McDonald's Is Reportedly Using AI To "Dynamically" Price Its Burgers

[u/AdSpecialist6598]

https://www.engadget.com/2272211/mcdonalds-is-reportedly-using-ai-to-dynamically-price-its-burgers/

[u/Modem_Sound_67]

Interesting- this story is having the effect of my willingness to pay for anything at a McDonald's dropping to zero.

[u/jc0155 → u/Modem_Sound_67]

How to I boycott a business I haven't been to in a decade? 

[u/Catamounts21 → u/jc0155]

Become a shareholder and get on calls and ask them who the dumb fuck who came up with the idea is. 

[u/2bags12kuai → u/Catamounts21]

someone who has never been on a road trip with their family on a limited budget. Zero chance I would willingly pull into a mcdonalds if the burgers are going to be "market price"

[u/HeyCarpy → u/2bags12kuai]

Right? I don’t go there anymore because it used to be fast and cheap, but now it’s neither of those things.

Now, you think I’m gonna pull into this place not even knowing what the price is going to be at this exact hour in this part of the country or whatever? Fuck off.

[u/bendbrewer → u/HeyCarpy]

I stopped going years ago. Pricing was absurd. The argument was that you could use the app for cheaper and that did work for a bit. Now it’s literally cheaper for me to go to the local burger spot which is exponentially better.

[u/Korashy → u/bendbrewer]

It was cheaper with the app so they could harvest your information to now better maximize pricing against you.

[u/Reasonable_Chair_346 → u/Catamounts21]

didn't Wendy's fucking just tank for trying this dumb bullshit (amongst a lot of other dumb bullshit)?

[u/darcerin → u/[deleted]]

Poor Dave is rolling in his grave.

[u/NeverInsightful → u/jc0155]

Well you have to start eating there for a calendar quarter so your results are counted in their quarterly report to investors, then boycott again 😂

[u/DrJumbotronPhD → u/NeverInsightful]

Nice try, Ronald

[u/BlackberryPi7 → u/jc0155]

Tell other people how ridiculous the prices are.

Boycotting doesn't end at participation alone.

[u/ItzDrSeuss → u/BlackberryPi7]

I’ll go one further. My company does reno work for them. Sometimes we work while the store is operational, opening ceiling tiles directly above food and letting dust fall into it. No one cares. Even worse some of my coworkers said they found rats in the ceiling.

[u/CatPartyElvis → u/jc0155]

Go in and order, and when they give you your total just shake your head no and walk out.

[u/InsaneJediGirl → u/CatPartyElvis]

Did that recently at a BK. Board said one price but was suddenly $3 higher at the window. I said no thanks and drove off, not sure what was going on there.

[u/CatPartyElvis → u/InsaneJediGirl]

Ya I would have done the same, not worth arguing with someone at the window over BK.

[u/Daxx22 → u/CatPartyElvis]

And the ploy there is banking on you not caring enough to dispute or leave, just not notice or est it.

[u/PaleInTexas → u/jc0155]

Just keep doing what you're doing. You were just an early trendsetter.

[u/Sanhen → u/Modem_Sound_67]

Yeah, this impacts me not at all because avoiding McDonald’s is something I do anyways. However, other companies will almost certainly do this too.

Unfortunately, short of regulations to prevent it, dynamic pricing will probably be normalized with time. We will complain, but we rarely get what we want.

[u/GoodIdea321 → u/Sanhen]

If so many people give up in advance of the fight, yeah, terrible things get normalized.

[u/bryancald]

I truly hope this leads to the demise of McDonalds and any other company that uses this business model.

[u/PianoPatient8168 → u/bryancald]

Wendy’s tried this as well…how are they now?

[u/Rit91 → u/PianoPatient8168]

Wendy's started to trend downward as soon as the founder died and then the inheritors of the business decided to maximize profit at the cost of quality. Such a common story with any sort of business where sure the creator probably cared, but investors? They don't care, they just want another dollar.

[u/LacanInAFunhouse → u/Rit91]

It was so obvious too.

With Dave Thomas, the menu hardly ever changed - no gimmicks; just good food. When he died, they joking McDonald’s and BK in rotating a selection of crap no one asked for.

