Many people believe it’s an astounding $18 after a post on X of McDonald’s menu prices at a rest stop in Connecticut went viral and made national headlines. (Narrator voice: It’s not.)

Now, almost a year after the post, a top McDonald’s executive wants to set the record straight. In a recent letter, Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, said $18 for a Big Mac combo was the “exception” and not the norm across all 13,700 restaurants in the country.

The average price of a Big Mac in the US was $4.39 in 2019,” Erlinger said in his recent letter. “Despite a global pandemic and historic rises in supply chain costs, wages and other inflationary pressures in the years that followed, the average cost is now $5.29. That’s an increase of 21% (not 100%),” he added.

  • @RememberTheApollo_
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    616 months ago

    consumers were willing to pay more as their paychecks rose and they were sitting on loads of savings accumulated during the pandemic.

    Wait, who got more money dumping into their savings?

    • @[email protected]
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      fedilink
      -36 months ago

      I got 2 stimulus checks for $1200. I didn’t even have to ask, they just showed up. Did you not get those?

      • @RaoulDook
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        36 months ago

        That’s not a lot in this context of savings, just about 2 months’ rent or less for a lot of people.

    • @Dkarma
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      -246 months ago

      Um, everyone…1500 per kid and then like 3k on top of that then another 6500 check later

      • LeadersAtWork
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        106 months ago

        Out of curiosity: How much do you make and what are your monthly expenses?