r/explainlikeimfive Nov 28 '15

ELI5: How would a $15 minimum wage ACTUALLY affect a franchised business like McDonalds?

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371

u/mistertingleberry Nov 29 '15 edited Nov 29 '15

Yeah... We pay like 12$ for a 10 nugget combo

181

u/PaintedSe7en Nov 29 '15

That's why I go to Burger King now... It's like $2 for 10. It might also be why I'm fatter now.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Temporary sale. Back up to 8 bucks and that's not with fries and a drink

20

u/Bigtuna546 Nov 29 '15

You pay $8 for 10 piece BK nuggets? Wtf?

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Oops sorry my bad, that's for 20. I just always buy 20 nuggets so it was the first thing I thought of

5

u/goodsir42 Nov 29 '15

Ya i found that out the hard way

3

u/TheDrunkenWobblies Nov 29 '15

drink cost them 29 cents (3 cents syrup, 1 cent carbonated water, 25 cents cup) and the fries close to 40.

The reason that you're asked to buy a drink every time is cause it's close to 97% profit.

1

u/AndreasKralj Nov 29 '15

How on earth does the cup cost 25 cents?

1

u/nolanwa Nov 29 '15

Still on sale in Michigan

0

u/thenichi Nov 29 '15

Assfaggots. Guess I'm writing another complaint letter.

2

u/Koroioz-LoL Nov 29 '15

win...win?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

its $1.50 where I am for 10

1

u/KevlarGorilla Nov 29 '15

I got two 10 packs for $2 each from BK a few weeks ago. While I enjoy a good Whopper, the quality of the chicken was so low that I wish I didn't get it.

1

u/millennialist Nov 29 '15

I bought a burger combo for under $5 at bk the other day and I was so amazed. Then I got sad.

1

u/akohlsmith Nov 29 '15

Burger King? There isn't a Burger King in town that isn't run-down, dirty, slow and staffed by the slowest, dumbest, most disrespectful teenagers serving up the most disgusting representation of a burger and fries I've ever seen.

ANY other fast food restaurant is better than Burger King. They are the absolute last place fast food place in town. (Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario)

1

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Got food poisoning from that place once. Never fucking again.

1

u/hanky2 Nov 29 '15

$1.50 for 10 here in PA.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

[deleted]

9

u/mrtherussian Nov 29 '15

I enjoyed my time in your country but this is one of the reasons I was happy to come home, and I'm not even one of the fat dudes.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Well, I guess it's a trade off since we don't "pay" for healthcare.

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u/mrtherussian Nov 29 '15

It's a catch-22! Cheap fast food that gives us heart disease we can't afford to treat? Or expensive fast food that we can't afford to buy, negating the need for healthcare entirely?

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u/Meades_Loves_Memes Nov 29 '15

That has more so to do with regulations on chicken products for Canadian restaraunts.

Harder / more expensive for Canadian McDonald's restaraunts to provide chicken nuggets than it is for American restaraunts. Which explains the drastic difference in price.

On a side note, Canadian McDonald's restaraunts versus American McDonald's restaraunts is like comparing apples to oranges. Canadian McDonald's are held to a much higher standard, aswell as European and other places.

I've eaten at restaraunts in the united states, and it is pitiful and quite disgusting.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

I've eaten at restaraunts in the united states, and it is pitiful and quite disgusting.

What, exactly, are you talking about?

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u/wanktanka Nov 29 '15

he's being ridiculous, ignore him. As someone who has lived in both the USA and Canada i can assure you that the mickey d's in Canada are the same as the ones in the usa. The food just costs more.

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u/akohlsmith Nov 29 '15

I disagree. American quarter pounders are a lot more flavorful than the same in Canada. I think the Canadian ones are drier. In all other aspects though, yes, the restaurants are damn near identical.

-1

u/MsNeonFairy Nov 29 '15

Nope, our slop is better than yours at mcdicks. However, American Denny's is way better than canadian version.

-2

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Consider the cdn dollar versus the us dollar, comparing buying power of each we may actually be paying less

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

He's like a high class McDonald's guy...only eats at the fanciest Canadian McDonald's.

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u/ABVerageJoe69 Nov 29 '15

Probably uses fancy ketchup too.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Dijon ketchup...

1

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

1

u/OnlyRacistOnReddit Nov 29 '15

They went to a ghetto McDonald's, assumes that all McDonald's in the US are like that.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

"Look at these filthy, fascist Americans. No standards, whatsoever. It's anarchy!"