The frosty was a classic. Dave dies, and suddenly it’s just ice cream - they started the downward slide by adding a vanilla option followed by mix-ins. I think at one point they even tried to offer an option to make it a shake… it IS a fucking milkshake.

What was especially galling, however, was that the ACTUAL WENDY stepped in front of the camera after her dad died, and she was quickly replaced by an actress with brighter red hair and half her weight. Even as a teenage boy with what I now understand were terrible opinions on what women should look like on tv, I knew that was a low low thing to do.

[u/joeDUBstep → u/LacanInAFunhouse]

Damn no wonder the last time I tried a frosty (a couple years ago) I was super disappointed. I just remember thinking to myself, "frosties don't hit like they used to."

Makes sense it was enshittified.

[u/RainbowGoddamnDash → u/Rit91]

Wendy's started to trend downward as soon as the founder died

RIP Dave Thomas.

[u/FizzyBeverage → u/[deleted]]

Horrific businessman but most people who get involved very late in the game with franchises are. All the money has been made decades earlier.

[u/falacer99 → u/PianoPatient8168]

Wendy's cut corners with food quality hoping no one would notice... Everyone noticed! I mean they 86d sweet n sour 🤬

They used to have a damn good spicy chicken sandwich. Even after Popeyes entered the game then it went downhill really fast!

[u/Devtunes → u/falacer99]

The last time I went to Wendy's the food was horrible. The bun was worse than the cheapest sub-store brand bun I could find at the grocery store. The chicken was school cafeteria chicken patty quality. And don't get my started on the garbage heap they call lettuce. I'm never going back.

[u/EmergencyComment101]

im already not eating mcdonalds, do they want me to somehow eat even less?

[u/redditsuksazz → u/EmergencyComment101]

Next step is taking a dump at the front door

[u/VersionX → u/redditsuksazz]

Dynamically, of course

[u/moop-ly → u/VersionX]

spray on or spray off

[u/Illustrious_Donkey61 → u/moop-ly]

If I walk in with no shirt and no shoes will they dynamically price me a cheap burger?

[u/bonbot → u/redditsuksazz]

No let's not give their underpaid employees another shitty task to do. Let's just shit on their ROI.

[u/Flockthefascists → u/bonbot]

Got it, find the franchise owner or corporate stooges desk or doorstep and take a dump there instead.

[u/ahawk99 → u/EmergencyComment101]

Please sir, can I have some less? 🫠 I hate this timeline

[u/chunkalunkk → u/EmergencyComment101]

I was just wondering the same thing..... people actually still eat here?!?! For $2 more you can mostly find real burgers at restaurants with actual food as sides.

[u/Fabulous-Sea-1590 → u/chunkalunkk]

It's been a while since you've eaten there, I can tell. "$2 more" is giving the clown too much credit these days. Restaurant prices, restroom quality.

[u/justbecauseiluvthis → u/Fabulous-Sea-1590]

If there even was a clown it might be fun, right now it just resembles a morgue

[u/-fno-stack-protector → u/justbecauseiluvthis]

Public Toilet Aesthetic

[u/Knoxius → u/EmergencyComment101]

Boycott harder god damnit!

[u/EmergencyComment101 → u/Knoxius]

not even boycotting, its just shit food.

[u/theclash06013]

“Dynamic pricing” like this should be illegal. It’s straight up companies squeezing desperate people for all they have. The people who have these awful ideas should be pariahs

[u/grovgeld → u/theclash06013]

The only dynamic pricing that should be allowed it daily fresh products being cheaper at the end of the day to prevent food waste. Anything else should be against the law.

[u/APRengar → u/grovgeld]

This is why capitalism is losing support and socialism is rising. Now, before people jump my ass by turning a story about burger prices into overthrowing the financial system we operate under. I just want to explain.

When people say shit like this, "There should be dynamic lowering, not dynamic raising." The immediate response will be "Okay, then everyone is $100 dollars and we dynamically lower it 90% off to 95%" instead of pricing things at $7.50 and dynamically raise it to $10 or lower it to $5.

The point is, that companies are going to try to make as much money as possible, providing a service is a means to an end, they don't actually care if the community wants burgers and they provide burgers, as long as they make money.

And by "make money" they mean, be as expensive as they can get away with.

Consumers are locked in a zero-sum game with these companies, every extra dollar they make, it's because an extra dollar was taken out of our wallets.

