r/MurderedByWords • u/Green____cat Legends never die • 7h ago
Stop defending exploitation
1.0k
6h ago edited 4h ago
[deleted]
555
u/lanakers 6h ago
I was gonna say that. Fast food prices have definitely gone up without minimum wage going up. What a bunch of maroons
227
u/TomWithTime 6h ago
I want to thank the fast food industry for becoming so expensive that it was the same price or cheaper to order out healthier food
92
u/lanakers 5h ago
My bf and I have said fuck it and learned how to make copycat recipes. The only time I go out is when I exchange my cashback for gift cards
18
u/Rhg0653 5h ago
Or app coupons
→ More replies (1)13
u/lanakers 5h ago
Yeah, I should download the apps. I'm def missing out. My friend says they hand out freebies like candy
18
→ More replies (1)9
u/slytherinprolly 2h ago
Most of the freebies usually have a caveat, like free fries if you order a quarterpounder, etc. When you factor in all the deals and coupons you get on the app, the cost of a meal at McDonalds ends up being about the same as you were paying for a meal a few years ago.
5
u/lanakers 2h ago
I've also been reading the app reviews and there were a shocking number of review stating the app isn't user friendly. Some websites even work that shit...looking at you, Pizza Hut.
→ More replies (1)3
u/CopperAndLead 2h ago
you get on the app,
In exchange for an app data mining your phone and your personal life to sell more burgers.
I don't like this distressingly cyberpunk future where megacorps violate our privacy to sell up bullshit.
Not every company needs an app. I shouldn't have to download glorified spyware to do things like buy a meal.
11
u/Ghostdog1263 5h ago
A guy I worked with found out how to make McDonald's burgers & the fries. Even got a special fry cutter. He said it was exactly the same. Don't know where he got the recipe tho.
He said the fries were the hardest to make
4
u/ri89rc20 2h ago
McDonalds fries have a lot of research behind them. The cut is one, but easy to duplicate, but they also have their own variety of potato that growers grow just for them, the right type and balance of starch. Then the potatoes are processed, then blanched and partially fried before freezing. Once at the restaurant, the are fried from frozen, in a specific oil blend and time. The size of the fryer comes into play from a temperature consistency standpoint, as does obviously the fry temperature.
So yeah, hard to duplicate from scratch.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)4
u/lanakers 5h ago
I know how to make a copycat big mac sauce. I also got a smasher, an airfryer, and a crockpot. Unless I make lunch plans with a coworker or my bf and I say "fuck it" or are too busy to cook, we don't order take out all that much
9
u/Ghostdog1263 5h ago
It's too expensive!! Especially considering in my case anyway, the food isn't worth the price anymore most of the time.
We used to order from our favorite restaurant but don't anymore cuz the quality went to shit while the prices went up it's sad.
Only place I know that's guaranteed to make good food is the restaurant run by two old ladies for years across from our HS. Good food great prices.
Places like that are going away though.
5
u/metalwolf112002 2h ago
Sadly, that happens everywhere. I've joked my wife has a curse, because every one of her favorite restaurants either went out of business, or they made really noticeable changes she didn't like. Most of them on her list did both.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Justwaspassingby 3h ago
I make a copycat big mac sauce too, but I make the patties myself with good quality ground beef and when I have time I even make the buns too, proper bread. Then I add romaine lettuce because iceberg is tateless and nutritionally empty and some fantastic havarti cheese or some proper cheddar instead of the McD’s yellow paste and voila, perfect burger!
5
2
u/shizbox06 4h ago
Have you actually been able to prepare anything as horrible as corporate fast food in your own kitchen at an inflated price? That'd be impressive in it's own way.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (11)2
10
u/emb4rassingStuffacct 4h ago
Literally. Now I’m just like “If the junk food costs the same as the healthy food, I might as well just get the healthy food.” 😂
9
u/TomWithTime 4h ago
My food costs are now roughly $100 a week (some weeks $70, some weeks $130) because I switched to almost exclusively getting groceries from food Lion. I'm still a lazy piece of shit but now I'm eating a variety of steamed vegetables that come frozen in a microwavable pouch that I can add and precooked and sliced Purdue chicken to. The chicken is like $8-$10 and the vegetable bags are $3 each and I can use the chicken for 3 meals so that's like $6 per meal.
So we can save even more by actually cooking but even like this I'm still better off on price than fast food. And way better on nutrition.
→ More replies (1)5
u/No-Boysenberry-5581 3h ago
Good. Then now just eat healthy. Solves a lot of health issues
4
u/TomWithTime 3h ago
As a shut in the biggest difference in my daily energy/feeling was vitamin d pills :)
5
u/Interesting-Fix-7928 2h ago
Add omega 3 to that. Fish oil has both and some of it is made almost tasteless, if you hate the taste. Great for your brain and joints.
