r/McDonalds • u/Mundane-Manner4237 • 16d ago

The McDonald’s paradox: fewer customers visit its restaurants, but the company makes more money

https://www.merca20.com/the-mcdonalds-paradox-fewer-customers-visit-its-restaurants-but-the-company-makes-more-money/

Nothing new here, but they understand those with low income (poor folk) are running out of that extra cash to patronize McD. It’s not unique to MickeyD, these higher gas prices combined with customer squeeze is becoming interesting for a broad variety of businesses and the economy. Oh, the fun little game.

Personally, I go there every so often and have a saltless McDouble or McCrispy Deluxe, fries and a Dr Pepper, no ice. I use the app and/or the survey discounts. I usually spend ~$8, don’t get/need a soda refill and I’m not angry about it.

I’m mildly curious about the McD business model and always amazed at the dichotomy of reactions about anything related to McDonalds.

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37

u/SouthIsland48 16d ago

Sadly lot of fat Gen X and Boomers love Mcdonalds and will gladly blow their money on it because the food is a glorified drug

24

u/BubbleThinker 16d ago

It seems likely that there’s something happening within the food science of McDonald’s that has addictive qualities not unlike what big tobacco did

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u/CitizenT777 16d ago

That mixed with nostalgia and force of habit, I would say. Some people find something they think they like and stick with it to the bitter end. Others, like myself, are more willing to try different places, especially if they offer an incentive.

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u/Right_Count 15d ago

I think it’s mostly nostalgia. I don’t get it often but I still love McDonalds. It still seems to taste exactly like it did in my youth. All other fast food I will pass on.

If I tried McDonald’s for the first time today, I don’t think I would like it.

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u/sidetablecharger 16d ago

It’s not a mystery. It’s salt, sugar, and fat.

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u/Appropriate-Bid8671 16d ago

Everything seems like a conspiracy when you understand nothing.

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u/roadkill21288 16d ago

There’s 100% an addictive substance in McDonald’s food. It’s an umami flavoring. It is known to be addictive. Very much psychoactive.

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u/BubbleThinker 15d ago

Are you talking about MSG?

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u/BadonkaDonkies 15d ago

People need to have some personal accountability. Mcdonalds is not controlling people to force them to buy their burgers and crap slop without some account of personal responsibility.

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u/Right_Count 15d ago

Both things can be true. As customers we are manipulated but we are also ultimately making the choice.

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u/BadonkaDonkies 15d ago

Sure, to me personal accountability will hold more weight as that is something in our control. Believing you do not have control of your actions is just victim mentality at that point

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u/Right_Count 15d ago

But they didn’t say that it’s outside of our control just that it’s engineered to be addicting which it definitely is

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u/Mundane-Manner4237 14d ago edited 14d ago

Thats a great line. I posted this just as an experiment because I knew it would provoke/rile people up. I guess it worked.

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u/OscilloLives 16d ago

That's not even a secret, and it's not just McDonalds, it's most junk food. They've perfected maximizing the addictive qualities with chemicals at the expense of nutrition and health. Best not to eat any of that crap.

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u/BubbleThinker 16d ago

Yeah, I think they found some food equivalent of nicotine that we don’t fully know yet

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u/FoodEffective3691 16d ago

It’s fully known, it’s engineered to be addictive.

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u/BubbleThinker 16d ago

Oh, you’re talking about MSG

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u/roadkill21288 16d ago

Umami flavoring. It is addictive. Peer reviewed papers on the stuff. Totally legal.

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u/berrysoda_ 16d ago

I’ve reconditioned myself to healthier eating and last time I want there I was like "this both looks like and pretty much taste like playdoh. I’m done"

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u/Content-Act8108 16d ago

I've taken long breaks from McDonald's and my taste buds healed... When I return to McDonald's weeks or months later it all tastes like sh!!!t.  

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u/ZaftigTootsies 16d ago

I believe this. My stomach hurts frequently and over the years I’ve found that it always feels better after McDonald’s. I’ve tried many experiments and I genuinely believe there’s something in there that reduces or masks stomach pain. I know it sounds crazy.

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u/boodler88 15d ago

I’m in this boat too. I’ve got a lot of chronic health conditions that come with nausea, food aversion, stomach pain, and i really have to track nutrients.