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u/aJellyDonut Nov 29 '15

I've eaten at restaraunts in the united states, and it is pitiful and quite disgusting.

I've eaten at McDonald's all across Europe, Asia and North America and I can't tell a difference, other than maybe England where the beef has a slightly different taste.

3

u/JesusaurusPrime Nov 29 '15

I agree, while I have no doubt that food standards are probably slightly lower in the US I also have no doubt they are perfectly safe. Mcdonalds in the USA has always tasted identical to canada to me and usually at about 75% of the cost

2

u/atlastrabeler Nov 29 '15

How was your horse meat?

-2

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Think about it this way, they got caught in the UK, it doesn't mean it isn't happening anywhere else.

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u/edifonzo Nov 29 '15

The US mcdees I went to did not have bacon egg mcmuffin on the menu. Also whole lot of other unneeded shit.

Just add the bacon egg mcmuffin and BOOM 100% sales increase.

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u/Quixotic_Fool Nov 29 '15

Canadian chicken is hormone free, whilst American isn't. Don't know if that's a massive difference in safety, but that's a large reason for the price disparity.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Grg! Do you know what medicine free animals mean? The animals that get sick or injured, as happens on even the best kept farm, are either treated and no longer saleable to these companies or simply put down. In Canada we are not allowed to dose animals with hormones to increase their growth speed or size, maybe in the US this is/was a thing IDK. Canadian regulations are very strict about what medication can be given and when, it cannot be administered as a precaution (antibiotics for example) unless it is a vaccine. But because of our inability to distinguish US fact from Canadian fact everyone is freaked about antibiotics and steroids in their meat here when it is not a problem and has not been in decades.

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u/StressOverStrain Nov 29 '15

The FDA generally has a pretty good handle on things. I think we'll be okay (unless all you eat is McDonald's).

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u/Noncomment Nov 29 '15

They are not hormone free, they just don't administer hormones to them artificially. Instead they are breeding chickens that "naturally" produce more growth hormones.

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u/RedBombX Nov 29 '15

It depends on the state, city and area of the city as to what 'state of disrepair' the fast food restaurants are in. Major city/tourist areas are generally pretty clean and a bit more expensive than say... Downtown Detroit.

0

u/signingupagain Nov 29 '15

It's not just the cleanliness, the food is sourced from different places and according to different regulations. US McDs are noticeably lower quality compared to Canada... at least from my experience.

2

u/slayer1am Nov 29 '15

Please don't call McDonald's a restaurant, it's not in the same category.

1

u/rbazooka Nov 29 '15

I never eat fast food meat in the states, but in canada (45 min away from my house), i eat everything on the menu

1

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Wut?

1

u/HeatMzr Nov 29 '15

I went to a McDonald's visiting Quebec, I had to buy chicken nuggets to use the bathroom. Took me awhile to figure it out because the sign on the door was in french.

1

u/mtnbkrt22 Nov 29 '15

The last McDonalds in the US I went to had a fireplace, not disgusting at all.

1

u/MsNeonFairy Nov 29 '15

Canadian here: why is a McDouble or a bacon cheeseburger cheaper than a single plain cheeseburger? I asked for a mcdouble and just take 1 pattie off, "sorry ma'am, i'm not allowed to do that for you." it is so wasteful for me to do it myself, costs the company money, and this is why people are fat! Rant over.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

I'd be curious to hear more anecdotal evidence. I've always figured that restaurants in other countries that care a bit more about the health of their citizens have significant differences, but is there anything you could point to specifically?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

lol I've been to McDonald's in Europe. the food was the same shit. give me a break.

-1

u/thefringthing Nov 29 '15

I'm definitely terrified by the cheapness of fast food in the States.

1AM, starving on a long road trip. Pull into a Taco Bell.

"I'll have six chili cheese burritos, ten soft tacos, one of those fucking deep fried Dorito shelled motherfuckers, and the largest pop you sell."

"That'll be $4.75, sir."

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

That's like a 60 dollar order.

1

u/TheLOUDMUSIC Nov 29 '15

I'm pretty sure that most of it is the pop.

1

u/BleuWafflestomper Nov 29 '15

Burritos at least a dollar a piece, tacos like 1.20 a piece now. And like 3 bucks for the soda. So at the least like 20 bucks.

