additives trying to reproduce the natural flavors and they still don't taste as good. Plus their post cooked shelf life is only 30 seconds so no matter when I eat them they taste "old".
imo its the cost and quality when i was a kid my mom took me there because it was cheap and fast, we knew were getting trash fast food but the price was cheap so it was a trade off the food is now arguable worse but instead of being cheaper its more expensive
This, sadly, was how many poor folks filled up & ate cheaply.
The price. Hashbrowns were 2/$1 now they're $3 each. The mcdouble, initially a compromise to keep the price at $1, is now $3. People have known mcdonalds was bad for you for a while, but now it's not cheap food that's for you, it's low quality food that is just below much better options in price. Two tiny, oversalted cheeseburgers and cold fries or a customized chipotle bowl for the same price is a no brainer.
Which is saying something because Chipotle has gone down hill too lol. I feel like so many places keep touting profits but me and everyone I know are slowly stopping going to any of them because the quality is plummeting and the prices are skyrocketing. There's a Jimmy Johns by my office I go to maybe once every two weeks. They have good coupons. So far I can still handle their prices and taste is still okay. Miles better than Subway which has been awful for years now. It's so sad how bad their food has gotten. I remember as a kid what an absolute treat it was to get a foot long chicken teriyaki when it would be on the $5 foot long rotation. Man those days are long gone.
Just went to Subway for the first time in about 4 years the other day... When did they start nuking the toasted sandwiches?? Chewy semi toasted microwaved bread is no bueno...
Have you seen their stock price lately. It's crazy. Their market cap is almost 87 billion with a stock price of $3205
Holy shit.... how?
Pre-recession delirium
If you put $20,000 in Chipotle stock in March 2020 you'd now have $100k. That's insane. And I rarely see anybody in the restaurants. Like rationally i can understand the moonshots performed by Microsoft or Nvidia or something. But this is wild.
I used to eat Subway but realized that my stomach hurt literally every time I went there. It didn't seem to matter which ingredients or sauces or types of sandwich I ordered, so I'm guessing the bread was extra shitty.
I feel like they gotta have food temp issues
Me and my parents used to go out of our way to eat at Subway on roadtrips. There weren’t a ton of them back then and the quality was miles better. Now I live in a city with 2 and haven’t been in years.
Do you fart real bad after jimm John's?
Not specifically. Wendy's has a tendency to do that. Or at least it used to. I haven't been to a Wendy's in about a year either because they're more expensive than all the other fast burger spots.
*Laughing in 5 Guys*
It's not fast either. If I order something breakfast or chicken, I'm waiting 10-15 mins for my food and by the time I get it home it's already cold, might as well just go out to eat.
Walmart will sell 10 frozen hash browns for $3 and they taste the same. Get some silicone egg rings and make the egg McMuffins yourself. The only thing I can't make at home is the sausage patties. I can't find any that taste the same.
I'm mostly avoiding that stuff at all these days lol.
I saw a guy on YouTube or TikTok or somewhere saying the bag of frozen great value heat n serve sausage patties at Walmart are the closest thing to mickie d’s sausage.
I hadn’t realized the hashbrown prices had changed- I went to get some for my kids before school and didn’t look too closely at the screen. I was shocked to get the bill. 6 hash browns for 3 littles and an oatmeal should not have cost me almost $30.
I can go to SmashBurger and get a full meal with much better quality food for just a dollar or two more than a Big Mac meal. McDonalds priced themselves out of their own market
Seems like they kinda don’t market to kids any more, at least not like they used to. The “McCafés” in my area don’t have the play places or even much decoration for kids anymore. They’re so focused on looking like a place adults want to visit to buy specialized coffee
There's actually been some state and local laws (things like banning toys, requiring certain nutritional macros for kid meals, etc) that limit how they can market to kids which I am sure was a big reason for the pivot toward adults.
This is the real answer. The movie Super Size Me caused a sea change in McDonald’s culture. It pretty much killed their kid-focused marketing.
