Besides the tasty meals and consistency, affordability is one of the reasons customers are drawn to McDonald’s. Compared to other fast food chains, you get true value for your money at McDonald’s, and that’s music to the ears of any foodie.
Unfortunately, McDonald’s seems to have lost interest in living up to this expectation and is now the object of criticism. Many customers have called the chain out for adjusting its dollar menu so much that it no longer includes a single $1 item.
In early 2018, McDonald’s launched a three-tiered value menu (known as the $1, $2, $3 dollar menu) that offered a sausage burrito, one cheeseburger, the McChicken, and any soft drink for $1. Today, these $1 items can no longer be found on the menu. In fact, Insider has observed that there’s no single item going for a buck across all McDonald’s outlets in the country.
Customers are not happy with this development, and one of them, a TikToker named Anne Arroyo, has taken to her TikTok handle, @anna2morrow, to call out the fast food chain. In a video that has now garnered more than 150,000 views, Arroyo, who was waiting her turn at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Niles, Ohio, zoomed into the dollar menu for the world to see.
The menu revealed that fountain beverages and frozen drinks cost more than 1 buck, while soft drinks and iced tea sold for $1.29. Iced tea and frozen soda drinks were prized at $2. “McDonald’s has a dollar menu right now without a single item that costs $1,” Arroyo can be heard saying in the video.
Her caption read, “McDonald’s pricing is getting out of hand. How are you gonna. All something a follar menu and put $1 $2 $3 right next to that when there are no $1 items? This isnt even a McDonald’s in a nice area.”
Commenters who were just as dissatisfied as she was with McDonald’s didn’t waste time in sharing their thoughts. “I hate that they call it dollar menu, you literally have nothing that’s a dollar. they should call it value menu or something, don’t lie,” a commenter complained. Many others implied that they had since stopped patronizing McDonald’s.
Some TikTokers who claimed to work at McDonald’s also had something to say. “I work at a McDonald’s and people ask what’s on the dollar and get mad at me when I say nothing. I’m sorry I don’t make the prices,” someone wrote. Another said, “technically the apple slices are a dollar lol I work at McDonald’s that’s the only thing we sell that’s a buck.”
However, there were also those who sympathized with the brand. They were of the opinion that the price increase was inevitable due to inflation and other economic factors. “y’all acting as if inflation ain’t a thing. nothing is cheap anymore,” someone wrote. “Everyone complaining were the exact same people supporting these workers to make $17hr, who did you think was going to pay that wage increase? lol,” a Matthew Burgin wrote.
Whose side are you on? Do you think McDonald’s is wrong for having a dollar menu with no $1 item? Or do you believe Arroyo is overreacting?
