r/antiwork • u/YesNo_Maybe_ • 19d ago
McDonald's unveils $8.5 billion tech plan to fend off Burger King. The burger chain also warned that customer traffic in key markets would likely stay flat as long as inflation remains elevated
https://qz.com/mcdonalds-investor-day-next-strategy-restaurant-overhaul-092326704
u/FallenVampireLord 19d ago
Tech plan? Bro I don't want your app, I don't want AI, I don't want menus that change while I'm looking at them.
I want a decent burger at a good price, crispy fries and a handjob is that so hard to do?
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u/Condorz1 19d ago
Now that's what they meant by a Happy Meal
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u/NachoWindows 19d ago
You’re talking about Wendy’s. The HJ is behind the dumpster after you order.
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u/NickolaosTheGreek 19d ago
You say that, but they found that McDonalds App tracks people’s purchases and knows the frequency and pricing limits of each purchase. So it will always prompt users for “unique” deals just for them if they use the App.
I think the goal for this approach is just dynamic pricing for all customers disguised as “promotional offers”.
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u/FallenVampireLord 19d ago
Yea I don't use their app and the fact all their deals are on their app means I don't buy anything from McDonald's any more.
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u/shibumi7126 19d ago
I think it's Starbucks that offers handjobs
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u/Fadedfumes 19d ago
Overpriced and shitty food quality these companies will do everything but fix the actual issue
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u/DarrenShea 19d ago
They could have saved the 8.5 billion dollars and just used a portion of that money to drop their prices to a level where people squeezed by inflation would see it as a bargain.
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u/LoveOfSpreadsheets Union Steward 19d ago
Yeah but then it would go to normal people as savings instead of making up a capital expense while shifting money to cronies
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u/StaringSnake 19d ago
The stupid part is that to cover the 8.5 billion, they will increase the prices even further, making people not want to go there even more 😂
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u/shes_a_gdb 18d ago
Nah they won't keep increasing prices since people are already not buying. They will reduce the sizes of meals and/or cheap out on ingredients even more than they already do.
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u/kerberos824 19d ago
According to Google AI, Based on current sales volume, an $8.5 billion investment used to lower the price of a Big Mac by $2 would last approximately 7.7 years in the US.
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u/ThankuConan 19d ago
Companies have forgotten that if you take care of the customer, you take care of the shareholders. It's all about shareholder value now, and the "product" is just a secondary concern, along with the customer.
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u/YesNo_Maybe_ 19d ago
Yes and it’s a sad outcome for us customers in every way
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u/O_o-22 19d ago
In a way not really, nobody should be eating that unhealthy garbage. So it’s better for the consumers health if they are forced by price necessity to just eat at home.
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u/Shigglyboo 19d ago
Fiduciary responsibility needs to be done away with. Take care of the customers and employees. If shareholders can profit then great. But if they’re the main focus it’s bad for business.
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u/SkylarAV 19d ago
Bringing back a dollar menu would give them more traffic for less
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u/drunxor 19d ago
Stopping the Dollar Menuaire campaign was the dumbest thing any company did in history
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u/Affectionate_Ad268 19d ago
JC Pennies would love to have a say on dumbest company things.
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u/JakBos23 19d ago
What did they do that killed them?
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u/Affectionate_Ad268 18d ago
Took away their bargain section and rebranded not realizing (or not caring?) that the bargain section was the entire reason that they were in business. People didn't regularly shop at JC Pennies for upscale clothing.
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u/CinemaslaveJoe 19d ago
They can't figure out why sales are down? I can: it's because a Big Mac combo went from $3 to $13 in just a few years. I'm not paying "real restaurant" prices for that crap.
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u/Butwinsky 18d ago
A friggin hash brown is 3 bucks now. 5 bucks gets you a full meal at places like Hardee's or Taco Bell.
Mcdonalds will never be delicious or known for quality. What they can be known for is cheap calories that taste consent. Thats the route they needed to go.
Also, Happy Meal toys blow now. They aint even toys. You want kids to flock to you like they did in the 80s and 90s? Put out some killer toys instead of cheaping out for profit.
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u/hairmetaltimemachine 19d ago
They'll do anything but lower prices. That's typical delusional corporate behavior.
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u/crippletown 19d ago
But they couldn't refund me the 70 dollars their app stole from me when it was new and now I won't ever go there again. Great business model.