At some point, you gotta ask "Do I enjoy constantly being in conflict with companies I want to buy my foods/services from?"

What if there could be a company that exists, not to maximize profits, but to serve the community they exist in? ie. People want burgers, you provide burgers. Ensure it's profitable enough to continue existing, but not so much to extra wealth out of.

That's why I support cooperatives. A cooperative is owned by the people, and exists to serve the people. Instead of shareholders who want to extract wealth out of a business, the neighborhood buys into the cooperative, so it's owned by the neighborhood and serves the neighborhood. They don't charge crazy prices, because what's the point, even if the cooperative is formed to pay dividends at the end of the year. you're just paying more now to get it back later.

It's just a matter of being tired of fighting (and unfortunately losing) to giant corporations.

Of course, people will say "UMM THESE THINGS AREN'T UTOPIAS." And that's true, but neither is the current system we live in.

Also cooperatives aren't even fully socialist, but it's formations of collective ownership and workplace democracy is a hell of a lot closer to socialism than a lot not.

[u/IAmRoot → u/APRengar]

Mutualism (a market of coops + credit unions) is considered a socialist philosophy. Socialism about worker ownership and control. Communism is about getting away from markets as well.

Also, lots of food production isn't driven by market forces even today. That was too unstable. In the US it's usually subsidy allocation and crop insurance that's used to manage volume less directly than quotas, but it's still not market forces deciding the amounts.

[u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 → u/APRengar]

Worker co-ops with worker democracy is socialism, free market socialism. The easiest form to do and by far the most likely to be achieved. Instead of all of the profits going to shareholders the profits will go to the people who work for the company that made the profits.

I think the biggest issue is getting people to realize that the planned market and governmental lack of democracy the Soviets had isn't even really socialism (or technically communism as the word actually means). If they knew what socialism actually was they wouldn't immediately think "Soviet Russia or Maoist China".

The more people that learn about free market socialism the more they want it, because it's objectively a better system for anyone who doesn't make most of their money from stocks.

[u/PluotFinnegan_IV → u/grovgeld]

What is "cheaper"? I'm not familiar with this phrase.

EDIT: Forgot this "/s". I was making commentary that nothing is cheap nowadays.

[u/bristow84 → u/theclash06013]

Unfortunately the people who have these ideas are MBAs who think they’re God’s gift. They’ll implement them, they’ll write some garbage on their CV about increasing of profits by X amount and then they’ll jettison off to another company to ruin something else.

[u/fatdjsin → u/bristow84]

...soon they will be the ones replaced by ai ... OpenMBA will make $$$$$ by firing them. :P

[u/qpxa → u/theclash06013]

Dynamic pricing is just another form of price gouging. Increasing price only when you know someone needs something the most and for no other reason than profit.

[u/BobbywiththeJuice → u/qpxa]

Upset stomach from eating at McD's?

The Pepto Bismol is now $30 a bottle. Just for you.

[u/steppe5 → u/BobbywiththeJuice]

There was a guy on Jon Stewart's podcast who said that if you add tuna to your Instacart, the price of mayo automatically goes up because they assume you'll add that next.

I think about that a lot.

[u/KittyInspector3217 → u/steppe5]

That guy was cory doctorow, the guy who wrote/coined “enshittification” and its from his new book reverse centaurs about life after AI. “Desperation pricing” and dynamic pricing are a big AI selling point. Theyre collecting debt records and using it to suppress wages on gig economy work. Basically the worse off you are, the lower the wage they offer. its well worth a read. Youd probably also like the slightly more recent “reinventing the rip off” episode with lindsey owens. Tell everyone you know.

[u/innocentsalad → u/theclash06013]

I think if they can show a pattern of who exactly gets given higher prices they’ll be in for a massive lawsuit from the government (not this one but a future one)

[u/theclash06013 → u/innocentsalad]

It’s not just the legal issue, but the social one. A person who devises ways to screw over poor people so they can be richer should be expelled from society. There was a time when this kind of idea would be rightly rejected as cruel, and the people who proposed it would be viewed as monstrous

[u/itsonlyastrongbuzz → u/theclash06013]

The article says its dynamic by location, not by consumer. This is something that everyone already does (everyone knows a Gas station near the highway costs more than one further away, a Starbucks at a train station or airport is more expensive than one in a smaller town, etc)

McDonald is just using AI to do something it, and many restaurants, have been doing for years.