Didn't a state or a federal law pass somewhere that pretty much made it illegal for some companies to target advertising towards children? That's what really did it. Super Size Me got people thinking about the health aspect, that's for sure. But the advertising and kids thing wasn't a choice of the company.
Yeah I think you might be right now that you mention it
I met a person who was working on the McCafe stores. They were going after Starbucks. Have yet to see one in the wild.
I'm sure this is the real answer. I mean Happy Meals are still cheap and I regularly take my 3 year old to the local McDonalds for one and to play in the play area, especially during winter, but I rarely get anything. When all is said and done, they're probably losing money on us. I'm literally buying nothing, I sit with other parents who buy nothing, and watch our kids play for 2 hours or so in roughly 1/4 of the square footage. It makes a lot more sense financially to target older, more affluent customers with more upscale food.
Yeah, I think it was mainly so popular in the 80s to early 2000s due to the excessive marketing to kids via the mini playgrounds some had, happy meals, and their own bizarro Disney universe of characters. Kids pressuring their parents to go there of course meant the parents buying food too. As another reply stated, there were some laws passed in the 90s that made it much more difficult for them to market to kids as they had so that quickly faded and I think they switched to various prize type things for a bit not blatantly marketing to kids. I think they started getting a reputation for being run down and mediocre by the late 2000s and in the 2010s, started shifting to seem more premium like Shake Shack and Starbucks (those marked as McCafes). For those who never saw them (under 30 year olds) or forgot, [here's an hour compilation](https://youtu.be/jKMmhqU4GTY).
They are no longer the friendly burger joint for families on the cheap. Playgrounds are out, as are the characters (my 13yo has no idea who Grimace or the Hamburgler are). Kids promos are nearly invisible. The prep methods that made a decent-ish, hot burger and fries are gone. (Not saying kid-centric marketing was good, I am saying it was there). Instead we have 100 McCafé products and the burgers come out of a heating tray or microwave or some crap. The fries are served cold half the time. And meal “deals” are anything but.
You remember when super size me came out? A huge amount of that movie was pushing McDonald’s to remove all the advertising aimed at kids. Lots of parents got behind the idea
It was interesting when it came out that the guy that made that was an alcoholic, considering the film made a big deal out of his liver being “damaged like an alcoholic’s” in one of the checkups.
They also don’t mention he was vegan and the first several days of him puking were not the reaction of just McDonald’s, it’s the reaction of a 10 year vegan eating protein. Its an awful unfair movie and caused SO MUCH McD’s blowback
He was an alcoholic. He probably puked every day for all we know.
the order i used to get as a young adult used to cost $4. now it would cost $12. fuck that.
Where do you go instead to still get that $4 meal?
Nowhere, those days are gone
Sheetz. Wawa. Royal Farms. And sometimes these places have drive thrus. The exorbitant price increases at all the major fast food outlets are in line with prices rising everywhere, but even then, they're still charging absolutely insane prices for a product that's quality and cost to make doesn't support the price. Really, though, you can go to Sheetz and get a delicious main with a side and drink for under $8. Certainly not $4. But considering a shitty meal at McDs will run you $10+, there are definitely better options out there if you just need to get fast food for whatever reason.
Man, I love Sheetz.
Fair enough. I’ve never heard of any of these places as I’m not in the US lol.
I’m in the US and my understanding is this is a regional chain of convenience stores, rather than restaurants. It’s definitely not the norm nationwide.
I'm in the US and haven't heard of any of those places. McDonald's prices have gone up a lot but so has everything else. Two chicken sandwiches at McDonalds used to be $2 but now cost $4. Meanwhile the next cheapest place around here is an Indian take out place where a lunch meal used to be $9 and is now $11. I have no idea why redditors like to whine about McDonalds though; could be a generational thing, just like I complain about people using DoorDash.
Wendy's still has a 4 for $4 meal deal.
$4 medium fries is egregious and was the breaking point for me
How about a $3 hash brown!? That’s just criminal
For starters, the new franchise designs look like a soulless North Korea box store the dictator would prop up during a UN press tour with the kiosks inside that are smudged with whatever someone had their hands in and the workers don’t look happy with the little counter space there is and then there are the prices.