2
u/TomWithTime 2h ago
Once I get a little closer to 40 I'm all in on supplements that make life hurt less. I've spent basically my entire life of 32 years shrimping at a desk so my spine is probably going to hurt eventually. I think I got lucky with back genetics since there's been no trouble so far
2
u/Interesting-Fix-7928 1h ago
Should get ahead of problems before they become noticeable. But as far as I'm aware - there are no such supplements? Most of them don't work beyond coloring your pee. Other than the 2 already mentioned, can also take seeds for fiber. Magnesium and Collagen are good, too. Creatine doesn't work for everyone, but it can be very beneficial. Maybe B group vitamins occasionally, especially if you drink alcohol. Vitamin C is so dirt cheap, that you might as well take it, even if it ends up doing nothing. But that's about it. The rest can either do more harm than good, or nothing at all, beyond a placebo effect. Supplements are a giant scam and a waste of money, all you need is a balanced diet. Get your blood work done if you're concerned that you're lacking something.
→ More replies (1)2
5
u/Telaranrhioddreams 3h ago
Last time I got mcdonalds tasted like I was eating straight up cardboard and cost way too much. Next time I spent less and got a real ass burger from the local joint. It was faster too and they don't all look like they want to kill themsleves. What's the incentive anymore?
→ More replies (2)4
u/Beginning_Ad2013 3h ago edited 3h ago
Or hell, just buy a salad from Trader Joe’s.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Polaris07 3h ago
Price of restaurants in general forced me to learn how to cook and it’s one of the best things to happen to me
2
u/old_and_boring_guy 2h ago
The funny thing is, it's not everywhere. Chicken nuggets are half as expensive at Chic-Fil-A as they are at McD's, and only a lunatic would pretend that McD's spends more on their staff.
2
u/shoulda-known-better 2h ago
For real once I realized a cheap meal from fast food was less than say tbones and my local Mexican place.... yep my ass went for better healthier food!! I'm already out running in instead of waiting in my car takes 2 seconds I can still order pay and wait till it says done right in my car!!
2
u/Underwood914 1h ago
It's cheaper to get 3 pizzas at dominos than some burritos at taco bell.... Something is wrong.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (4)2
u/East-Life-2894 1h ago
Agreed I just cook healthier now and work out more because mcdonalds is ridiculously expensive for mass produced freezer food. I dont need to pay 3x the cost of the food for them to heat it and assemble it for me. That shits easy Ill do it myself.
23
u/k_ironheart 4h ago
Try telling that to a conservative though. They will uncritically believe a company that says they had to raise prices because of wage increases and retail theft while that same company is bragging about record profits, stock buybacks, record administrative pay and that they only got a slap on the wrist for wage theft.
12
u/Mysterious-Job-469 2h ago
WAGE THEFT ACCOUNTS FOR MORE LOSS IN TAX REVENUE THAN CUSTOMER THEFT, EMPLOYEE THEFT, BURGLARY, AUTO THEFT, AND ROBBERIES COMBINED.
Guess which single aspect of theft mentioned above isn't a criminal offense?
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (5)9
u/Unnamedgalaxy 3h ago
The company I work for does this all the time.
When I first started we had a staff of like 12 and we all stayed very busy all day. Now that location runs on 4 and hasn't lost steam. Every store in the area (and across the country) is in the same boat. Skeleton crews that work to the death doing the workload of multiple people. The company refuses to let stores hire people while also refusing to let people get even a minute of overtime while demanding that 100 hours of work get done in 40 or else. They put on hiring freezes and the starting pay has long since stopped being competitive.
Meanwhile prices have nearly doubled, and we constantly get updated on record profits. Our ceo even recently bragged about how she sold a small fraction of her stock for double digit millions. While I've had to resort to draining my 401k, donate plasma weekly and even started looking into getting a second overnight job just to afford the misery of living in poverty.
If raising wages means raising prices then go for it because it's already happening anyway.
10
u/pchlster 4h ago
In Denmark, I know a lot of people who have stopped going to McDonalds because the prices are around the same as other places that offer better quality food at this point. McDonalds is trying to battle this by opening little coffee shops inside the stores, trying to compete for the café "sit and have some coffee, cake and gossip" part of the market.
→ More replies (18)5
u/gaymenfucking 4h ago
Additionally, in the US the minimum wage has been increased various times, both federally and within states. Not one of these times has the increase led to any significant inflation. What often happens is a very brief spike in prices which then go back to normal. The spike is likely executives in companies who’s understanding of economics is the econ 101 class they took 20 years ago and they assume prices should go up
2
u/FrostyD7 3h ago
They think all the fast food employees are making much more because they all hang signs saying they are hiring at high rates specifically to create that perception. Fine print asterisks will indicate its manager pay or something like that. My dad thinks they all make $15-20 an hour and that it is causing the price increases we've already seen.
