An $18 Big Mac sparked a revolt against high prices. Companies are finally listening

Have you heard the one about the $18 Big Mac? How prices have gotten so out of whack with reality that McDonald’s is now charging as much as TK for a hamburger? It was a symbol of out-of-control corporate greed and price hikes that finally got consumers to say “no” – a revolt that has successfully gotten stores to rethink their sky-high price tags.

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. For years after Covid, fast food chains were bragging on earnings calls about the ease at which they could raise prices without consumers batting much of an eye.