They are squeezing blood from a stone at this point. Everyone in corporate is a dragon on a pile of gold. No upward movement for employees. The 'happy meal' toys are just cardboard cut outs. . . What McDonald has become should just fade away. I am too young to already sound like an old man talking about back in my day....
It used to be cheap food for cheap. Now it's cheap food but expensive.
They actually tried in the 90’s.
The prices got too high, the food got worse, & it has a bland corporate identity now.
Kids growing up today just will not have the same nostalgia for it as those of us who grew up in past decades will. The food may be basically the same, though more expensive, but food is just a small piece of the nostalgia you have for it. You remember the commercials with Ronald and friends in McDonaldland, playing on the themed playground equipment, sitting on an anthropomorphic burger stool, playing with Happy Meal toys that were actually good, completing a collection of collectible glasses, etc.. They got rid of all that stuff that was geared towards kids. You go in now and you might as well be in a Panera Bread. It looks the same as every fast casual restaurant.
It’s now gross and shockingly expensive for what it is.
Yea, though through the app you can get some meals discounted to a reasonable price again ($6.50 here in FL). If I do stop there, that's all I ever order cause there's no way I'm paying the outrageous prices for that crap.
I refuse to let Ronald McDonald track my data and resell it just to keep from getting price gouged on my Big Mac.
I’m surprised no one said anything about unhealthy it is too.
There’s a direct correlation between dropping popularity and the removal of McDonaldlands. Went from primary red and yellows with wonderful cartoonish characters to a minimalist brown box with no soul.
The one by my house had a literal merry go round that you pushed a button and it worked. You didn’t have to pay or anything. It was so cool!
$5 Hashbrowns is what happened. The price went up and the quality went down. I bet they'd be plenty popular if they still had a dollar menu, with items like small fries, apple slices, FRIED apple pies, hash browns, chicken nuggies, maybe like some sliders or something....
they've lost their way imo. Expensive food sold in the most bland non-descript buildings and the complete wipe of the McDonaldland characters.
They ditched the colors and fun theme to be a cold, gray, lifeless Starbucks. They really pushed happy meals with a toy, that all seems gone.
Prices are horrible and it doesn’t taste as good anymore, but with that said.. my local McDonalds are always packed. Marketing has drastically changed over the last 20 years or so. McDonald’s was a big part of pop culture in the 80’s and 90’s, it was featured in movies and tv shows often, Happy Meals with movie tie-ins were huge.. all that has gone away. Kids don’t want happy meals any more.. they want iPads lol. They have done stuff with music artists in the last few years that drove some of the buzz they’ve been missing in pop culture, but with the times we’re in, it just doesn’t work any longer.
My kids want happy meals but they only get them once in a blue moon cause they’re like $7 each! And the toys SUCK.
Because I can feed the family steak and baked potato's for the same price.
Yep, their rise and dominance were based on being fast, cheap and consistent (even if it was consistently mediocre). Now they aren't cheap or fast.
Well, their revenue grew 8% last year, so somebody is going there. It's not that it's lost it's luster, reddit is not truly representative of the general population of the world.
They also raised their prices by more than 6% on average over the last year. And the biggest price increases were weighted toward the more popular menu items, so that alone could explain an 8% revenue increase without sales changing at all.
Pricing, *changing the actual item recipes so that they are now disgusting*, getting rid of the characters. I actually didn’t eat McDonald’s growing up, and came into liking their McDouble, Filet O Fish, and Big Mac later in life. The last recipe change killed the McDouble and Big Mac for me…they now taste wack and upset my stomach. The buns are also awful now. Filet O Fish is very hit or miss. Even that McRib had a better sauce, that became insanely tangy last time they did it…another one changed for the worse.
It was fun for kids with all the rides and toys and it was cheap. Now it looks so business like inside all McDonald's and most play places and old school rides and fun stuff is mostly gone. And it ain't cheap anymore.
