Pop quiz: How much does a Big Mac, fries and a fountain beverage – also known as a Big Mac combo meal – cost?
Many people believe it’s an astounding $18 after a post on X of McDonald’s menu prices at a rest stop in Connecticut went viral and made national headlines. (Narrator voice: It’s not.)
Now, almost a year after the post, a top McDonald’s executive wants to set the record straight. In a recent letter, Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, said $18 for a Big Mac combo was the “exception” and not the norm across all 13,700 restaurants in the country.
The thing is: It doesn’t really matter that virtually no one is paying anything close to $18 for a Big Mac combo.
(On average, it actually costs $9.29, per a fact sheet McDonald’s put out along with the letter.) What matters is that the post struck a nerve with an army of people who are fed up with what fast food costs these days.
Erlinger is clearly taking note. A few weeks after publishing the letter the company announced a $5 value menu. But make no mistake — the timing isn’t a coincidence.