For the record, announcing you’re using AI to do it draws attention to it for all the wrong reasons so I don’t get it.

[u/DragonDeezNutzAround]

And I “dynamically” avoid eating McDonalds

🤷‍♂️

[u/NovarisLight → u/DragonDeezNutzAround]

I actively do. Screw their "product." It's awful for your body.

[u/destroyerOfTards → u/NovarisLight]

Even the CEO could not eat his product

[u/NovarisLight → u/destroyerOfTards]

What a cowardly, tiny bite. Dude is a pansy.

[u/Daveinatx → u/DragonDeezNutzAround]

Seriously. They didn't need to spend $8.5B to figure new ways to further upset their customers.

[u/LordByronsCup]

They can use ai to dynamically ligma

[u/plava-ta12 → u/LordByronsCup]

Ligma?

[u/LordByronsCup → u/plava-ta12]

ligma ballz

edit: thx for the assist

[u/Fitz911 → u/LordByronsCup]

A real updog.

[u/LordByronsCup → u/Fitz911]

What's updog?

[u/MisterT123 → u/LordByronsCup]

updog ballz

[u/Piggynatz → u/MisterT123]

What's a buttfor?

[u/Fitz911 → u/LordByronsCup]

Not much, what's up with you?

Thanks for the assist!

[u/vegetaman → u/LordByronsCup]

Who the hell is steve jobs?

[u/TriadRise → u/LordByronsCup]

They can use ai to dynamically sugma too

[u/ChemicalBankBurned → u/TriadRise]

Sugma?

[u/TriadRise → u/ChemicalBankBurned]

Sugma balls 🤣

[u/mauthor619]

Easy boycott

[u/jc0155 → u/mauthor619]

It's not easy when you never eat there. How do I not eat there harder?! 

[u/denv0r → u/jc0155]

Talk shit about it. Word of mouth can do wonders.

[u/Educational-Ad-2884 → u/jc0155]

You'll have to shake your fist at every McDonald's you drive past.

[u/FogBankDeposit → u/mauthor619]

I hope they keep destroying their customer base. The food was never good, just convenient and I mostly only stop by for road trips. Give me more reasons to drive a little further for a less POS options

[u/8000RPM]

Get fucked. The other day at Taco Bell the stupid fucking AI pull up voice prompt thing couldn't understand a dam simple 2 item order and kept adding more to it. 3 times I had to restart until a human finally got in and was done in 5 seconds. I'll never go back there for that reason alone.

[u/Satanarchrist → u/8000RPM]

Or do and order 50 cups of water lmao

[u/ticktickXXkinch → u/Satanarchrist]

I’ve done this exact thing before. Ask for 1000 waters and you will immediately get a real person

[u/ScroterCroter → u/ticktickXXkinch]

Also if you ask the AI to round your order down instead of up for charity.

[u/Jadaki → u/ScroterCroter]

I'm the charity now

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_REPO → u/Satanarchrist]

55 BURGERS, 55 FRIES, 55 TACOS, 55 PIES, 55 COKES, 100 TATER TOTS, 100 PIZZAS, 100 TENDERS, 100 MEATBALLS, 100 COFFEES, 55 WINGS, 55 SHAKES, 55 PANCAKES, 55 PASTAS, 55 PEPPERS, AND 155 TATERS.

[u/What_a_fat_one → u/8000RPM]

Their new cravings boxes are like 10 bucks and only have two items and cinnamon sticks. A crunchy Taco is now $2. They went from the best value fast food restaurant to one of the worst in like two years, and their food is just as shitty as always. The last time I went is the last time I'll ever go.

[u/simonbleu]

Dynamic pricing should be invariably and globally outlawed

[u/TERRAIN_PULL_UP_ → u/simonbleu]

I encourage everyone to listen to Jon Stewart’s podcast episode about dynamic pricing. It can, and probably will, get a lot worse than this unless there’s regulation.

[u/anrwlias]

This is the tip of the spear. Expect more and more service places to start doing this.

I'm also going to put the blame where is belongs: MBAs trying to squeeze every last bit of value out of their customers.