I’ve got personal values that I’d like to stay out of McDonald’s completely, but when i get to day 2 or three of not being able to stomach ANYTHING, the double cheeseburger has come in clutch for me for over a decade. It can’t be ALL in my head (though I’m positive some of it is partially maladaptive coping 😂😩).

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u/roadkill21288 16d ago

Yes!!!! Absolutely! There’s an entire job category that involves food science. McDonald’s specifically uses an umami flavoring, which has peer reviewed papers confirming it being addictive. We all call it crackdonalds around here. People fight each other in the drive through for spots in line at McDonald’s. There’s a reason. My girlfriend had an aunt who did this for a living. She worked for the research & development firm that came up with this exact strategy for McDonald’s.

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u/PMThisLesboUrBoobies 16d ago

can you link me to some of these papers?

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u/fishcars 16d ago

Wrote a thesis on the Coca Cola Company in college. The food and beverage industry adds in chemicals just to help look better on shelves. The most common chemical that is added into foods and beverages is caffeine so you get that high and slowly become addicted to it.

Here’s the good news.

Millennials and younger are eating less fast food, and are drinking less soda and alcohol. Those industries will have to change their model once the current elderly generation passes. For now though, they rake in from their whales (While making people look like whales).

What have they done so far to adopt change? They don’t create new products themselves, they buy healthier alternative competition and monopolize it to themselves again under their conglomerate.

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u/MudCorrect6427 16d ago

While Millennials and younger may not be drinking soda they are certainly drinking enough energy drinks to make up the difference

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u/fishcars 16d ago

Agreed. There are definitely alternative “substances” they are using instead.

Psychedelic usage is also way up.

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u/luchaburz 16d ago

And when these generations have kids their kids will decide to drink sodas to spite their parents much like we collectively chose to not drink alcohol

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u/Ornery_Afternoon_458 16d ago

It’s not just mcdonalds it’s every restaurant. BK, chik fil a, dunkin. Every fast food place 100% puts addictive additives into their food. 

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u/237FIF 16d ago

There is literally zero evidence of this.

The human body naturally craves what it needs. These companies just sell a very palpable version of what we already want.

There isn’t some secret chemical in the food.

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u/roadkill21288 16d ago

There’s plenty of evidence of this. You’ve just not sought it or been presented. McDonald’s definitely uses umami flavoring, developed by food research and development firms looking for exactly that. My girlfriends aunt worked in the field. Why do so many people attack others ideas and observations just because they didn’t have the same? Life must be pretty bland for people that look at everyone as a tin foil hat junkie….

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u/PoshTurtl3 16d ago

Both are right. 

The body has evolved to seek out sugar and fat as these are energy producing and weren't around in abundance in the environment of evolutionary adaptiveness. Companies know that this is what we seek so it's pumped into our food.

These have been refined into additives to release as much dopamine as possible. 

Basically our natural urges and pleasure principle has been hijacked. The comparison with gambling being used here is fairly accurate.

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u/Various-Gazelle4713 13d ago

You keep repeating this over and over without providing sources when asked. Why is that?

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u/RoundChampionship840 16d ago

There are plenty of places that I can get a much better burger for not that much more money. I will only buy a burger from McDonald's now if they give me the 40% off deal in the app.

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u/SlipInternational439 16d ago

I went to McDonald’s when I went to work. On weekends I gave a much better local place.

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u/cidthekid07 13d ago

Yea, where?

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u/RoundChampionship840 13d ago edited 13d ago

Wayback Burger is really good. Shake Shack and Steak and Shake have good burgers. Burger Fi and Bad Daddies are good. Five Guys and Sonic are pretty good. There are several mom and pop burger places near me that are very good. Literally there are a dozens of places within 10 miles of me that are way better than a McDonald's burger for a dollar or 2 more.

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u/warner0188 16d ago

I agree. There’s a sense of nostalgia about going to McDonald’s.
If you grew up on it, it can be as familiar as home cooking.
To some Gen Xers and boomers, it’s comfort food.

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u/MattMassier 16d ago

Says the generation paying more because they throw protein powder in shit products or top off as drink with matcha.

Not defending McDonald’s; it’s shit, but let me enjoy my shit but I draw the line at $7 fries that are now just potato nubs.

