I’ve been boycotting all fast food chains and almost all big restaurant chains for…12 years now?
Fast food has surge pricing now?
Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and daypart offerings, along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling," he said.
AI-enabled menu changes
suggestive selling
I’m pretty sure Tim Hortons has had access to AI menu changes for years now. It would explain a lot.
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There was a story going around yesterday about Wendy’s supposedly trying it. It sounds like the kind of headline that’s going to turn out to be BS, but I also didn’t really look into it so I don’t know any of the details. Seems like the kind of thing you’d have to be an idiot to actually attempt. Hard to imagine a universe where that goes over well.
Will it go over well?
Of course not!
But will Wendy’s keep bullheadedly pushing on until it somehow eventually sticks?
Definitely. 👍
Sometimes I get angry that there is nothing legal I can do to cause financial harm for certain companies. The quest that can happen is me stopping the consumption of their products, bit what is I want doing it in the first place?
I only go there if I happen to get a craving for them and am very hungry, which isn’t very often. Maybe once every few months.
I’ve always said that it’s bullshit that those meals were so cheap in the first place. Their lobbyists paid off a bunch of politicians to make it so cheap. It shouldn’t have ever been as cheap as it was. That food is terrible for you in every way. It’ll probably be good for a lot of people to stop eating it so much. So i see this as a win win.
There’s a documentary “King Corn” that talks about how US government subsidies to farmers for growing corn have made it so inexpensive that it creates a surplus and prices that are too low relative to other foods. This resulted in the proliferation of corn being fed to cattle and other animals, which makes them less healthy to eat but fattens them for slaughter sooner. Also corn syrup is so cheap to make it made soft drinks less expensive. These are large reasons why fast food was so inexpensive and so bad for you. Also surplus corn and corn syrup led to the creation of a lot of unhealthy breakfast cereals which are marketed to kids.
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I’ve already been boycotting those places for over a decade for so many reasons.
COVID forced me to stay in my house for an extended period of time. I never ventured back out. Businesses are certainly not incentivizing me to do so.
As a result, I’ve watched my bank account grow at a rate it never has. In a nearly identical upward trend on the graph so have grown my depression and loneliness.
The outside world has become hostile in addition to expensive.
I’m glad I’m old and this is not my whole life ahead of me stage.
try volunteering
There are still good people, friend, anywhere you go. Especially if you do try volunteering as the other commenter suggested, and there are tons and tons of various organizations always looking for good people depending on what your interests are.
If you just want to meet people and have no specific hobbies you can try volunteering at a hospital. Even a few hours once a week or every other week might really help with the loneliness.
I live in a small town without any stores. There’s a pizza place that makes nice pizza though. We eat pizza from that place ~1-3 times per year.
I dont even remember the last time i was at mcdonalds or similar. its been at least a couple of years…
I think at this point I only ever go to fast food places when a friend who loves fast food places is over and we happen to go get food. Happens maybe once every couple of years.
I think I’m at an age that if I want burgers or barbecue or something unhealthy or greasy is rather make it myself and have it be extra dirty and less expensive.
The part people keep missing with all their “I don’t even eat there so I don’t care” and “fine, I’ll go somewhere else” comments is that every other large chain will be watching this little experiment very, very closely.
People are still going to go to Wendy’s. Any boycott is unlikely to make a dent. If this is profitable, watch this become commonplace. I don’t even live in the states and this concerns me.
Enshitification may well extend itself to the hospitality sector.
Rice cookers.
The part people keep missing with all their “I don’t even eat there so I don’t care” and “fine, I’ll go somewhere else” comments is that every other large chain will be watching this little experiment very, very closely.
So… locally owned businesses about to get a shot in the arm? That’s already what we’ve done. Why pay fifteen bucks for a burger fries and drink from McD when I can get a bigger burger with better beef (cooked FOR ME), better fries, and the same soda carryout from a local pub for about the same or even a little less? I can also go to the local steak sandwich place and get freshly made cheesesteak with fries and a drink for substantially less. And I’ve got many more options than that.
Biggest difference is 5 or 10 min in my car waiting for food or going in to pick it up. The moment fast food stopped being a consistently cheaper option, that stopped mattering.
They will usher in a new renaissance of local food places. Sounds like a win win.
I absolutely do fast food for the fast part. Between my 2 jobs I’m often moving from 4:30am to past 10:00 during the week, and I simply don’t have the extra 5 minutes to go inside.
I’m actually really enjoying that C-stores are getting better hot food options these days because they’re also super fast, and some of them have shockingly good tacos these days.
Crockpot.
Where? In my cubicle or my car?
I sleep at my house and that’s about it unless it’s a weekend that I happen to be in town.
