Sinking US sales hit McDonald's earnings in Q1

AFP ^ | April 22, 2015 | Staff

[QT3.14]

REVEALED: This Is Exactly How The McRib Is Made

[DungeonMaster]

I developed a technique for tearing off the tops of those things 10 at a time: I call it “Ten With One Blow”.

LOL, you're more advanced than I am. I only do 3 at a time. Before I quit going to BurgerKing due to the gay whopper I'd notice that 1 in 3 of their pepper packets was a blank or maybe had only 5 crumbs of pepper.

[Mastador1]

I cannot understand the iron-clad behavior why McRib is a seasonal thing (barely eight weeks or when they run out). They could run it all year-round, with two or three different sauces possible, and I’d eat it at least twice a week.

Because unlike you the vast majority of customers get burned out and stop buying McRib, then there is one more low selling item that has to be kept ready and food costs in the toilet when it is thrown out. I used to have the Mcrib patty with eggs in the morning, you can do lots of things when you run the place : )

[Mastador1]

And maybe their marketing to the ghetto crowd didn’t exactly help them in terms of brand positioning.

I'm giving you a big thumbs up on that one, their ads and marketing was going into the toilet twenty years ago when I worked there.

[1Old Pro]

And maybe their marketing to the ghetto crowd didn’t exactly help them in terms of brand positioning.

Yep, "I'm Lov'in It" ain't proper English.

[catnipman]

BTW, upon the rare occasions I go to Wendy’s for their chili, I use one of the small tools on a small multi-tool I carry on my keychain to enlarge the openings of the plastic pepper shaker top.

[Steve_Seattle]

"I’ll tell you why Macdonalds is tanking. They have become too expensive."

If you think that there are a lot of restaurants - fast food or otherwise - that are significantly cheaper than McDonald's, you are nuts. A meal for four for $26 is about as cheap as it gets. A meal for TWO at Shari's - hardly a high end place - will cost about the same, if not more, and when you add in the tip - not required at McDonald's - it will usually top $30.

[SaraJohnson]

Too late. Too many gehtto riots and racist food contamination associated with the brand. Sad to see McDonalds go to turd world status in the US.

[strider44]

I’m stealing this quote, not sure of the source but it’s so true:

“As a kid every trip to McDonalds is a victory. As an adult, it’s a defeat.”

[Steve_Seattle]

Too many people on this thread are comparing prices from thirty or forty years ago - when they first started going to McDonald’s - to the current prices, which are affected by thirty or forty years of inflation. A McDonald’s meal is still a very inexpensive meal. If you think the quality has declined, that’s a different argument, but McDONALD’S IS STILL CHEAP.

[riri]

It's been that way for a while now.

I am trying to cut back on the chemical laden crap and quit soda. I go to my local Mexican place. I get a chicken burrito loaded with shredded chicken and a handmade tortilla. Since, I quit the Diet Coke, my total is about $4.69.

If we do fast food burgers though, it's always In and Out. You can watch them cut the potatoes fresh and they make their own buns. It's a 100X better and 2/3 the price.

As far as breakfast, Chik Fil A burritos are the best and my kids love the morning sandwiches.

[fuzzylogic]

Agreed.

Same at Burger King, a few weeks back the wife and I didn’t have much to make for dinner so I ran out and grabbed two meals, with *small* fries/coke. I didn’t even look at the prices - the total was over $19. For that I could go to a real restaurant, have better food and pay only a few dollars more for the tip - which I’d rather do. On top of it, I thought the burger meals were awful. I’m basically done with both of them. Bad food and bad prices, not a good combination for success.

[fuzzylogic]

Only if you’re comparing prices from McD’s now and before, adjusted for inflation. I don’t agree if the comparison is to other options. There’s plenty of restaurants that have a burger/fries combination for the about same price but the food is MUCH better. I don’t mind a few more dollars for a tip, it is worth it.

[Cecily]

“I’ve notice the same problem with prices. I recently got the filet o fish combo meal at the drive through, which was 7.33.”

Same here. I only ever get the filet o’ fish meal, and with tax it was over $7.00 in my area. Not too long ago those meals used to be just over $5.00 with tax. Prices will no doubt increase if workers are paid $15.00 per hour, but what you get for the money isn’t worth the price. People liked McD’s because it was fast, inexpensive and you knew what you were getting. The inexpensive part seems to be gone.

[ExCTCitizen]

The turnaround plan should be edible foods. We haven’t eaten at McDonald’s in years...

[ken5050]

Can't agree..it's not the price..it's what you get for it.

I'm in the Tampoa area, and a few months ago our first Culver's opened...so I went with a few friends. I'd never heard of tghem before. I had a double bacon/mushroom/cheeseburger, fries, and a vanilla shake.Tab was $10.26..The place is very neat, comfy banquettes, polite staff, and they cook it to order and bring it to your table.

If you go to a McD's and order one of their upscale burgers..fries and a shake..you'll pay about $2 less, but it stinks compared to Culver's..McD's is tacky, and the staff is vastly inferior..

Just wondering if anyone else is familiar with Culver's

[Oatka]

I had the same theory back in 1972 regarding my college cafeteria food, namely, they had these 55 gallon barrels of stuff called “filler” from which all the food was made.

A wild Sci-Fi 1980s movie called "Repo Man" came out about the time those blue-labeled generic cans of veggies started showing up in the grocery stores - the labels just said "peas", "lima beans", etc. with no pictures or other frills.

In the movie, one scene showed our hero eating out of a can labeled "Food". I nearly fell out of the seat, laughing so hard.

[dforest]

Culvers has great chicken fingers. I crave them once in a while.

[kearnyirish2]

McDonalds is expensive, and not “fast” food anymore. Between the time you need to explain your order to the “replacement American” behind the counter, and their focus on the drive-through instead of the walk-in business, you’ve waited as long as you would for a decent sub in a sandwich shop. Nowadays, I just go to the deli/sandwich shop.

[SkyPilot]

One of the comments from the Yahoo News site:

"40 years ago they marketed their food quality, convenience, and service. Now they market "I'm lovin it": basically because the food is a joke, their employees are surly, their outlets are dirty, and the price for the quality/service is too high. Lastly, and I say this in all candor, McDonalds spends a lot of time marketing to the very worst customers (lower class African Americans with little money who cause problems in their stores...they drive away the very clients McDonalds needs). Just compare these stores with Chik-Fil-A...it is like what McDonalds was in the early 70s."