Current:Home > Stocks$25 McDonald's bundle in viral video draws blame for California minimum wage hike -Capitatum
$25 McDonald's bundle in viral video draws blame for California minimum wage hike
View
Date:2025-04-14 23:12:39
A fast food run ain't what it used to be.
A TikTok video of a customer complaining about the price of a $25 deal at a California McDonald's has sparked blame for the state's latest minimum wage increase for fast food workers.
Since going into effect on April 1, the law requires chains with 60 or more restaurants nationwide to offer workers a $20 an hour starting wage, up from the previous $16 standard.
The viral video shows the frustrated customer at a Southern California drive-thru venting as she calls the price of the "40-piece chicken McNuggets bundle" absurd. The combo comes with four containers of 10 piece nuggets and two large fries for $25.39 plus a sales tax, which she calls "McFlation."
"OK, so it's $25.39 for 40-piece nuggets and two large fries," the customer said in the video. "You couldn't even throw in a medium Sprite in there? Holy crap."
McDonald's $12 dinner box:Woman goes viral with hack that feeds family of 5. Can you get one?
Price was higher than SoCal average, McDonald's says
The video's comment section opened a forum for many to blame California's new law for the menu price soar.
However, the price in the TikTok video is higher than the average cost of the 40-piece chicken McNuggets bundle at Southern California locations, according to McDonald's. Prices vary by restaurant and are at the discretion of local franchisees.
A Finance Buzz report found that McDonald’s menu prices have doubled since 2014 across popular items more than any other of the analyzed chains including Starbucks, Taco Bell and Wendy's.
Between 2014 and 2024, the analyzed chains raised prices by 60%, nearly double the national inflation rate, according to the report. McDonald's raised the average menu prices more than three times the national rate.
Fast Act opens way for more fast food regulations
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Assembly Bill 1228 raising the minimum wage back in September. The bill also established a council to develop rules and regulations for the fast food industry.
At a November conference call, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company would increase prices to offset the wage increases, as well as cut restaurant costs and improve productivity.
"There will certainly be a hit in the short-term to franchisee cash flow in California," Kempczinski said. 'Tough to know exactly what that hit will be because of some of the mitigation efforts. But there will be a hit."
Kempczinski's salary and bonus package was $19.2 million in 2023, Restaurant Business Magazine reported. Federal securities filings showed that's an 8% increase from 2022.
The company's fourth-quarter net income in 2023 was $2.04 billion, up from $1.9 billion a year earlier, according to reporting by CNBC.
Other chains such as Chipotle also announced menu price raises shortly after the California bill's signing.
Higher prices worth supporting low income people, expert says
While minimum wage increases do lead to higher fast food item costs, the conversation should be about whether they benefit low income people, according to Chris Tilly, a professor who studies labor markets, inequality and public policies at the University of California, Los Angeles.
"The big critique of minimum wages is ultimately it's a job killer that it hurts the people that you're trying to help," he told USA TODAY on Thursday. "But the findings really for the last 30 years or so have said actually the minimum wage has been low enough that we haven't seen those effects."
He urged people to reframe their perspective and said that rising prices at chains like McDonald's can economically hurt people on the lower end of the income spectrum but minimum wage increases should not bear that burden.
He recommended addressing other core issues in the state like housing affordability and labor market barriers.
"We do have to think about how to help people," he said. "But to do that by hurting other low income people doesn't seem like the right strategy to me."
Contributing: Sara Chernikoff
veryGood! (27)
Related
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- New York to study reparations for slavery, possible direct payments to Black residents
- Ex-New York Giants running back Derrick Ward arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of robbery
- Feds raided Rudy Giuliani’s home and office in 2021 over Ukraine suspicions, unsealed papers show
- Vance jokes he’s checking out his future VP plane while overlapping with Harris at Wisconsin airport
- Filmmakers call on Iranian authorities to drop charges against 2 movie directors
- Top French TV personality faces preliminary charge of rape: What to know
- Derek Hough reveals wife Hayley Erbert will have skull surgery following craniectomy
- Olympic women's basketball bracket: Schedule, results, Team USA's path to gold
- Fact-checking 'Maestro': What's real, what's 'fudged' in Netflix's Leonard Bernstein film
Ranking
- 'Meet me at the gate': Watch as widow scatters husband's ashes, BASE jumps into canyon
- Did you know 'Hook' was once a musical? Now you can hear the movie's long-lost songs
- Why Kristin Cavallari Says She Cut Her Narcissist Dad Out of Her Life
- Lawsuit alleges Wisconsin Bar Association minority program is unconstitutional
- Taylor Swift Cancels Austria Concerts After Confirmation of Planned Terrorist Attack
- Choking smog lands Sarajevo at top of Swiss index of most polluted cities for 2nd straight day
- New 'Washington Post' CEO accused of Murdoch tabloid hacking cover-up
- Billy Crystal makes first trip back to Katz's Deli from 'When Harry Met Sally' scene
Recommendation
Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
News helicopter crashes in New Jersey, killing pilot and photographer, TV station says
Jury convicts boy and girl in England of murdering transgender teenager in frenzied knife attack
Christian group and family raise outcry over detention of another ‘house church’ elder in China
The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
If You Don’t Have Time for Holiday Shopping, These Gift Cards Are Great Last-Minute Presents
How the markets and the economy surprised investors and economists in 2023, by the numbers
Mother of a child punished by a court for urinating in public refuses to sign probation terms