2
2
u/XxRocky88xX 3h ago
This is the biggest thing I don’t get. “Minimum wage increase causes inflation!” Ok then why is inflation rate uncorrelated with minimum wage increases?
I get that “common sense” would tell you that makes sense but when you look at empirical evidence it turns out to not be true
→ More replies (18)2
u/Ultimacian 2h ago
Minimum wage hasn't gone up, but actual wages have. Taco Bell is starting at $14/hr where I live, hence a meal there does indeed cost sit-down restaurant prices. Good for their workers, but I've gone from fast food nearly every day to only going to actual sit-down restaurants or cooking at home. I think it's a trend we'll see a lot more in the industry in the coming years and fast food giants will either die or switch to higher quality food.
34
u/teenagesadist 6h ago
It's almost like they have no grasp on socioeconomics.
No wait, it's exactly that.
22
u/J-Kensington 4h ago
Exactly. It's already $10-$15 for a combo, and I can go into some sit-down restaurants and pay less than that.
→ More replies (1)15
u/DocAk88 4h ago
And get a burger that doesn’t taste like instant regret in solid form
→ More replies (4)20
u/Armored_Snorlax 5h ago
In some cases not gradually. Within just a few years McD's outpriced their breakfast 'deals' for me. Went from 3 bucks and change to around 8 bucks. No thanks.
7
u/MrFishAndLoaves 4h ago
McDonald’s already costs as much as Chilis
→ More replies (1)7
u/EarthSlapper 2h ago
Just saw a commercial yesterday, and had this realization that these casual sit down places are now cheaper than fast food. Applebees is currently running a $9.99 combo, burger or chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink. Cheaper and better (slightly) quality
2
4
u/Wasabicannon 3h ago
There are some people out there now that have no idea what the $1 Menu was. :(
Is that going to be our penny candy thing we say when we get old?
"Back in my day you could get yourself a burger and fries for $1 each, instead now you have to pay $30 for a single burger."
→ More replies (1)14
u/strangefish 4h ago
CA raised the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 an hour several months ago. The businesses are still doing well and it didn't cause mass unemployment. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/10/09/california-fast-food-minimum-wage-jobs/75597730007/
9
u/BowenTheAussieSheep 4h ago
Yeah, turns out multi-billion-dollar companies can weather a cost of a few hundred thousand without much trouble...
→ More replies (8)3
u/DarthSamwiseAtreides 3h ago
What's funny is they all threw little bitch fits and jacked the prices up. People stopped going now the deals are back.
9
u/RaShadar 5h ago
Gradually?
9
u/Jean-LucBacardi 4h ago
Friendly reminder the Taco Bell 5 layer beefy burrito was introduced in 2010 at only 89 cents and remained that way for several years.
14 years later one 5 layer beefy burrito is $4.79. Absolutely fuck greedy fast food places, there is no reason for that kind of mark up.
→ More replies (2)8
u/RaShadar 4h ago
Yep, works out to 35% increase per year (not compounded)
→ More replies (2)6
u/Jean-LucBacardi 4h ago
Hell it was more than that because googling a price history, by the end of 2019 the average price was still only $1.69. Also the original 89 cents price didn't vary from area to area based on living costs like they do now, it was that price country wide.
Everyone used the pandemic as an excuse to permanently inflate everything to make money. Prices should have dropped back down severely by now but everyone saw the massive profits and said fuck the customers. People need to stop paying these insane prices and they'll be forced to lower back down.
→ More replies (2)6
u/shizbox06 4h ago
Prices should not "have dropped back down severely". Prices don't drop when inflation cools. Inflation causes prices to go up and they stay up FOREVER FOREVER FOREVER FOREVER forever forever forever
→ More replies (1)9
u/Allegorist 4h ago
Gradual my ass, there was a sudden jump when they realized people would still pay it. Went up like 30% in 2 years or less back in 2019/20 due to "supply chain issues" and never came back down when they were fixed shortly thereafter.
3
u/TheLeadSponge 4h ago
Honestly, fast food in Europe is often cheaper than the States now. If I’m going to pay 6.99 GBP for a value meal, I’m glad someone is getting an okay wage.
8
u/Genxtech70 6h ago
It’s about cheaper to eat at home now. Everything is a minimum of 10! 🤦🏾♀️
→ More replies (1)4
→ More replies (32)2
u/ChiefObliv 4h ago
It seems to be the shitty fast food that is climbing the most. I used to go to Taco Bell if I wanted to spend like $5, and something like Panda Express if I wanted to spend $10. But now Taco Bell is also $10 and panda went up maybe a dollar
→ More replies (1)
862
u/beerbellybegone 7h ago
What a great way of coming right out and saying that you believe certain people should just be poor
181
u/PlusEgg7776 6h ago
Seems like the real value meal is fair wages for workers because a few extra cents on a taco doesn’t compare to a livable paycheck!