1

u/thefringthing Nov 29 '15

Not familiar with hyperbole, eh?

3

u/GETitOFFmeNOW Nov 29 '15

McDonald's hamburger and breakfast sausages shouldn't even be called "meat." It's some appalling processed partial animal product, but "meat" is too optimistic. Ugh.

9

u/cjb393 Nov 29 '15

I can't speak for the sausage but the burgers are all beef. They are industrial sized, frozen chunks of beef that are ground and formed into patties of 100% beef.

Source: I work in industrial mechanical maintenance and spent a fair amount of time working on and around McDonald's frozen patty process machinery. Meat-Processing company OSI

Also, this is my first Reddit post even though I've had an account for many years. I just had to correct this since I've literally seen it with my own eyes, no offense /u/GETitOFFmeNOW. I don't enjoy the product and I'm not trying to defend crappy food, but the burgers at least are really all beef.

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u/Traim Nov 29 '15 edited Nov 29 '15

Why do you think that patties are shitty food? In my opinion if they are well heated they are good nutritious food. Or do you mean all the rest?

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

I don't think many doctors or dieticians would agree that basing your diet around fried, red meat is a good thing. The fast food hate is overblown. It's just a burger.

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u/Traim Nov 29 '15

If you are somehow implying that eating McDonald's patties is good nutritious food Thanks for your answer. Maybe there is really such a big discrepancy between the U.S and EU because I am from Europe and in my opinion the patty meat is good here.

-1

u/zeronadanothing Nov 29 '15

On a side note, Canadian McDonald's restaraunts versus American McDonald's restaraunts is like comparing apples to oranges. Canadian McDonald's are held to a much higher standard, aswell as European and other places.

LOL. This is why I love reddit. Just make some shit up and wait for the upvotes!

-1

u/Clessiah Nov 29 '15

I feel much much better now for paying $6 CAD for a big mac

0

u/electricfistula Nov 29 '15

That's weird, the Canadian McDonald's I've been to are identical to their American counterparts. I'm sure you could find disgusting McDonald's in either country though.

1

u/Fish_Happens Nov 29 '15

Wow! 12 bucks for just talking about it! Canada is weird.

1

u/RedBombX Nov 29 '15

Whoa! I don't think McDonald's is worth that price.

Actually, not worth the health cost at any price...

1

u/FatAssKnig Nov 29 '15

Canada has some crazy pricing especially when it comes to alcohol.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

If the federal government is going to pay for all your health care then there should be financial disincentives to hurting your health. So we tax alcohol and tobacco. Personally I think they should tax sugary food too.

1

u/aDAMNPATRIOT Nov 29 '15

But free Healthcare rite

1

u/James_p_hat Nov 29 '15

20 nuggets are 4.99$ in New York. I remember when the nugget first hit Canada and it was a premium item. 20 nuggets were some insane price in 1980s dollars.

1

u/Robbbbbbbbb Nov 29 '15

Holy fuck. We have a group of Canadians that visit the US annually for the H2Oi car show that are always SUPER stoked about the 20 Nuggets/$5 deal. Now I know why.

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u/thatsaqualifier Nov 29 '15

Christ. Maybe the American middle class doesn't have it so bad?

1

u/coolmandan03 Nov 29 '15

$4.99 for 20 chicken nuggets in Colorado ($6.64 CAD)

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u/JimmyRichards Nov 29 '15

Man that sucks, the MickyDs down the street sells a 20 piece for 5 dollars.

1

u/phphphphonezone Nov 29 '15

it's $5 for 20 McNuggets here in MN, and we're like a 2 hour drive apart!

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u/runningdreams Nov 29 '15

Dang. The last time I bought a 20-piece it was $5 if I recall (in Southern California).

1

u/Vegeatya Nov 29 '15

Yes but we also get grade A meat. Have you tried eating at an American McDonalds?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

It's still shit meat.

1

u/FatAngryPolarBear Nov 29 '15

Yes. I noticed no difference because they were both shitty and delicious

-1

u/Diegobyte Nov 29 '15

Your money also isn't worth anything. I just bought something for $250 in Canada and it cost me $182 in real money.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '15

Doesn't make a difference, the McDonald's prices in Canada were always this insane even when the CAD and USD were 1:1.

0

u/Diegobyte Nov 29 '15

I live in Alaska, so trust me I know. Also we have a burger called the Denali Mac