Just a thought. Be well.
Fair enough but I think many people (such as my family) are going to refuse to buy McD’s or Wendy’s while it remains true that we can get better food for the same or less, giving up nothing more than waiting in the drive thru line.
Yeah, I agree there are some good convenience stores too - I think there the line becomes a little blurrier vs local business because sometimes the quality can be pretty close and the prices fairly competitive depending on what you are getting.
People are still going to go to Wendy’s.
No they won’t. As soon as they are aware the price fluctuates they’ll go somewhere else. Wendy’s competitors will be watching this to see how many more customers they receive during Wendy’s “surge pricing” hours.
Uber “gets away with it” by saying they have a limited number of drivers, and you can always see the price on your phone. Nobody is going to go to a Wendy’s if they don’t know what the prices are going to be.
No one? I’m sorry but I just think that’s unrealistic. People clearly like the food, it’s convenient, likely part of a habit or ritual for many people. If people feel like Wendy’s, that’s where they’ll go.
It doesn’t need to be “no one” to make it clear the experiment in new forms of corporate greed was a failure.
This is a game a lot of people are not going to play, just on principle. It’s not about the food, anymore.
I don’t know how much profit you think they’re hoping to make from having surge pricing. If they lose 10% of their customers over this that will be a significant loss in overall profit.
This seems like one of those artificial issues that don’t really matter to anyone serious. Creating a fake sense of conflict. If anything the entire country is experiencing surge pricing for every fast food restaurant in comparison to other countries
I have had some fast food in the last year, but each time I regret it and it gets longer in between.
For the same price I can order from a real restaurant and have leftovers.
Wait until you learn about cooking at home.
Haha!
I cook most meals at home, restaurants are for when I don’t have time or leftovers.
It’s still expensive and you have to have time. I still do it, love to cook. But sometimes I have no choice but frozen or fast food. Saying you don’t eat fast food, to me I just see privilege. Not that you said that, but it’s in this thread.
I cook almost every meal, and I eat mostly things based on beans and rice.
I also don’t really enjoy cooking, so I streamline. I prep several days at once, and put everything in containers for when I need it. I keep the frying pan on the stove, and toss everything in when the rice cooker is done… It’s very low effort, but endlessly versatile between veggies, spices, and cooking methods.
You have to wait like 20 minutes to let the rice cook, but then it’s less than 5 minutes of effort for most meals, then if you immediately rinse everything down you don’t need to completely wash it every time
It’s also extremely cheap, the only thing I know of that’s cheaper would be bulk top ramen. I use a $20 rice cooker and a frying pan… My food expenses are about $25-35 a week, and I like to pick up fresh veggies and other things to vary it up. That’s like 3 meals, maybe 4 at a fast food place these days.
Cooking isn’t privilege in any way. It’s normal. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it’s just basic preparation of food humans have done since we discovered fire.
If you’re so exhausted you can’t care for your own basic needs, that’s not lack of privilege, that’s exploitation
It is interesting to see the American context where food is so cheap. In my country eating out, even fast food, is the privilege. For me there’s no cheaper option than cooking at home, by a wide margin. It does take some planing. But I would go broke in a week if I ate a whole work week straight of fast food. It would be over half of my monthly income. Just one week of lunch only. So for me there’s no option, I have to cook at home or I would starve.
I’m in Aus, and I basically never eat a proper home cooked meal. I can get a hotdog for $3.50 and outside of super basic food like just rice, or oats, I can’t match that.
We don’t need to talk about how much I waste on drinks though, thats an entirely different problem.
You went “i need an example for something that is cheaper to buy than to cook” and you picked fucking hot dogs??
It’s this way in America too if you cook from scratch. People often think fast food is cheaper because they’re buying pre-made/frozen stuff at the grocery store, or they just don’t know how to plan properly.
I meal plan around sale items and spend an average of $120/week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two adults. That’s less than $3/meal.
How Wendy’s thinks this will play out: 🤑
How it will actually play out:
"WHY DOES THIS BURGER COST 16.99 WHEN IT COST 6 DOLLARS 20 MINUTES AGO?" "Sir, this is a Wendy's" "Oh okay, well fuck you" [drives off]All they need is for enough people to not want to have wasted that time for nothing to buy it anyway to still make more money.
I actually really like fast food, but I manage my diet pretty closely, so I only have it once a week anyway, and I’d just as soon buy ten frozen burger patties and make the burger myself than pay surge pricing.
I’m not one of the whale customers they’re looking for.
Do whales go to Wendy’s?
This is not something I’ve heard of as someone who also doesn’t bother with fast food. Is this like, higher prices during rush hours or something?
Yep.