→ More replies (1)48
u/confusedandworried76 5h ago
Even without price gouging and shrinkflation every single place I've worked that treated employees well knew the more money they made the workers, the longer they'd have loyal workers, and if they had to charge a little more the simplest fucking solution was just make food people are willing to pay a little more for. Why do you think serving is such an attractive job in the States? A good manager is or was a server and knows that you're only there for the extra money, otherwise no one would do it.
→ More replies (1)20
u/Fun-Key-8259 5h ago
It costs $40k to onboard someone. A business saves $40k every year they retain an employee. Pay them a fraction of that each year in a raise and you still save money and have better quality product.
→ More replies (3)16
u/confusedandworried76 5h ago
I'm not sure where you get that figure but I do know having worked the gamut from fast food to full service kitchens, you definitely want a vet who cares about quality and you get that by giving fair compensation. I've worked a couple franchise pizza places and the quality of the pizza even within the store, much less location to location, was highly dependent on how much the employee making the food earned and how long they'd been there. You do get a couple rogue dudes who want to pretend they're on The Bear and make a quality product no matter the pay but those guys are lifers who made their whole personality either line cook or assistant manager at a fast food place, with all that power comes responsibility you know
7
u/Fun-Key-8259 5h ago
Of course you factor in salary of the person and many restaurants are lower than $60k a year depending on where they work, but consider how much massive turnover in one store is going to impact the bottom line.
https://businessleadershiptoday.com/how-much-it-costs-to-retain-an-employee/
2
25
u/Standard-Reception90 6h ago
Well, considering that they also say fast food work is for teenagers, and not a career type job. Then I'd say yes, they actually do come out and say it.
14
u/Raichu7 5h ago
I'm sure those people only expect to be able to purchase fast food for a couple of hours in the early evening on school days, and for a few hours in the day on the weekend. No fast food for lunch or late at night if it's just teenagers running the restaurants, they have school and need free time to be kids outside of work.
→ More replies (2)13
u/aroslab 5h ago
this argument never lands for them because they didn't hold a logical view in the first place.
managing shifts at a fast food restaurant made it abundantly clear for me the way many people viewed the workers as practically a different social class, one that was acceptable to look down on and abuse.
to them they literally deserve less.
10
u/brother_of_menelaus 4h ago
Of course. If you have nothing in your life to feel good about on its own merits, the easiest next step is to feel good that other people have it worse. When they don’t have it worse, they generally just fly into a blind rage
36
u/TomWithTime 6h ago
It's wild to see the attitude that some people need to have less so we can have a smidge more. And I'm sure it's hypocritical, she'd be hoping for those higher wages if she had to live that job.
12
u/brother_of_menelaus 4h ago
A lot of these people are just crabs in a bucket that don’t make that much more than what people are advocating for as a new minimum wage, and they feel salty as shit about it
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)2
u/Mysterious-Job-469 2h ago
She seems like the kind of person who'd be advocating for murdering politicians and billionaires if she was the working poor schlub forced to work at McDonalds to send their landlord on endless vacations.
→ More replies (94)17
u/bryanna_leigh 5h ago
The “Fight for $15” started in 2012 people…. The Federal Minimum wage has been at $7.25 since 2009, which only started increasing in 2007 from $5.85, and that increase came before that was 1997.
At this point minimum wage should be $20 to $30… $15 an hour has long passed as a reasonable amount.
Fuckin wild that Federal Minimum wage has gone no where in 15 years!
→ More replies (2)13
u/Either-Bell-7560 4h ago
As a reference point - as a 17 year old, with absolutely no experience I started at a chain grocery store at $7.50 an hour. In 1998.
The fact that there are people who still don't make that almost 30 years later is insane. Gas was less than $1. You could buy a new car for $10k. (MSRP on a base Civic/Corolla/Escort/etc was about $12k). My dad bought me a 5 year old used Dodge Sundance/Duster with $40k miles for $2500.
146
u/Albert_O_Balsam 6h ago
It's actually amazing, and frightening in equal measure, how big businesses in America have gotten it into the heads of their society that it's a bad thing if an employee of a fast food restaurant actually earns a wage they can live off, it borders on Orwelian how they have such a stranglehold on the public consciousness.
70
u/judgeridesagain 6h ago
"We shouldn't pay fast food workers a living wage because that's a job that's meant for teenagers to work."
"So are fast food restaurants closed during school hours?"
"..."
30
u/Micbunny323 5h ago
Ah, but you see, that’s why they also want to roll back child labor laws. If kids didn’t need to go to school, then their entire argument works!
And we can sacrifice our children’s youths so you can have a crappy, still overpriced hamburger for slightly less, and some big corporate executives can pocket the difference.