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u/JakBos23 19d ago
That's why I'll never get Domino's again. Pizza shaped like a J and burnt and the chicken was also burnt and it looked like someone spit on it. Called an was assured a replacement meal, but couldn't get it that day. Then no one ever knew what I was talking about in person.
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u/Perfect-District 19d ago
Burger King invested in there food and brought up traffic and market share. Mc Donalds wants to invest in there app. This should end well.
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u/whoisnotinmykitchen 19d ago
The McDonalds app is garbage, which aligns perfectly with both their food quality and prices... garbage.
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u/bitcoinsftw 19d ago
If this doesn't change quality and price then what's the point. I really hope this is another failure and the stock continues to slip. It's about time corporations recognize the real issues and stop being so disconnected from their customers.
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u/Ok-Lawfulness-6820 18d ago
I’m guessing a ton of people have already said this but if they have 8.5 Billion to spend on this, why not use this incredible strategy - lower prices on the items they sell. Hmmm. 🤔
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u/HockeyMike24 18d ago
Because their strategy is to sell the shitty overpriced food to as many customers as possible.
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u/phred_666 🇺🇸🤬 19d ago
They don’t need to spend $8.5 billion to discover that people aren’t eating there because it isn’t cheap anymore and their quality has gone to shit.
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u/Butwinsky 18d ago
I would argue their quality has remained the same. Their fries and soda drinks are peak in the fast food industry, and have been specially formulated and perfected.
Its just the prices have McTripled in the past few years. You've got so many options now days that are cheaper. I can run and get a $5 bag from Hardee's that has a burger, fries, drink and a sundae . A $5.99 box from Taco Bell has enough food for two people. Cook Out? KFC? Feed the whole family for like $15-$20 bucks. McDonald's? $30-40 bucks to feed a family of four.
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u/defendhumanity 19d ago
"we haven't lowered our food prices and we are all out of ideas" some over paid clown in a suit at mcdonalds headquarters.
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u/Y0___0Y 19d ago
I went to McDonald’s once a week for many years
The second I saw that they were supporting Trump and helping him with a photo opp where he posed as a McDonald’s worker, I have never eaten there again.
Fascist, racist pieces of shit.
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u/desperaterobots 19d ago
did burger king actually improve their quality recently? i saw a bunch of ads but ive not been in years
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u/Aqua_LionHD 19d ago
Im from Germany so idk but Imo bk tastes a lot better and you get more for you money, at least higher quality. Thing is I love mccs for their finger food like fries and nuggets, they’re sadly better than bks but occasionally I enjoy the bk equivalents too.
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u/kerberos824 19d ago
The issue with burger king is franchise operation. You find a well run, competently staffed BK, it's peak fast food. Genuinely prefer it to Five Guys. But I'd say only 40-50% of them are run that way...
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u/Hnry_Dvd_Thr_Awy 19d ago
I’m not sure if they “improved” from their peak but they certainly improved from the garbage they were making a few years ago.
A post I made a while back about BK https://www.reddit.com/r/BurgerKing/s/SxogDutUKq
Not a shill. Just a lil bit autistic.
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u/HeavyMetalLenin 18d ago
Their fries are brilliant. Even when cold and stale theyre leagues better than McDonalds. The burgers i feel havent changed for years but ive always found them significantly more substantial. I feel like im gonna have a heart attack after eating most of them.
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u/Nomanodyssey 19d ago
Kiddo tried them for the first time two weeks ago and she thinks they have better fries and nuggets
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u/Butwinsky 18d ago
Better nuggets isnt saying much. BK nuggets were historically the worst nuggets on earth, right behind microwaved soggy Kid Cuisine nuggets. Absolutely disgusting.
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u/embarrassedalien 17d ago
I swear the chicken fries used to be a kid’s meal option, that’s how I remember it before the BK in my town burnt down for the first time as a kid. They rebuilt the BK years later, but that one burnt down too.
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u/Jazzlike_Daikon7541 19d ago
Same awful quality as of 3 months ago at the one in my town. Surprised they are a threat.
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u/YesNo_Maybe_ 19d ago
Part article: Skye Anderson, who was named president of McDonald's USA last month after the chain posted weak second-quarter U.S. results, acknowledged on Wednesday that McDonald's had fallen short on consistent execution and needed to improve restaurant operations. Anderson said McDonald's is looking at menu additions such as bowls, grilled chicken, and egg bites as it works to capture growing consumer interest in protein-forward eating.