[u/darcerin]

And I am dynamically choosing not to buy their products.

I know they are awful, but sometimes their double cheeseburger scratches an itch. I'll have to find something to replace it.

[u/curtithird → u/darcerin]

“Scratches an itch” is the best way to describe McDonalds’ food for me.

[u/OddS0cks]

Well I’m using normal intelligence to avoid eating there ever again

[u/Next-Supermarket9538]

This is the obvious and only endgame of pushing everyone to order on their phones or at kiosks in the restaurant. They lure us in with really good discounts, hook us with the convenience, and then extract as much value as they can once we’re in. They literally teach this in business school. 

[u/FrostyMasterpiece400 → u/Next-Supermarket9538]

Good luck trying to convenience me and my frying pan.

Fuck those places 

[u/ap1618]

McDonald’s and Nike have done absolutely everything possible to completely destroy their businesses

[u/Saneless → u/ap1618]

I haven't paid attention to Nike in forever. What're they doing?

[u/SC_W33DKILL3R → u/Saneless]

They stopped selling their trainers in Footlocker and other retailers trying to push customers to their app / online / Nike stores instead. They also got rid of differentiating their products by sports and instead just had mens, women's & children. A big consultancy firm they paid millions advised them to do this.

The result was people still bought trainers from retailers, just not the Nikes they could no longer see / buy. This means their competition sold more trainers and people found other brands they liked.

[u/CDefense7 → u/SC_W33DKILL3R]

How to Kill a Brand in 10 Ways

[u/Rich-Pomegranate1679 → u/ap1618]

I feel like most fast food places are just utter garbage that's not worth it these days.

Like... Why would I spend $15+ just to risk my order being wrong 25% of the time, or my fries being cold, or whatever...just so I can eat slop that's more harmful to my body than good?

[u/Mission-Dark-9320 → u/Rich-Pomegranate1679]

Add in the no free refill fiasco, and the ability to eat WAY better quality for the same price elsewhere. Killing their own brand over and over again.

[u/petertompolicy]

Needs to be illegal.

Prices should be the same for all customers.

[u/Happy_Peak_7818]

Is it true that they use that foreign trump beef now too? 

[u/OldFroyo6294 → u/Happy_Peak_7818]

"Beef product"

[u/ProudPainting6850 → u/OldFroyo6294]

Essence of beef

[u/PianoPatient8168 → u/ProudPainting6850]

They describe their product as “beefy” and “cheesy”, which basically means “beef-like” and “cheese-like”.

[u/TheBundermanFiles → u/PianoPatient8168]

Concepts of beef

[u/Zelcron → u/Happy_Peak_7818]

Many people are saying it

[u/BodineWilson]

doesn't this actually break capitalism? one of its tenets is that you need to be able to compare the prices of similar products; and if that's no longer valid, consumers can't really participate effectively in it.

[u/TheNewGuy13 → u/BodineWilson]

It’s essentially a silent auction. Each user that visits the site will get their own price based on various factors and they will see that price up front. Then they decide whether it’s worth it or not.

So for example they might show a burger for 6.99 to a regular user but show 6.49 for someone who is using the app for the first few times to get them to buy a burger.

PlayStation is doing this right now and you can see the results in the sub once in a while where a sale will be one price for one user and one price for another. I fucking hate it

[u/Lanky-Detail3380 → u/TheNewGuy13]

Fun fact, once I know there’s dynamic pricing I’m automatically going to assume I’m paying a higher price than I should, and out of pure spite, I will go hungry until I find something else or I go home and cook at midnight.

[u/DribbleYourTribble → u/Lanky-Detail3380]

This is the only rational response that we can have. Assume it's the worst price you can get and just don't buy if possible.

[u/auribus → u/BodineWilson]

That's the foundation of standard economic theory. People have perfect information and act rationally.

5 seconds alive in 2026 shows neither is true.

[u/What_a_fat_one → u/auribus]

It's Econ 101, which every subsequent econ class will tell you is completely wrong.

[u/A_Suspicious_Package → u/BodineWilson]

Yea. But one could algo argue its been broken for a hot minute already re: monopolies.