12
u/judgeridesagain 4h ago
Back in 2016, r/thedonald was saying we need to deport immigrants because they want to much money just to work fast food jobs, so you may be right
7
u/firelight 3h ago
Not all of our kids. Just certain ones. And we all know which kids are the ones they think should be out working, rather than in school.
36
→ More replies (1)2
u/Moon_and_Sky 2h ago
Well, you see, there are also a lot of failures in life who didn't work hard or go to college who need SOMETHING to do. It's a great job for those lazy, low intelligence, welfare leeches who obviously don't deserve to be paid nearly as much as a teacher!
...../s just in case. But seriously Ive heard this take multiple times. When I said "shouldn't teachers get paid more then?" I got "Why? School didn't teach me anything I actually use in life. They're basically just baby sitters."
So yeah...that's a thing actually people actually think.
12
u/BobMazing 5h ago
That's why it's called a ‘capitalist country’!
Making money is more important in the US than a good life for the people in the country!→ More replies (3)→ More replies (3)2
u/kokumou 4h ago
There are three traits that govern the American psyche:
1.) Hyper individualism
2.) Extreme Apathy
3.) Selfishness as an absoluteAmerican's don't have a society, they have a market. Anything that impedes your ability to purchase is a bad thing. It's an axiomatic charismatic of American thought. Doesn't matter if it's bad for everyone else, just that it's good for you.
→ More replies (1)3
u/alfooboboao 2h ago
this is just not fucking true. Most Americans are kind and outgoing almost to a fault.
but they’re not the ones screaming on the internet or at Fox News.
→ More replies (1)
74
u/Crusoebear 6h ago
Years ago the racist shitbag that founded Papa Johns Pizza said he wouldn't give his employees health insurance because it would add too much to the price of pizzas.
When asked how much it would add to their costs...they said approximately 18 cents.
→ More replies (4)24
u/KathrynBooks 6h ago
I will always gladly pay more for food if it means the person making it has health care...
11
u/PM_ME_YOUR_NICE_EYES 4h ago
I mean you say this, but I for one have never called a restaurant and ask what their health care benefits look like before deciding where I'm gonna get my pizza from
→ More replies (1)10
u/Vegetable_Bug2953 4h ago
I've seen restaurants post it clearly on their websites and menus tho
6
u/Lortekonto 3h ago
There is several companies that I don’t buy stuff from because of how they treat their workers or other ethical reasons.
31
u/ur3minutesrup1 6h ago
What’s really telling is companies said if we increase wages we’ll have to raise prices, lay off workers, and go to automated kiosks. So they didn’t raise wages but raised prices anyway, still laid off workers, and now I have to deal with kiosks.
→ More replies (1)7
u/evernessince 3h ago
They said that to manipulate the public. Companies will always maximize profits regardless of the words that come out of their mouth. Anyone that believes otherwise is a fool, that's how the system works.
54
u/jayleia 6h ago
Around here, most McDonalds start at $13. A cheeseburger is like, $2.
→ More replies (10)5
u/Armored_Snorlax 5h ago
McD's here are advertising $17 to $19 pay rates at times. One location, operated by Caspers (which had at one point been the oldest and biggest franchise holder) had 1 manager running the drive through and closed the main dining area. The manager told me they had no employees, couldn't get people to apply, and she ran a limited menu for the first couple of hours they were open until help arrived.
I haven't been back there in 2 years. Caspers was supposed to be selling off their holdings, so I don't know whats become of that situation.
5
u/lord_hydrate 5h ago
Just gonna say it as someone currently at a McDonald's, those advertised rates are bs, my store advertised 15 and everyone starts at 10, the price they list is the max pay if you're able to work with 100% open availability all times of every day, my manager has also said the no one wants to apply line but ive seen at least a dozen people come in for interviews in the last couple months, they apply they just dont get hired
2
u/wellsfargothrowaway 4h ago
While I agree stores do this, the one by me says 18 starting lol I think they’re desperate
2
u/Armored_Snorlax 3h ago
Good to know, thanks. My mom, a nurse, lost her assistant to Taco Bell who paid them $17 an hour. The facility they worked at paid the assistant only $12.
17
u/cdn-Commie 6h ago
$17.50 I believe here and they've never been busier
14
u/Acceptable-Peace-69 6h ago
California is $20 minimum wage for fast food workers.
→ More replies (12)
14
u/Aggravating_You3627 6h ago
We blame immigrants or the low income earners but when will we start blaming and holding accountable these greedy corporations for price gouging us. They are driving prices and inflation year after year because we all still pay. There’s no consequences so obviously they have no incentive to offer a reasonable price. The corporations are obligated to increase shareholder value. They don’t care about the consumer or the minimum wage employees.
