Price is a big factor in why someone is eating at McD’s in the first place, so when you start talking about a $9 burger, then maybe another $6 for fries and a drink, you’re at $15. And a that price point, maybe someone says, “Huh, for that money I could possibly eat a full-service restaurant, so why again am I doing this?” It’s analogous to if Denny’s or Cracker Barrel started offering a USDA prime steak for $50. That might be a fair price for that meal, but maybe most Denny’s customers just don’t to spend that much in a Denny’s
All the fast food places keep going up while all my groceries have come down quite a bit. I hadn’t gone to a subway in years but stopped on a drive a few weeks ago. I walked right back out when a basic sandwich was $16 for some bread, cheap veggies, and sweat meat. I drove hungry for a while and cooked when I got home. I predict this burger will be in the $11 range.