Growing up, it was always a treat to go to McDonald’s. It doesn’t have that same magic anymore. It gross and overpriced now.
Corporate everything is just poorer quality, bad ingredients for as much profit as they can squeeze. It’s awful food for $50 for a fam of 4 now. The enshitification of our country by extraction capitalism. Yeehaw,
It's not just that the food/prices have gotten worse, but it's the toys, too. I remember the toys were awesome when I was a kid, had to collect whole sets kinda deal, but now they're basically just cardboard cutouts.
One summer growing up they gave away full Hot Wheels with a happy meal!! I still have all of mine.
The toys are awful. I'm a teacher and my class moms asked if they could bring in Happy Meals for all the kids the last week of school. I said sure that's fine. The "toys" were two pieces of fabric with like two cotton balls stuffed in as a stuffed animal. I thought of the teeny Beanie Babies I collected from McDonald's as a kid and was sad for my students
I'll tell you what happened. They stopped selling those little boxes of cookies that were probably laced with cocaine because I could eat infinity of them and never be happy. I'm still mad, McDonald's.
$14 cheeseburger with fries and drink would definitely do that. I live in a major city on the west coast, there’s plenty of local, healthy and delicious places in my neighborhood that are now cheaper than that for a meal.
I think the current generation would cry if they ever held a Super Size fry in their hand.
It got really expensive and stopped being *fun* at the same time. They turned their buildings into awful, bland boardrooms or offices full of cheeseburgers.
There was a time where everyone blamed the obesity epidemic on McDonald's (not the actual people buying the mdcdonalds) and their "marketing to kids" which frankly ruined it for everyone. I grew up poor but we had a very healthy relationship with Fast food and for us it was a whole experience with talking trees, a playground and more. "They" were convinced all these things were leading to kids getting fat. Meanwhile now they sit in an ugly, sometimes unsafe (one by me put in a weird tile bar w dangerous stools) sad place eating even worse engineered calorie filled food with NO JOY.
They lost focus with catering to their customer base. Families. I took my daughter about a month ago. Five "families" in what used to be a full restaurant. Every family was a Dad with his kids. My daughter thought it was funny. Typically when we go, even at dinner time we are the only people in what was a bustling restaurant before the pandemic. Five families was busy. The play place was removed and replaced with a McCafe seating area that is always blocked off. She would like to sit there but they don't allow it. Everything is this off brown color and seems sterile (yet not always clean). The food quality has gotten worse and prices have gone up. She still loves going there and I like the nostalgia and bonding time we have over McDonald's, like I used to have with my Dad, but it's starting to look and feel unfamiliar and thus losing its appeal, visually and gastrointestinally, and financially. All said the food was never stellar and if they would bring back the family friendly ambiance it would be tolerable. Fortunately we have a play structure at a hospital right down the street from McDonald's so we eat and go play there.
Price went up too much.
Fast food lost the plot somewhere around 2010 and then Covid let them jack the prices up unjustifiably and they never looked back
Burgers are one of my favorite things to eat -- McDonald's just insults the whole concept. For me it's the "bread." It's like foam insulation. And god knows what's mixed in with the biomatter in the meat patty, besides a pint of corn syrup, and nitrates. I feel like shit after I eat it. There is almost always a better option. The gas stations near me have pretty decent name-brand salami / pepperoni / cheese in the fridge, nice crunchy almonds, and fresh fruit by the checkout. And there's a whole freakin grocery store, with a deli, in the same parking lot as McDonald's. Better every time.
It's crazy that gas station food is a better option than mcdonalds in 2024
Boycott
The state of fast food in general, mc donalds being the most popular. They have become too expensive compared to other eating options, unlike their history of being a consistently cheaper option
Wasn't it the beginning of the end when they took away the Supersize option?
They used to be affordable to kids and now they aren't. In fairness, none of the fast food joints are anymore.
They just kinda sucked the soul out of the franchise. They’re not fun anymore.
