From Cheap to Costly: The Rising Price of Fast Food

 Big Mac, Bigger Price: Fast Food’s Affordability Crisis

Some major Fast-Food price increases are currently taking place. This is causing a ton of press. The question is will the rise of prices cause a shit in the customers’ ability to go and afford it? Fast food is known for its cheap and quick meal options. This might change the way we think of fast food.

Prices

Image from Financebuzz.com

This is a major issue with some of the fast-food restaurants that are currently in business. I remember being able to go to a fast-food restaurant and being able to purchase a full meal at most places for under 6 dollars. This is not the case anymore. Some meals can run you upwards of 13 dollars a pop. An article from today.com says that “McDonald's raised prices so much that their average menu prices increased more than three times the national rate of inflation”(Koebert). It also says that a Big Mac combo meal now costs 8 dollars causing them to receive some negative backlash. This caused the McDonald’s CEO to “promise affordability on a recent earnings call”(Koebert).

Others Struggling

Other fast food restaurants that have had price increases that have led to fewer customers are Taco Bell, Chipotle, Starbucks, KFC, Subway,  and Burger King. One of the ones I wanted to highlight out of all of these that are mentioned is Subway. In an article from the chefrecipe.com, it explains that Subway is a very popular fast food option. It was arguably one of the healthier options, too. Subways popped up “in almost every shopping center and street corner” (Anderson). A problem they are facing is that they have had so many places open that they are now having to shut a lot of them down due to there not being enough money rolling in. There once $5 footlong use to be crowd lover who would help with their annual sales. This is something that they had to stop because of the rise in food prices. I am sure that this establishment might have been thriving still if food prices weren’t the problem. I would say that Subway always had good marketing. I am sure my mentioning the $5 footlong sparked a memory in your brain with the $5 footlong song. So I believe that it wasn’t a matter of marketing but a matter of price.

What next

Fast food is the same as it was before. There either needs to be a shift in advertising to the right crowds, or they need to try and address the issue with the pricing. I believe that if the shift went to a different approach and changed, then we think of fast food to be cheap and fast. This might help customers justify the price of the items that they are receiving. My final question is, would you be willing to purchase an 18-dollar meal from a fast food restaurant?

Works Cited 

Anderson, Jamie. “It’S Obvious These Fast Food Restaurants Won’T Last in 2025.” The Chef Recipe, 31 Jan. 2025, thechefrecipe.com/2025/01/its-obvious-these-fast-food-restaurants-wont-last-in-2025.

Koebert, Josh. “Is Fast Food Affordable Anymore? Here’s How Menu Prices Have Changed Over the Years [2024].” FinanceBuzz, 30 Apr. 2025, financebuzz.com/fast-food-prices-vs-inflation?msockid=103afef7d8ab63eb0e22eb15d9c46245.