McDonald’s is hoping to woo back customers with cheap food as it struggles against allegations it has become too expensive.
Starting June 25, the fast-food chain will offer a new $5 meal at most locations nationwide, which includes a McDouble cheeseburger or a McChicken sandwich, a small French fries, a four-piece Chicken McNuggets, and a small soft drink.
“We heard our fans loud and clear—they’re looking for even more great value from us, and this summer that’s exactly what they’ll get,” said Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, in a statement. “Value has always been part of our DNA. We’re focused on living up to that legacy.”
The deal was pre-announced over a month ago.
The company also touted deals offered by local franchisees which vary store to store. Some McDonald’s in Memphis are offering buy-one-get-one-free breakfast sandwiches; Columbus is offering a double cheeseburger and small fries for $3.50. It also reiterated a previously announced promotion where customers can get a free medium fries with a $1 minimum purchase through the end of the year.
McDonald’s has been feeling the pinch of inflation and consumer impressions that the chain has become too expensive. Customers have complained about $8 chicken sandwiches and $18 Big Mac meals, coining the term “McFlation.” McDonald’s missed earning expectations for the first time in almost four years in 2023’s fourth quarter.
To counter that, Erlinger took the unusual step last month of issuing a public letter to push back against what he called “viral social posts and poorly sourced reports that McDonald’s has raised prices significantly beyond inflationary rates.”
“I can tell you that it frustrates and worries me, and many of our franchisees, when I hear about an $18 Big Mac meal being sold—even if it was at one location in the U.S. out of more than 13,700,” he wrote. “More worrying, though, is when people believe that this is the rule and not the exception, or when folks start to suggest that the prices of a Big Mac have risen 100% since 2019. The average price of a Big Mac in the U.S. was $4.39 in 2019. 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%).”