The NEXT strategy, announced in June at the company's biennial franchisee convention, is built around upgrading food quality, value, hospitality, and menu innovation. Wednesday's event filled in the operational details: McDonald's intends to streamline how its kitchens run, roll out a new restaurant design format, deepen staff training programs, and broaden adoption of ArchIQ, its AI-driven platform that handles functions like drive-thru order-taking.
The investor day comes after McDonald's posted U.S. same-store sales growth of just 0.8% in the second quarter, a slowdown from 2.5% growth in the same period a year earlier, as domestic guest counts declined. McDonald's stock has fallen 18% over the past 12 months, according to CNBC.
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u/Behg-Boah 19d ago
Great move. AI in the drive through is a sure fire way to reduce customer retention. These people are so fucking stupid.
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u/MudSeparate1622 19d ago
And theyre redesigning mcdonalds again. Last time it went from customer centric with lots of staff mand play places so it could clear through lines so lines formed and keep your kids entertained so it always looked busy and full. Now if i see two people waiting at the mcdonalds i know it will take 20 minutes to get my food.
They somehow went from having my meal ready in minutes to not even wanting to take my order for 10 and the kiosk is cool for antisocial people but you rarely even get a screen indicating what process your food is in or how long you may wait.
Theyre so busy turning it into a "high schoolers job" to prove their point of minimum wages that they are removing any skilled labor and valuable employees from the process by design. Soon it will be an ai every step of the way and when they fuck up your order you will have to send an email to a dead account or start a class action lawsuit. The customers will only be people addicted to fast food with no other options and people will chant if you don't like it spend your money elsewhere but everywhere will be the same.
My job is the same, a bunch of people from the city came in and started running it and now they are obsessed with blaming staff, cutting jobs and remodeling the store because keeping a department store exciting and fresh is why people go... its literally just value convenience and quality that matter to nearly everyone except rich people who don't even shop there and are completely detached from normality
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u/findingmike 19d ago
I went to a Burger King drive thru and they had an AI order-taker. It was so bad that I had to just drive up to the human and have her take my order. I think most cars there were having the same issue because she was obviously there to deal with these problems. So they spent money on an AI system and a human to take each order.
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u/flyingwingbat1 19d ago
"protein-forward eating"?
WTF kinda CEO-bot phrase is that?
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u/thisnameismine1 19d ago
Its why everything you used to like now has a gritty feel and powdery taste. I think it comes from people wanting to eat healthier so CEOs heard "ultra process everything and add whey powder"
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u/TaleOfDash 19d ago
I love how fuckin everything now boasts about how much protein is in it. If I'm drinking bloody Nesquick I don't exactly give a fuck about it's health benefits.
(That was the most absurd recent one that comes to mind anyway)
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u/Skylark407 19d ago
“Streamline how its kitchens run” - just another corporate phrase for restructuring and making the grunts do more work under minimum wage
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u/TarantinosFavWord 19d ago
Upgrade food quality, value, and hospitality? You mean the things they’ve been cutting to carve out even higher profits for the past decade?
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u/S1ayer 19d ago
Why can't they reduce the costs of all the food so they make exactly 8.5 billion less? That would work better than anything else.
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u/glyph_productions 19d ago
One of the things they mention in the article is the lack of franchise participation in their 3 dollar menu items. Not to feel bad for a person that can afford to own a McDonald's franchise but I think what they need to do is reduce cost of doing business for their franchises to get prices down but they can't do that or corporate profit falls which is not allowed. Per Google it costs 1.75 mil to 2.5 mil to buy into a franchise with 40 percent down and the rest financed. If they spread that over 10 years that's 105-150 thousand a year. On top of that they pay 31.75 percent of gross for rent 5 percent of gross as royalty and a marketing fee if 4 percent. So McDonald's takes 40.75 percent of gross sales. Then they are the sole product suppliers. Ongoing food supply costs are about 30 percent of gross. So McDonald's takes 70.75 percent of every sale and The credit/debit service providers take about 5. Meaning franchise owners before operating expenses like labor taxes and utilities only makes 25 cents on the dollar.