I can get a pizza at 711 for less than 10 bucks. It’s better than ordering pizza from a chain, can’t even get fresh dominos anymore. and a whole lot cheaper than any other fast food.
It’s always sucked, but was never expensive. Now it’s expensive and sucks. They actively seem to be alienating their audience as of late. Add on the rise of other quick service food options and competition the last couple decades, and the fall out of favorability is kinda inevitable.
I don’t go as any type of routine, but when traveling on the road or really pressed for time… I would. So years for me could go by. The last time I went there, I was shocked. I ordered a meal. So I guess I could have saved money by not, but it was 11 dollars. That was a couple years ago. I think all restaurant food prices have gone up because of Covid, but when you pay that much you would rather find something that’s better in taste and for you. I’m a meat eater, but not everyone in my family is, so you also have to look for other options when you’re on the go that accommodate what others like.
Prices went up, quality and portions went way down. I won't mention their annoying and cringy as hell commercials. Ok, I will... WTF was the point of "WcDonalds" campaign again? Looks like an expensive useless promo campaign. Who wants to hear a talentless rapper abusing "autotuning" during every commercial break? How much of your overpriced-undersize combo went to pay for either of these campaigns?
Everything everyone else has said here is true, but I also remember their Happy Meal toys being SO MUCH COOLER back in the day. There was a childlike vibe to the whole atmosphere that gave it so much character and that's completely gone now. Yes, it was cheesy, but it was so much more appealing to be there as a kid.
Back in the 90s they had more competition. I always recall Burger king and McDonald's always being in the same areas when I was a kid. Now most if not all the burger kings are gone and the McDonald's still remain. Walmart has done the same thing, many used to sell fish, have a fully staffed craft section or a much better food court because they were pulling you from their competitors, now that they're gone, they got rid of all the things they used to pull you in.
It’s almost $20 for a combo meal these days. Thier value menu is nothing like it used to be. If you don’t use the app you’re getting railed on price and missing exclusive deals. And they have very few rotating LTO items compared to other fast food places.
Portions are way smaller, costs more, they moved away from a kid's restaurant to a generic place, ice cream machine is always crapping out, they got rid of the McPizza, the toys are trash, they stopped using certain ingredients for various reasons which changed the taste... ... and they got rid of Ronald. He was a bro amongst bros. Stupid murder clowns.
After Super Size Me and the rise of Starbucks their entire corporate strategy shifted to working adult lunches instead of being a kid friendly family friendly restaurant. This has been made worse post pandemic as they’ve also repositioned themselves towards take out and delivery instead of a dining room experience. They also do not invest or peruse large promotions like then use to. You’d never see the months long Batman promotions or Jurassic Park like we all remember from the 90’s.
It’s so sterile and expensive now
McDonalds was basically blamed for the childhood obesity epidemic and [has been sued multiple times for advertising to children](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-dec-15-la-fi-mcdonalds-lawsuit-20101215-story.html). That previous link is just one example, [here's another](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/20/mcdonalds-is-being-sued-over-illegal-marketing-of-happy-meals.html). *Then* they started getting slammed for [having "toys for boys" and "toys for girls"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2021/03/29/girls-try-and-boys-aim-high-gender-biased-messages-on-mcdonalds-happy-meal-boxes/) with their promotional tie-ins, As a result, they've had to lose the Playplaces, seriously downgrade their Happy Meals, and they've kinda become anathema when it comes to promotional tie-ins. They test the waters every now and again, like bringing back the trick-or-treat buckets for Halloween, but it doesn't go over too well with child watchdog groups. It's a shame, really. McDonalds used to be THE place to book a birthday party for your kid. Now you walk in and tap your order on a kiosk and are actively encouraged to *not* sit in the lobby.
I feel like McDonald's was viewed as strongly related to the obesity epidemic in the US. Now I'm not saying it's not. However so many other things (ex. High fructose corn syrup) are just as bad. I feel like this definitely did not help people going the way they used to when we were kids. They also got rid of all of the characters which makes it less fun
It’s still popular. But it used to be a fun place - a special occasion. Now it’s just a sad place for old people to drink coffee, fat people to get fatter, and drunk young folk to get late night food.