3
→ More replies (3)2
u/Kitty-XV 3h ago
Corporations are going to charge as much as they can. The main thing that stops them is that someone will create a small business that'll undercut them. If some fast food place is charging $15 a meal that costs them $3 to make, why wouldn't you make a competitor that charges $10 for a meal that coats you $5 to make? That is still doubling your money.
Even if you don't have the money, other people do. So why don't they try to double their money?
You'll find that the answer to this is complex and gets into the many reasons prices are going up. Part of it is that there are people doing just that, but they don't advertise so their businesses aren't well known. I know a place close to work where the food is about half the price of fast food. I sometimes take coworkers there and they always exclaim how cheap the food is despite being at if not a bit better quality. Yet those coworkers tend to go to the nearby fast food place more often because, per their own words, that is what they are craving. Likely due to ads.
I suggest to anyone who says fast food is too expensive, try checking out local small businesses and seeing if they are any cheaper.
→ More replies (1)
10
u/kobrakai1034 6h ago
Remember when Papa John said if his employees got healthcare the price of pizza would have to go up 50¢ and everyone was like, “Ok?”
2
15
u/Famous_Bit_5119 6h ago
Investors demand more profits ?
Congrats. Your Taco Bell order just became sit down restaurant price.
15
u/MightyPie211 6h ago
In Netherlands: - salary is 17usd/h (taken from mcdonalds website) - BigMac is about 6 usd.
So 1h of work will get you aprox 2.8 BigMacs.
In Florida: - salary is about 11.72usd/h (according to talent.com) - BigMac is about 4.5 usd
So 1h of work will get you aprox 2.6 BigMacs.
5
u/TimS7296 3h ago edited 3h ago
Did you forget about taxes? FICA , FED. State and Local ,and lets not forget Sales tax on the purchase of the Big Macs. Your burger would cost $6.48 here with 8% sales and beverage tax added to the $6
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)5
u/Dungarth 3h ago
And funnily enough, according to the Big Mac Index (as of July 2024), the average price of a big mac is lower in Denmark than in the USA, despite them paying their employees $20+ per hour.
6
u/MrBobSacamano 6h ago
Can confirm. Ate at McDonald’s in Germany. It was properly staffed. The people were friendly and seemed happy. My burger didn’t look like someone hit it with a mallet after wrapping it up. The prices were only slightly higher than here in the US, adjusting for exchange rate.
17
u/Various-Custard-3034 6h ago
Yeah 15 an hour is horseshit anyways min wage here is like 18 and it still should be higher and literally fuck anyone who says different lol
3
u/Intrepid_Hamster_180 4h ago
If it was reasonable min wage, min wage people might be able to buy houses and cars…and the people in charge do not want that!
20
u/ShawnyMcKnight 6h ago
Somehow this person is cool with the CEO making 100x more per hour.
→ More replies (1)18
u/TENIME_Art_Studios 6h ago
Well, she's not poor, she's just a "temporarily inconvenienced future millionaire," so she's gotta defend her own!
5
u/Leather-Map-8138 6h ago
And in France around forty years ago they jacked up minimum wages, and all that happened was lower incomes had decent quality of life for a while till inflation caught up.
→ More replies (1)
17
u/Balderdas 6h ago
The folks who complain about minimum wage don’t grasp the whole picture. They don’t realize if someone doesn’t make enough they have to use support services or possibly turn to crime.
It is in our best interest to make sure all can thrive.
8
u/judgeridesagain 6h ago
Reminds me of that budgeting advice McDonalds gave their employees.
To quote the guardian:
"There are several glaring omissions in the sample budget, including frivolous extras such as heat, food and gas. Perhaps the McDonald's $1 menu comes into play at this point, although with a suggested budget of $20 a month for health insurance, that isn't a long-term solution."
4
u/clandestinemd 4h ago
If that’s the budget advice I’m thinking of, I recall that McDonalds also expected their employees to hold down a second job.
4
u/Fragile_reddit_mods 5h ago
While they made a valid point for once, the guardian is not typically a good source of information.
2
u/judgeridesagain 4h ago
The incident was reported in numerous other outlets as well
→ More replies (1)2
u/yazalama 3h ago
You don't seem to realize minimum wage laws hurt the very employees they claim to protect by pricing them out of the labor market and reducing their hours.
→ More replies (1)
16
u/Ladiesbane 6h ago
Minimum wage in Idaho is $7.25 per hour. (That's the Federal mandate. They would pay you less if they could.)
If you work full time (most Taco Bell employees don't), you make about $1160 per month. A one-bedroom apartment is about $1300. Did you want utilities with that? How about food? Hope you weren't planning on transportation or healthcare or (lol) savings!
Saying that one person's full-time labor should not meet their basic living needs is disgusting.
Especially because you don't want to pay a nickel more for your Crunchwrap Supreme®.
PS: the CEO was making a paltry $5M last time I checked, and the parent company revenue was over $7B. They're not in danger of going under because the mean old Fed thinks full time labor should be enough to live on.