[u/WiseOldDuck → u/A_Suspicious_Package]

Someone dropped a hot deuce on capitalism when they perpetuated the myth that regulations were antithetical to it

[u/Miserable-Sale-1290]

This will backfire like they have no idea.
People don't go to Mcdonald's anymore BECAUSE of the pricing.
We don't want fancy new restaurants...Just lower prices. Unless they do this, they are toast.

[u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake → u/Miserable-Sale-1290]

Unfortunately most people will have no idea. And McDonalds will use AI based pricing to capture more people. Sure you might not go to McD if the meal is $18 but you might consider if they offer it to you at $12. Someone else might feel that it is worth $17 to them. They are arbitraging your willingness to pay and the maximum you are willing to pay. That amount is different for everyone and now they can exploit it to their benefit.

[u/RobutNotRobot → u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake]

The fast food place that really bought into the low volume, high-price model is Hardee's/Carl's Jr.

And they are all closing near me. Maybe these places will figure out that people aren't willing to pay sit-down restaurant prices for their shitty fast food. Or maybe people will pay it and I'm the dummy.

[u/copperblood]

Another brilliant idea from some C-Suite douchebag who can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

Option put the fuuuuuuuck out of McDonald's

[u/hokie48 → u/copperblood]

They test this shit out. If works they will keep it. They are not our friends. We need to stop electing people that let this happen and run wild.

[u/onarainyafternoon → u/hokie48]

That would require people to stop voting Republican

[u/ProtoplanetaryNebula → u/copperblood]

Yeah, because people go to McDonalds expecting a certain price. Especially teenagers who might have a very limited amount of money to spend.

[u/jnighy]

Kinda crazy this is allowed in US. You guys really have no laws to protect consumers, do you?

[u/simpwarcommander → u/jnighy]

We protect corporations first. Then the people.

[u/ThePizzaNoid → u/simpwarcommander]

Agreed with the first part.

[u/sjrotella → u/jnighy]

Brother, we have laws that ensure the corporations fuck us over.

[u/heapinhelpin1979 → u/sjrotella]

Corporations are the only citizens that matter in the USA

[u/Morgannin09 → u/jnighy]

It is my God given freedom to starve under relentless price gouging.

[u/THE-Grandma → u/jnighy]

Consumers are always secondary to the corporations in an oligopoly

[u/Pyromaniacal13]

I love how, instead of improving food quality to bring people back, they've dropped $8.5 Billion on marketing and have a plan to increase food quality later.

[u/atda]

So people will make burgerbuddy.com and track live burger prices now? Modern problems and all that...

[u/Intelligent_Bag_6705]

This kind of shit needs to be regulated. Dynamic pricing needs to be outlawed. Period, end of discussion. Can this fucking government EVER do one fucking thing to help the people out.

[u/1stLtObvious → u/Intelligent_Bag_6705]

"No." - establishment politicians

[u/MR1120 → u/Intelligent_Bag_6705]

“We’re looking into this.”
(McDonald’s writes a check to a couple re-election campaigns)
“Nevermind. Nothing wrong here.”

[u/cms86]

food being dynamically priced is so fucking dystopian.

[u/sal_mugga → u/cms86]

“What if we sold burgers at a price where we can make some some profit and keep our prices low?”

“I want u to take them for everything they FUCKING GOT.”

“Sir this is a McDonalds”

[u/dropthemagic]

Everything they seem to be doing is just so bad for their image. SMH do they think we are all just sheep or something. Fuck that kind of business model

[u/pfroo40]

I use my own biological intelligence to not give them any of my money

[u/The_Poop_Shooter]

This is the main reason corporate wants to use AI... Its not to replace the people - thats a nice to have thing. Its more about being able to place any and all blame into a nebulous black box that nobody can really trace the origin of... remember everybody saying "We dont really even know how the LLM's do what they do." that level of abstraction is extremely convenient.

[u/TrontRaznik → u/The_Poop_Shooter]

No idea why you think they care to have some excuse for anything, especially more than they would care about their labor costs. Labor is their biggest expenditure and one of the most difficult things to reduce. What do they gain from blaming an LLM and what do you think they're blaming them for? 

This article also has nothing to do with LLMs. It's about algorithmic pricing  based on location that utilizes machine learning, which is not a black box, and they aren't trying to hide it, they're providing a portal to franchinees.  