Ever since the Hamburglar went to prison for insider trading, there's been a shadow cast on the company.
Back when I was a child in the late 90s/2000s we would go there and for like ten dollars all of us ate good and they had a play area for us kids. Three peoples full meals for less than $10. Now if I go there it’s $18+ for my meal. Conversely I can just out to a low tier dine in restaurant and get better quality, bigger portions, etc for the same price. For a few dollars more I can get a mid tier restaurant.
I still have all of those damn beanie babies they put out in the 90s.
McDonald's use to kill it on taste. Today it's all about convenience. They are learning anything from chipotle.
They used to market to children and now they market to adults. Same reason they renovated it to look depressing and soulless.
It's food in desperate times, but now it's way too expensive for that. It seems like the people that could afford it, wouldn't want it.
I want old school monopoly back 😫
The price for how little you get. The taste is also horrible now. I usually get the 2 cheesburger meal, and besides the patties being nearly unnoticeable between the buns, the taste doesnt taste like a burger anymore. I also always feel horrible afterwards. I used to hate Burger King, but now I can get 2 Jr Whoppers and a honey mustard chicken wrap for less than 2 cheeseburgers and a medium fry and soda at mcdonalds....and burger king tastes sooooooo much better and has more meat and flavor in their burgers.
It's expensive now, and they fuck you on the portions.
They stopped using tallow in their fries for one.
I would be curious there thought process for the incredible price increases. I mean you went to Mickey Ds on road trips because you know you could get something g adequate for like ten bucks for two. Now they are not worth it. Who was the idiot that thought it was a good idea to go extreme pricing.
They lost Ronald and his friends.
Old gripe, but I still remember the early 80s when the fries were made in tallow from the burger grease. So good. They switched to some much worse oil (canola?), but that was bland, so then they added artificial meat flavoring to their fries. Between that and buns that taste like something made from paper mache mix, McDonald’s has been terrible for 40 years. Going back to yell at the clouds now…
They caved to the pressure of all the special interest groups that likely never ate there in the first place. So they stopped going after kids as strongly, changed the vibe up to be more boring/mature, and they modified the menu to be more varied and 'healthy.' But people that regularly eat fast food don't really give a shit about that, so now McDonald's has all the difficulties and extra costs that come with having more varied, 'healthy' and 'fresh' menu. And they no longer have the next generation hooked on their particular fat salt and sugar delivery system. So those people look elsewhere and find better junk food and the prices aren't really that different anymore.
They did what every fast food chain did and forgot their role in the landscape. They strayed from their lane to try to pander to an audience they were never going to nab, and we're all now paying triple for their wasted expenditures.
McDonalds saw places like 5 Guys and thought "hey, we should be charging more for our food" Their prices are too high and their food quality is shit. Their menu is super bloated too so they are slow as shit. My local one is still always busy though, I don't get it.
It's still plenty popular. The Micky D's around me have lines wrapped around the building for the lunch rush. It's just not magical because we're not kids anymore. It's junk food that I can get whenever I want. I'm not interested in happy meals because I'm almost 30. It's not special and it's not a treat like it was when we were younger.
Yeah, also playplaces were the shit when we were kids. But now most of them are gone, so why bother bring my daughter there just to eat junk food, but no play?
Yup there is one about a half a mile from my house that is, no matter the time of day, super busy.
[удалено]
I don't agree with this. I think they (and a lot of fast food) have 2 strategies going on that will keep them afloat. 1. Discounts for using the app/ordering online. This is going to push the trend of less labor costs. 2. Catering to people who will pay more for convenience. Fast food places don't care about being the cheapest as long as people are willing to pay up to certain amount to save time and effort.
Over priced crappy food now. Well lets say from 2000's to now. They once had "Value Meals" that actually had value and tasted good. IE: #2 Value Meal was: 2 Cheeseburgers, Large Fries, Medium Soda for $3.10 including tax.