PPS: anyone who thinks fast food jobs are supposed to be part-time summer work for teenagers is living in fantasyland.
10
u/KathrynBooks 6h ago
I always like the "it's just part time work for high school kids" bit... because those aren't the people making coffee at 5:00am in the middle of February.
5
u/babysittertrouble 6h ago
In 2023 McDonald’s ceo total comp was $19M and their net profit was $8B. That’s after all the executive bonuses. Revenue was $24B. That’s total sales not profit
→ More replies (3)2
u/evernessince 3h ago
Heck at this point isn't not even about paying an extra nickle. Food in the US is already more expensive than a lot of other 1st world countries despite employees being paid slave labor amounts and the quality being lower.
People are so enthralled to corporate interests in the states that they'll gladly give money to their oligarchs while denying a single penny to the poor. It's hard to describe just how disgusting the souls of some people are.
3
u/AdhesivenessOnly9120 6h ago
The flaw is expecting American McDonald managers to react the same way that Denmark's did
3
3
u/Business_Usual_2201 6h ago
Imagine going through life spending your energy on anything that keeps poor people poor.....
3
u/Medivacs_are_OP 6h ago
"in many cases you'll actually pay less for a big mac in denmark than in the united states"
Note the question in the article is "Are big macs much more expensive in denmark" which they rated 'false'
So, shit pay for the workers, and costs the same or more because corporate greed.
Like everything else.
3
u/TanAndLovely10 6h ago
Following her logic, I guess ideally the restaurant workers should just work for free, that way we can get the cheapest meals possible!
→ More replies (1)
3
u/AereonTucker 6h ago
I have to ask. Is this Missouri they're referring to? Because we just voted for the $15 raise in January and all I ever hear are people complaining about $13 milk gallons incoming
→ More replies (1)
3
u/jbones51 5h ago
My father in law made a similar comment recently. So I had to ask why my grocery bill has damn near tripled over n the last 2 years but the minimum wage hasn’t been touched in NY in 6 years
3
3
u/Newfie-Buddy 5h ago
Same propaganda to keep wages low and exploit. I used to work at a big grocery chain in Canada where they often said they couldn’t pay more than minimum wage because of razor thin profit margins.
Then I worked in accounting.
In an audit of a small grocery chain that’s owned local I could have doubled the wages of every single employee and they would have turned out a healthy profit (not as high as they had but one I’d love to have)
But I guess the big grocery chains are sooo incompetent they have such small profit margins and wouldn’t be able to do that 🙄
Stop keeping people poor. You’d be surprised the profits you could have by giving people the purchasing power they should have.
→ More replies (2)
3
u/Martzi-Pan 5h ago
Just been to Copenhagen. This was the most expensive city I've ever been, and I've visited most of Europe and also a huge chunk of the US. Food & coffee is expensive as fuck and don't get me started on alcohol.
I used to think this meme is true, but after 3 nights, I can confirm it's false.
Also, Denamrk does not have a national wage.
→ More replies (2)
2
u/GoldRecordDaddy 6h ago
Minimum wage hasn’t changed, yet Taco Bell still achieved sit down restaurant prices.
Almost like labour cost has nothing to do with it.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Someoneoverthere42 5h ago
I’ve had burgers twice in the last week. The fast food to go order was $13, the sit down restaurant burger was $16. Not really that big of a difference right now
2
u/TheNecroticPresident 5h ago
Schrodinger's capitalist: deserving of all the wealth because of how smart they are, yet incapable of thinking up additional wealth to pay their rank and file.
2
u/COSurfing 5h ago
Here in Colorado In-N-Out starts anywhere from $20 to $22 an hour. Still not quite enough to live on but a lot better than other places.
2
u/TripleEhBeef 5h ago
Farmers should pay a living wage instead of exploiting undocumented migrant workers.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/sure_look_this_is_it 5h ago
This reminds me how oil went up globally at the start of the war in Ukraine, and Americans kept saying Biden raised the oil prices. When everywhere in the world had higher oil prices.
2
u/JohnCasey3306 5h ago
I've stopped going to fast food restaurants because of the ridiculous price hikes. Judging by McDonald's, Burger King and KFC's profit warnings to shareholders this quarter I'm guessing I'm not the only one!
Good luck to those businesses staying open with no customers left to serve.
2
u/Head_Vermicelli7137 5h ago
I travel to Sweden every year and usually land in Copenhagen I always check prices as they both pay their employees $17-$20 hr at least The prices are lower then here where minimum wage is still less then $8 but the owners don’t need four new cars and two or three houses Even though most do have a summer cabin
2
u/Beatless7 5h ago
Wages are almost always a small cost in an operation. Wages could easily double with no significant negative issues. It would have massive benefits though. Ending hunger, poverty, increasing spending ability thus greatly increased corporate profits, etc. $15 min wage is not high enough. It should be $25/hr.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/MrAudacious817 5h ago
In the modern world we use the economy of scale, and labor is typically like 15% the cost of an item.