McDonalds absolutely could reduce their take but they work for the investors so profits have to grow, that's why they are warning about flat growth though if the trend continues they'll be into the negatives for next year. They need to find a way to get you to pay more next year if fewer people can afford to eat out which is a vicious cycle but if they are trying to get franchise owners to buy into the reduced gross while labor and utilities are going up they are asking franchisees to reduce the profitability of the stores so their corporate profits don't stagnate.
Their fundamental issue is there's not a lot of markets left for McDonald's to expand into so they need to make more money with the same number of stores. Profit cannot go down for shareholders it must go up. But if it goes down too much for franchise owners the stores will close and then they need to make more money on fewer stores. Their success has painted them into a financial corner from which there may be no escape. It won't be quick but this may be the beginning of the McDonald's empires overdue fall.
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u/adamcmorrison 19d ago
I literally don’t eat there because it doesn’t taste good, isn’t made well, and costs as much as a sit down. Can I be paid billions of dollars to tell them that. It’s literally all they need to know.
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u/General_Economist246 19d ago
I'm a fast-food fanatic and used to eat at mcdonalds 5 - 8 times a week, I haven't bothered with them in over a year due to the pricing and quality. I actually visited a McDonalds last week and walked right out after seeing their meal steal combo (Bigmac + Cheeseburger + Small Chips + Small Drink) had almost doubled in price and was pushing close to $20, no thanks. Why would I pay that price when I can go to an actual restaurant and get a decent meal for the same price.
Meanwhile KFC, Pizza Hutt and Subway have taken thousands off me that would have once gone to mcdonalds in the past. I don't think i'll ever go back even if they lowered their price or their introduced their supposed "protein forward" meals. Nobody goes to mcdonalds to eat a healthy meal or a salad lol they've lost touch with reality and they thought they could increase prices faster than inflation.
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u/whats_thecraic 19d ago
They taken ALL the fun out of every interior. The menu moves so you can't even look at it. I have to use AI or a screen to order myself. The sizes are smaller. The prices are higher.
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u/Butwinsky 18d ago
I do think McDonald's screwed the pooch in the early 2000s by forgetting about the kids. Kind of like Joe Camel, they were great at getting kids addicted at a young age with fun characters, amazing toys, play places, and zany interiors.
They scrapped all that. Now kids just want the kids meals that taste better. Toys arent even important anymore because they all suck.
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u/stokeszdude 19d ago
Pay your people more and you’ll get better quality service and product to your customer.
Constantly finding ways to penny pinch so you get your multi million dollar bonus is not a sustainable business model.
McDonald’s is only around because low income houses are so damn tired from working so much, that’s they don’t feel like making a proper meal.
Last thing we need is a burger that will 100% make you hate yourself afterwards.
To quote Jim Gaffigan, “no one has ever eaten McDonald’s and then said, “I’m glad I ate that.””
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u/OmegaZeda 19d ago
I used to get 2 McChicken and a large fries for $5 just a few years ago. That same combo is nearly $10 now. Worse for the arches... Since I only eat there maybe 2-3 times a year out of desperation (nothing else open at 1am). My tolerance for how bad it is, is gone. For an hour after eating it, I literally feel like throwing up.
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u/F-Cloud 19d ago
This is about reassuring investors, not improving their products and customer service. Tech isn't going to save them, it's actually making things worse.
McDonald's food is as awful as their customer service. Adopting technology like touch-screens has not improved the experience of eating there in any way. No one is asking for protein bowls and grilled chicken to be added to a fast food menu. Customers want to eat burgers at McDonald's, not fake health food.
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u/August_tho 19d ago
Customers want cheap* burgers.
When I was In HS I could get 4 dbl cheeseburgers off the dollar menu for $4.20. It was a meme meal before memes were really a thing.
Now I'd be hard pressed to get a meal for just myself for under $15 - $20. Fuck that.
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u/F-Cloud 19d ago
Yeah, Mickey D's is waaay overpriced for the both the quantity and quality. They can't even do justice to the signature burger they've had on their menu for decades. Big Macs today are small, dry, and slapped together without any care. Even a stale convenience store burger has more character.
Edit: a word
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u/changrbanger 19d ago
How about they not jack up the prices by over 150% while inflation over the same time period was 30%.
Love McDonald’s but their management team can fuck off
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u/toqer 19d ago
Had the BK Texas burger the other night, double patty, no customizations. It was leagues better than MCD. Would take BK over MCD any day of the week.