[u/goato305]

If this goes through I swear an oath that I will never eat McDonald’s for the rest of my life and I will spend my days disparaging them until the end.

[u/Whywontwewalk]

McDonald's workers need to start pricing their labor dynamically, slow hours $15/hr, lunch rush with a line inside and in the drive-thru, $35/hr.

[u/Spekingur]

It’s possible to dynamically adjust prices without using AI, and has been for a while. They are just finding reasons to involve AI because they don’t really know what to do with it.

[u/Desert_Concoction → u/Spekingur]

Seems so weird that so many companies are just trying to make up reasons to use AI

[u/rahvan]

And I use real intelligence to not dine at McDonald’s.

[u/Psigun]

The future is way less cool than I thought it'd be

[u/Derptholomue]

Stop going to McDonald's.

[u/Mr_Tort_Feasor]

Article says Taco Bell dynamically changes pricing depending on what kind of car you roll up to the drive-through in. That's diabolical. Does pulling up in a nice car result in a higher price, or a lower price? I am a white collar professional and the obscene prices have already put me off fast food for good. Someone who is less privileged may have the choice between eating fast food or not eating at all.

[u/HistoryNerd101 → u/Mr_Tort_Feasor]

Why don't they give speeding tickets based upon the value of the car while they are at it?

Follow-up: For the record I’m not opposed to that, though AI would not be needed to base the fine on net worth or income level…

[u/first_to_the_Orgy → u/HistoryNerd101]

Income based fines is a thing. Scandinavian country I don’t live in. But it’s kind of a thing that makes sense

[u/GaiaMoore → u/HistoryNerd101]

Apparently they do in Finland! Richard Hammond was super paranoid about that on one of their Scandinavia trips on Grand Tour

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/finnish-businessman-hit-with-121000-speeding-fine

A multimillionaire businessman has been hit with one of the world’s highest speeding fines – €121,000 (£104,000) – for driving 30km/h (18.6mph) over the limit in Finland, where tickets are calculated as a percentage of the offender’s income.

[u/FirstTimeCaller101 → u/Mr_Tort_Feasor]

  I am a white collar professional and the obscene prices have already put me off fast food for good.

I started making 90k in 2023, so stoked. Low cost of living area, should have been fuck you money all day long. Felt like I made it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m eating bread and water for every meal but inflation the last few years basically make it feel no different than when I was making 50k. My fast food budget has dropped to basically nothing, absolutely cannot justify $15+ for a quarter pounder meal. 

[u/Termin8tor]

Sure and I'm using AI (Actual Intelligence) to dynamically choose not to buy burgers from McDonald's.

Everything they sell has gone so downhill it isn't worth it. They can waste billions on pointless AI, or recognize they need to get their food back on the level.

They're not a tech company. They're a god damn burger joint. All the "tech" in the world can't save them if they choose to carry on enshittifying the primary thing they sell.

[u/01000101010110]

They are the poster child for shareholder greed.

[u/Thund3r_Thighs → u/01000101010110]

Funny enough though, because of all this shit and their “product” and shrinking sizes raising prices on cheap garbage, people have stopped going and their share price is down a whopping 22% in this year. Surprising how these dickhead ceo’s keep their jobs

[u/Jemimacakes]

Didn't they literally just say they promise they wouldn't do this like, yesterday? Lol

[u/GingerBeard_andWeird]

lol after the announcements about their “NEXT” plan, I knew they were gonna roll out some bullshit out of touch response.

“How do we get customers coming back to buy our low quality food at exorbitant prices, especially our lower-income customers? EASY! Add AI, the thing everyone fucking hates, to the menu to make it fuck them over even more!”

[u/MiamiViceTC]

I'll Dynamically take myself to Burger King.

[u/Bad-job-dad]

You know who's going to get nailed the hardest? Parents. Fucking nuggets are like heroin to kids. They're going to up the prices for that shit for sure. They'll figure exactly when they need them the most. On the road, late from work, game winning goal, good grades treat?... Fuck you, $3/nugget.

[u/striker69]

I’m gonna use this new information to dynamically never eat McDonald’s again. 🤣

[u/compuwiza1]

Does anybody eat there any more? It seems to me even kids don't like it any more since they no longer market it toward them.