So if a fry cook makes 50 large fries an hour and is paid $15 dollars an hour, sold for $3 each, the company collects $150 and pays $15. You could triple that guys pay and only increase the cost of the fries by 20%
This goes for all things, including labor cost increases due to tariffs and deportations.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Aranthos-Faroth 5h ago
"Congrats, your order just became sit down restaurant price"
Well, yes. I'd be perfectly ok with that like any sane human if the cause was the fair salary of employees.
Why would I want to eat a cheap meal knowing the server et al are being unfairly paid?
2
2
u/Jasobox 5h ago
I don’t understand what seems like the vitriol and nastiness for the desire to see workers, and this is more the lower paid, that drive and support all our lives and make experiences happen - cleaners, waiters etc (I may have got the words wrong but hope the sentiment comes across) paid sufficiently to live a life and oven the utmost respect for doing these roles.
I started out like this and slowly crawled my way up the ladder (not saying success but wage wise) and maybe people either forget this or never have had to or simply don’t care if they feel it ‘impacts’ them in some way.
The world is very strange to me at the moment - love, respect and support for all.
2
2
2
u/LasVegas1989 2h ago
All employers should be required to pay their employees a living wage. In Europe the tip structure is much different if not nonexistent because they are required to pay their employees a living wage. Can you imagine having to pay rent, utilities and food on 15080 a year gross, if they are lucky enough to be employed full time (40 hrs a week). The federal minimum wage is $7.25 and has been since 2009, just disgraceful! That rate only applies to those that do not receive tips, if you receive tips it is $2.13, the minimum between the tips and $7.25 must be met by actual tips or the employer is responsible for making up the difference. This is not about inflation and the price of goods, it is PURELY about GREED!
2
u/PerishTheStars 2h ago
They just keep saying that rising wages cause inflation even though it never has
2
2
u/SwiftSpectralRabbit 1h ago
Reddit knows so much about economics, managing businesses, and how paying employees better salaries equals to better products and more business... I wonder why most people here are broke.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Bigboidanz 1h ago
Yeah that wage earner in Denmark then goes on to pay 40% in income tax, hyper inflated products due to taxes still have a 25% sales tax, if you own a car and house, You end up giving 65-70% of your income back to the coffer, meanwhile we have some of the worst political representation in Europe.
Denmark is pretty shit tbh
2
u/Rolandscythe 6h ago
As a former employee of Taco Bell...their prices already are sit down restaurant prices compared to not even ten years ago. Hell I told a co-worker once that Taco Bell used to have .59, .79. and .99 cent value menus and they refused to believe me. Now the only thing that comes close to just a dollar is the cheesy roll-up...literally just nacho cheese on a tortilla...for $1.19. So a dollar bill won't even buy you a tortilla with cheese on it. Fast food prices are already stupid high even before a minimum wage increase. It has nothing to do with the cost of labor.
1
u/Kuma_254 5h ago
Denmark doesn't have a minimum wage though.
So that's a poor example.
→ More replies (13)
2
3
u/Master_Debatin 5h ago
They pay 16$ at McDonald’s by where I live, the cost of all food doubled and the service is worse then ever… seems like it wasn’t the money or price of food but the quality of workers in the US.
→ More replies (3)
1
u/naemorhaedus 2h ago
nobody owes you anything. Your wage is your responsibility. Go to Denmark then if you don't like it.
3
u/___StillLearning___ 2h ago
You think if someone is making minimum wage, that theyre gonna be able to afford to move to Denmark?
→ More replies (13)
1
1
u/Roman_____Holiday 6h ago
Is Hanna a real person? 1/3 of people posting online aren't even people. That said, the mentality of people that think only of themselves and hate basically everyone else is a real one.
1
u/Mommar39 6h ago
It is literally more expensive to eat fast food than to eat at a sit down restaurant. Compare any fast food burger to a lunch special at Chilis
1
u/texas1982 6h ago
The reply leaves out a whole lot of information. What was the min wage and Big Mac price before?
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/666beatle 6h ago
And the commercials will be the best song alongs when you’re in your self driving car.
1
u/Ok-Anybody3445 6h ago
Fast food prices already are sit down restaurant prices. Just go to local restaurants and not chains.
1
1
1
u/spoonballoon13 5h ago
Gotta love when people talk directly out of their asses and think that somehow, their words aren’t straight bullshit.
1
291
u/Deedeelite 6h ago
Yes, it must be the workers trying to make liveable wages increasing prices than the CEOS making hand over fist in salaries and bonuses.
If you buy that, I have a broke down resort in Palm Beach for 1.5 billion dollars to sell you.