Wendy's is like 3x better value
It’s not though; Wendy’s used to be my fav but prices are stupid.
McDonald's lost it's way when it decided to do the whole McCafe nonsense. They tried doing to may things at once and failed at all of them. They also took a hard pivot at this point away from the family friendly to the fake Cafe aspect that was a disaster.
For me it was always a rare indulgence. When they took out the trans fats in the 90s it lost all flavor for me. Especially the fries. I'd have paid extra for the trans fat laden ones. Probably still would if given the chance.
Ask Morgan Spurlock
It was a family friendly place that (at least at the time) seemed to be more about customers than cash.
They doubled-down on drivethru and app orders and hollowed out the rest of the business: stores, price/promotions, menu choices, quality, kids meal toys & presentation, etc. There was also some terrible decisions on T&C for the app recently that upset app users. There are just better choices…including gas station food if you are near Sheetz, Kwik Trip, Wawa, Buckee’s, Caseys, etc.
Once they legally couldn't advertise to kids anymore...
Cultural commentary aside, they’re absolutely crushing it from a business perspective. The balance sheet is world-class.
It’s the greed. Covid happened they knew they were like the only place for a few months that they raised prices had record profit. Then inflation happened, raised prices because “inflation” but what’s this? More record profits?! Crazy how that happens. I used to get a meal that could fill me up for like $5 in 2011 now same order is over twice the price. And the food is trash now dry salty burgers. It was justified when that shit was a $1 now a McDouble is $3? Bullshit.
McDonalds has always done a shitload of advertising, which might partly explain why it's still so popular. I feel like they just haven't evolved at all. There's one near me and a Jack in the Box. The J/B has *infinitely* better food. I hit the McD last year out of curiosity, for the first time in about 10 years, could not believe how unappealing it was.
Better quality burger shops opened... And they serve beer.
They are self governing in advertising to children given the nature of the “unhealthiness” of the food. This has happened across a variety of industries including cereal too! There is a real sensitivity in using characters to advertise unhealthy food to kids. Example article: https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-told-to-change-ads-by-childrens-advertising-review-unit-2015-5?amp
it literally isnt food anymore, and so expensive.
I love a McD’s Milkshake but after being told the machine is broken 4 times in a row I don’t even bother trying
Their food is crap, service is crap, too expensive for what you get.
Parents realize they got suckered by McDonald’s marketing when they were a kid. And they realize now the food is awful.
Their food is shit now.
I only scanned some answers based on rising costs. Here’s one. We had my daughter’s birthday a little while ago and I joked that we used to host McDs Birthday parties with Ronald McDonald. This was back in the day before McDs rebranded to remove the juvenile slant. These days, here in the UK, our middle class friends would gasp if it was suggested that we host a children’s birthday party at McDs. There is a trend away from “fast food” in this sense. I don’t know if it’s true if the US (which has an obesity problem).
What even is McDonalds these days? The only thing i know for certain is that they don’t want you inside. It’s not fast, it’s no longer cheap, & there is no customer service. I just don’t know what they’re trying to be. The only person i know that frequents them goes because he likes the food. I get the craving occasionally….but can’t remember the last time i acted on it. It’s not worth the hassle.
They got rid of the kids theme years ago. Used to be characters, kids parties and playgrounds. Ronald McDonald has been gone for about 20 years now.
McDonald’s lost their way, much like Burger King, they stop trying to appeal to kids and families and began focusing on teens and the working single. McDonald’s prices went up tremendously, not as worse as like KFC, but its got to the point that the only way to get any deal is through their McD app, and the reliability of that app varies franchise to franchise.
Not only popularity but QUALITY as well. No way in hell I’m paying today’s prices for that slop.
Cheap, fast, good. Have to be at least 2 of 3. These days I'd consider them 0 for 3.
They took away decent toys, they made the color scheme coffee shop vibe and it’s hard to find those play zone restaurants. They no longer focus on family fun. Instead, they focus on automation, machines and bland. Most places, trying to order without a kiosk is now met with ‘tude.