There was a time when you could walk into a McDonald’s with $20 and walk around with 20 double cheeseburgers or 20 McChickens, or an assortment of the two. Time was you could, in a pinch, get yourself some quick and hot, but not necessarily healthy, grub from the fast-food chain with just a few bucks to your name, paying no more than a single dollar for every item on a budget menu.
According to many customers, those days are long gone. While Morgan Spurlock dealt a significant blow to McDonald’s bottom line when his 2004 documentary Super Size Me debuted, the golden arches have persisted and reign supreme as the #1 fast-food franchise in the world. In fact, the fast-food industry is only becoming more profitable, despite reports that folks are becoming more health-conscious than previous generations.
So one would think that if folks know the health risks associated with consuming fast food regularly, the increase in profits can attributed to the quick and cheap menu items.
However, it seems that’s not the case at all. And comedian and TikToker Kevin Fredericks (@kevonstagetiktok) is fed up with the amount of money McDonald’s is charging for some of its items. He blasted the chain in a viral clip that’s garnered over 598,000 views over the loss of McDonald’s beloved Dollar Menu.
@kevonstagetiktok What happened to the dollar menu?!
♬ original sound – kevonstage
“What happened to this country?” Fredericks starts, before going on to blast the current prices of McDonald’s cheeseburgers and McChicken sandwiches. He highlights their costs in a green-screen image superimposed in the TikTok video.
“We used to be a proper country,” he laments. “$4.29 for a McChicken? $3.19 for just a cheeseburger not even a McDouble cheeseburger, just a cheeseburger? This ain’t no McValue! These are just McPrices these are just regular McPrices.”
He reminisces on the time in his life in the 2000s when the “McDonald’s value meal was integral to [his] survival.”
“$2 you could get 2 McChicken, that was dinner, many a night,” he continues. “I used to go between McChickens and McDoubles to feel like I was going to different restaurants. $4 for one sandwich? How are we supposed to survive?”
Fredericks urges Mickey D’s to revert back to its lower prices, highlighting that Costco is still able to sell its hot dog and soda combo for only $1.50.
“…People need that Dollar Menu to actually be one dollar still,” he concludes. “For children of the world, college students, full-grown adults. $4 for a McChicken. You out your McCrazy mind. Do you got some McDonald’s money really means you need a $30,000 a year job.”
Several viewers commented stating that they too have noticed an increase in pricing at the popular burger chain.
“I went to McDonald’s & the large fry was almost $5,” one person wrote.
Someone else said that item costs are even worse in the Great White North, writing, “A McChicken in Canada is 10$.”
“A single hashbrown is 2.39! billionaires have lost their minds,” another Mickey D’s customer shared.
One TikToker thought that it was strange how the cost of McDonald’s and fast food items have increased, but not necessarily the quality of their offerings.
“All food places everywhere,” they said. “Raising prices but not the quality of their food..”
But one person said the only way to shop at McDonald’s without getting hosed is to use the mobile application.
“I refuse to order without using the app,” they commented. “The prices are out of control.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to McDonald’s and Fredericks via email.
