Lower Costs Highlight Golden Arches’ Push to Emphasize Everyday Value
To maintain profits as inflation climbed, McDonald’s restaurants significantly raised prices, and the brand took a public relations hit after reports that a Big Mac combo meal cost $18 at a Connecticut location. Inflation-weary consumers pushed back, staying away from McDonald’s (and other restaurants). Starting early next month, McDonald’s hopes to woo customers’ return by reducing prices on McDonald’s Combo Meal options nationwide.
The value-meal discounts will include Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets, Quarter Pounders with cheese, McCrispy chicken sandwiches, Egg McMuffins and other breakfast sandwiches, according to The Wall Street Journal. The price cuts will last at least through early 2026, the newspaper said.
Just how big are the deals? McDonald’s Combo Meals that now cost $10 are expected to drop to $8.50, the newspaper said. Also in September, franchisees will offer $5 Sausage Egg McMuffins and $8 Big Mac meals, The Journal reported. And in November, a Sausage, Egg and Cheese McGriddle will be $5, and 10-piece Chicken McNuggets meals will cost $8. Later this year, the fast-food giant will feature Extra Value Meals such as $8 McNugget combo meals along with $5 breakfasts. McDonald’s has especially lagged on breakfast traffic, and QSR Magazine noted that CEO Chris Kempczinski had said earlier this month that the company would address that.
How the Price Cuts Came About
The Journal, which had access to company materials for its reporting, gave further details of how the deal was hammered out as follows:
- McDonald’s cut prices after weeks of talks with franchisees. Franchisees own and operate 93% of McDonald’s 38,000 worldwide locations, per Investopedia; there are roughly 13,600 McDonald’s in the United States.
- To get the operators on board, the Chicago-based parent corporation pledged to subsidize franchises that lose money on the discounts.
- McDonald’s and its U.S. franchisees agreed to trim combo meal prices to 15% below the total cost of the items when sold individually.
- The company and franchisees will jointly cover the marketing costs of the pricing initiative.
The discounting and limited-time specials comprise an effort to emphasize the affordability of McDonald’s menu. The Journal quoted Joe Erlinger, head of McDonald’s domestic business, as saying, “Customers are telling us they need more of the everyday value and affordability that defines the McDonald’s brand.”
Declines in Restaurant Visits
McDonald’s isn’t alone in its challenges. Market research from Black Box Intelligence indicates U.S. restaurants have experienced ups and downs this year, but traffic generally has been sluggish. During the first quarter, Americans chowed down on 1 billion fewer restaurant meals compared to 2024, Newsweek reported Aug. 17, citing Circana’s market research. QSR Magazine stated that McDonald’s quarterly U.S. same-store sales grew 2.5% during the second quarter – following two straight quarters of declines. But Restaurant Business attributed the uptick mostly to a Minecraft Movie meal available in April. Traffic has remained challenged, Erlinger conceded recently, adding that the brand didn’t perform as well as expected traffic-wise during the second quarter.
McDonald’s leadership told investors this month that lower-income consumers were dining at home more, especially for breakfast, while visits by higher- and middle-income diners had increased, The Journal said. Restaurant Business elaborated with a quote from CEO Kempczinski: “Real incomes are down with the low-income consumer. That is absolutely going to put pressure on visits in the QSR industry.” Company officials said they expect that divide to continue.
Price Hikes, Other Deals and Averages
The affordability campaign reved up in January with the debut of the McValue menu offering a “Buy One, Add One for $1” option for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Fox Business reported. The company simultaneously launched app-specific deals (free fries with minimal purchases and a free McCrispy for new app adopters) to drive customers to the platform, according to Fox Business.
Kempczinski acknowledges that “the single biggest driver of what shapes a consumer’s overall perception of McDonald’s value is the menu board.” That presents a problem, however, because the brand’s prices have ballooned during the past five-plus years. For instance, Big Mac Combo Meals rose 27% between 2019 and 2024 as franchisees – who generally determine their own prices – passed along their own cost increases.
Attributing prices to the market-research firm Technomic, The Wall Street Journal stated that the Big Mac meal now costs $5.69 to $18.99 at U.S. restaurants, with the highest prices typically at travel-related locations such as airports. The average cost of a Big Mac meal is $10.53.