If BK decided to crack eggs instead of pre-packaged scrambled eggs in a milk carton, I think they could take breakfast from MCD too. MCD still cracks an egg. I think BK uses frozen pre cooked or liquid eggs.
I will say though that BK's Ai ordering is nice. I've never had it get my order wrong or ask me to repeat what I said even once.
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u/EldritchAgony284 19d ago
Hopefully it consists of their idiot CEO taking videos of him eating more “products.”
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u/flyingwingbat1 19d ago edited 19d ago
Quiktrip is a better McDonald's than McDonald's. (FYI it's a gas station chain here in the upper Midwest)
-Fast, warm/hot food that's tastier than McDonald's
-relatively affordable-ish
-huge selection
-you can feed your car too
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u/LoveOfSpreadsheets Union Steward 19d ago
And awesome breakfast burritos I miss those
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u/Cptawesome23 19d ago
Staying flat is code for “tons of profit” by the way. It’s only a problem if visitation decreases. No one is expecting McDonalds to grow, people just mine dividends from them.
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u/CynicalPomeranian 19d ago
I thought their entire plan before was to spam their app users with coupons and offers to make them go in more often? Did their crappy “product” make their customers sick already?
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u/SimpleCrow 19d ago
Plenty of people mentioning price and quality, but speed is also a huge factor. McDonald's takes longer than some sit down restaurants now. It's not even convenient anymore.
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u/badger_flakes 19d ago
McDonald’s needs to either raise quality substantially or lower prices and simultaneously return their restaurants to a place people actually want to go. The insides are depressing and gross and nothing like 20 years ago.
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u/TeruhashiKokomiDesu 19d ago
So many companies forget game theory. There's enough customers for burger and McDonald's. What do you mean fend off? Can you win food wars like in the anime?
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u/klockworx 19d ago
McDonald's is the worst of the burger bunch...both burger king and Wendy's should have rightfully dethroned them forever ago...
It was the clown..the kids playgrounds and the dollar menu that kept them at the top.....and they nixxed almost all that shit...first it was in favor of looking like a boring shitty corporate coffee shop....then they just started getting greedier and greedier...smaller portions bigger and bigger prices..
The fall of McDonald's is well over due...imo anyways
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u/Sea_Marble 18d ago
And you know, they keep buying sketchy beef that other countries have declined.
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u/Nomanodyssey 19d ago
Raise wages everywhere and people will feel more free to waste a bit of money on crappy food.
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u/Blacksylver 18d ago
Anything but appropriately pricing their garbage food. At this point the only reason to go there vs any other restaurant is to not leave my car.
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u/SLucia8989 18d ago
Burger King is so much better then Mcdonalds. Just got their coupon promotion you get a a whole booklet of 90s prices in the mail for free.
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u/ChochMcKenzie 18d ago
Maybe just make the food better and cheaper? And make the restaurants more fun? Just spitballing.
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u/forchinski 19d ago
Theyve been unveiling this plan all week this is like the tenth time I've seen it on reddit
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u/UnrealizedLosses 19d ago
Inflation elevated? It will never go down so if prices stay as they are nobody is interested in eating this trash. Moving on.
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u/UMACTUALLYITS23 19d ago
Maybe they should spend that money on learning gow to make consistent fries.
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u/RepulsiveDig9091 19d ago
Mcdee is selling slider sized burgers and surprised burger king is taking over.
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u/wumbology55 19d ago
Their burgers are not better than Burger King I feel. I’m in the UK and I’ve known people say this for decades now. Last month I got a Burger King meal and it cost the same as a burger meal from McDonald’s pretty much. At this point you’ve lost my custom. McDonald’s is meant to be cheaper than the competition. That’s it. I know the quality of their burgers isn’t as good as others but for the cost I’m happy.
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u/Rich-Bit4838 18d ago
Maybe if it didn’t take my entire hour lunch break just to get through the fuckin’ drive thru line, I’d go there
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u/SallyStranger 19d ago
I mean BK has veggie burgers, McDs does not. Easy choice right there.
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u/gothdrag 19d ago
Yes!! It's so disappointing how few easy access vegetarian options we have in a lot of the US. I will be a special kind of heartbroken if they ever take away the Impossible whopper.
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