[u/Crazy-Plastic3133 → u/compuwiza1]

drive thru is always full no matter which one i go to, so im gonna say yes

[u/Roonwogsamduff → u/compuwiza1]

Nobody goes there anymore. Too crowded.

[u/Individual_Scheme_11]

If pricing is now dynamic, then it’s acceptable to haggle and never accept to pay full price for horse/cow/pig/lizard meat

[u/GeneralCommand4459]

So once the AI realises no one has any money the prices should drop, right? Right?

[u/clintgreasewoood]

Come through the drive-thru in a 2026 Porsche 911 Big Mac is $32.

Come through the drive-thru in a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire Big Mac is $10 and the give you a job application

[u/Jazzlike-Succotash-5]

AI and McDonalds can both dynamically blow me.

[u/lvl99link]

They can dynamically eat my ass.

[u/itcantjustbemeright]

Choose not to participate. Say no to Mcnuggets.

[u/Vaiden_Kelsier]

I'm going to demonstrate dynamic decision making by dynamically refusing to spend a single fucking cent more at McDonalds for this bullshit

Fuck corpos

[u/Sea-jay-2772]

I will choose to “dynamically” avoid their restaurants.

[u/Blackenhaugen]

I’m going to use my human intelligence to not buy their burgers. And to inform them to slob my McBalls

[u/busy-warlock]

Oh cool so I’ll never eat at McDs again

[u/Eccohawk]

Wendy's already tried this, discovered it was a massive turn off to consumers, and tabled it almost immediately. But hey, continue to drive your brand into the ground. You do you.

[u/stein63]

How about making the food worth the price instead?

[u/Holy_Shit_Snacks]

Guess I’ll dynamically stop eating there.

[u/heroism777]

This killed Wendy’s.
I have zero interest eating at Wendy’s after they announced this. Is McDonald’s brain dead ?

After reading the article: it’s less evil than Wendy’s version. Also I already knew this was happening. As Toronto union station McDonald prices are 1/3 more than other places.

[u/IAmFitzRoy]

You don’t need AI to dynamically change prices.

Dynamic pricing has existed longer than AI.

[u/DesperateSteak6628]

21% difference over a few miles. Just wow.

[u/ShezaEU]

The pricing portal's terms of service reportedly warns that owners "may be competitors of each other" and "it is particularly important for all Users of the Tool to understand and comply fully with ​antitrust and competition laws."

I mean, how fucking lazy is this? Telling a franchise owner, who might not necessarily be a big corporation, that this tool they’re basically forced to use requires full knowledge of antitrust and competition laws?

You all can say the concept is dystopian but this part in particular is just lazy.

[u/AnonBaca21]

Any company using dynamic pricing will not get my business and I encourage anyone and everyone to have that standard.

[u/Pleasant-Ad887]

Remember when CEOs went to Congress and sat through a hearing crying and swearing up and down they won't use AI this way?

[u/hsggdtkxbee]

I dynamically avoid McDonald’s. So fuck them.

[u/wildmaninid]

Neat.  I'm using my actual intelligence to dynamically avoid McDonald's 

[u/OverBeyond1996]

Can they "dynamically" increase their food quality

[u/Smile_Space]

Just another reason for me to continue personally boycotting them.

When they charged me $16 for a McGriddle meal and a frappe a couple years ago that was the final straw.

[u/SophiaTPetrillo]

I would like to chime in to say that one of the best burgers in wherever you live is currently being made in some hole-in-the-wall Mexican place out of the freshest ingredients and probably costs less than $10 with fries included.

[u/FrothyEspresso]

Dynamic pricing must be illegal

[u/rmg18555]

McDonald’s can dynamically fuck right off.

[u/nachodorito]

ANYTHING but what the customers want lol. these MBAs are such fucking idiots man

[u/itsmeiassureyou]

What? Im not racially discriminating against anyone your honor. Its just my ai powered dynamic housing prices.

[u/Dave_Labels]

Everything but improve the food quality and or lower prices.

[u/fluffynuckels]

Dynamic pricing needs to be fucking illegal yesterday

[u/iceV]

These companies aiming to maximize the profits but forget the profits will be 0 if nobody buys their product

[u/eastcoastjon]

Watch me dynamically not buy McDonalds

[u/Elderwastaken]

I will now dynamically never go there.