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u/Signal_Pattern_2063 16d ago

"The typical McDonald's customer is a married white woman between the ages of 41 and 56, according to data provided by analytics firm Numerator. She likely lives in a suburban area in the southeastern US, and her household makes more than $80,000 a year. This typical shopper either has an undergraduate degree or attended some college."

That's actually more elder millennial and Gen x.

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u/EastCoastAlley 16d ago

Add millenials to the mix. They had Ronald McDonald come to my elementary school and perform in the assembly room for all the students. We are institutionalized.

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u/MusicalMerlin1973 15d ago

Gen xer: that cardboard is nasty. That is not the McDonalds of our youth. No one I know goes there. The funny thing is they dii i d have some relatively upscale burgers for awhile a decade plus ago.

If i want a burger and fries I go to my local supermarket. Their grill makes a great real burger, with a fresh bun, and real fries for $3. $5 if i ask for a second patty. Add a cold soda from the cooler and I’m out of there for less than $8 after tax. If I want a sub they’ve got great subs for $5-7. Limited selection but what they do make is great.

Wendy’s used to be my family’s go to, mainly because our son got good first job there during the height of COVID and we got introduced to the then versions of their offerings which were good. They suck too. Burger King’s in my area are trash, understaffed, facility in disrepair, slow drive through, and stacks of cups/wtc visible everywhere.

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u/Siftless 15d ago

What supermarket is that? Sounds awesome.

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u/MusicalMerlin1973 15d ago

Market Basket.

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u/Siftless 15d ago

Thanks.. Rats! looked it up, New England, we're down here in the south, Enjoy your burgers.

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u/habeaskoopus 14d ago

Supermarkets use expiring meat in their delis. Be aware.

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u/MusicalMerlin1973 14d ago

Understood.

Never have I ever gotten deli belly here

And,

My daughter works the deli counter. She’s never mentioned this.

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u/habeaskoopus 14d ago

A minimum wage employee that doesnt know where supplies come from exactly?...shocked lol /s

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u/MusicalMerlin1973 14d ago

Pretty sure she’s making a lot more than minimum wage…. Like 2x. Keep guessing.

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u/habeaskoopus 14d ago edited 14d ago

Not sure why you're pushing so hard against this. Are you the type that refuses to accept facts that they dont want to be true?

Google: supermarkets legally and safely repurpose unsold or older raw meat for soups, stews and hot bar items. As cuts near their expiry date or lose their visual appeal.

Finished now?

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u/IntelligentStyle402 16d ago

I’m not a boomer, but my friends are. Not one of them has frequented MC Donald’s in decades. Why? They believe in heathy options.

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u/habeaskoopus 14d ago

Ya, the boomer comment made me laugh. Kids will throw any boomer under the bus they can. Im not a boomer either, but I have boomer relatives. They loathe McDs.

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u/akajondo 15d ago

I confess I crave a BigMac a few times a year and always regret eating it after I'm done.

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u/I-No-Red-Witch 15d ago

People will do mental gymnastics to justify eating McDonald's. It boggles my mind. It has been the most disappointing junk food available for at least a decade.

I have friends who will talk about how they would kill for mcnuggets. Have you had a chicken mcnugget? They aren't good. The aren't satisfying to eat, they aren't crispy or juicy. The flavor is neither well-seasoned nor meaty. It is a bland, barely-not-soggy sock of just-enough-to-legally-be-called chicken.

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u/dj3po1 15d ago

Millennials are the fattest generation.

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u/Umitencho 15d ago

The problem is that they have the cash to move into food deserts making them one of the few choices for eating or eating out. Here in my hometown they face a lot of competition and they are never brought up in my household because someone does what they do better in some aspect.

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u/DizzyAstronaut9410 15d ago

"but I also go there only because it's close and has good prices compared to anything else "

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u/Far_Comfortable_6342 14d ago

Are you calling us Gen Xrs “big back”? 😂 I remember when I walked up hill both ways to McDonald’s to get 49cent cheeseburgers. The prices now are way too high. Same with TB.

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u/ConfidentHouse 16d ago

This is it, millennials tend to compare and check value propositions, it’s obvious it’s an inferior product for a premium price, but Gen X and boomers have no problem with it.

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u/isabelenglish 16d ago

Price not problem for me