Will 12.99 deals make fast food affordable again?

[marylander1940]

Please report and move if this belongs to another forum or was talked about before in a different thread.

OP note: about time for fast food to be what's supposed to be. 

Five Guys Introduces Classic Combo at Select Locations | Five Guys

WWW.FIVEGUYS.COM

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Don't let your burger get lonely by bundling it with fries and a drink – all for $12.99.

Subway Launches New 2 for $12.99 Footlong Deal - The Fast Food Post

WWW.FASTFOODPOST.COM

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Subway is running a new digital-only deal where they’re offering a choice of any two Footlongs for $12.99. To take advantage of the offer, simply head to the Subway app...

 

[samhexum]

NO!

[BuffaloKyle]

The Mcdonald's $5 meals and the buy one get one for $1 is my go to for fast food right now.

[mike carey]

This reminds me of one of the points a video I posted in the fast food thread about McDonald's in Australia had made. The video was basically a recounting of the way that in Australia, McDonald's had moved in different ways than it had in the US. It talked of their attitude to experimentation and innovation, and of paying attention to local market dynamics. To paraphrase part of it, in Australia they had taken the core product lines, and signature ones like the Big Mac (the item that had become the basis of a way of simple way of explaining purchasing power parity as a concept after the Economist created the Big Mac Index) and taken risks on specialist product lines and marketing methods to work in this market.

The video made a point, perhaps a debatable one, but maybe more insightful than they realised, that in Australia they focussed on the menu items and kept the bundle methods simple. The bundle is simply called a 'meal deal'. The bundle is the burger, wrap or whatever, with a side and a drink. The price for the bundle is pitched as small chips (although they do call them 'fries') and a small soft drink. Substitutes are permitted, larger serves of chips or a salad, barista coffee, choose the size you want, with a price difference to reflect the adjusted bundle. Selling the food is focussed on the main menu item not the bundle. In contrast, and this is my wording not the video's, in the US the emphasis seems to be on marketing different bundles, no substitutions. In effect they are taking the same burgers and trying to sell it in a range of different coloured wrapping paper with a different bow tied on the package. To me, having tried to read the options on the menu board in an American McDonald's, it's just confusing.

There's a limit to the number of times you can sell repackaging as a new offering.