Are California's new minimum wage laws making McDonald's meals unaffordable?
© Rene Ray De La Cruz / USA TODAY NETWORK + © Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
(New York, NY) – Fast food is designed to be served quickly, and it’s supposed to be cheap. While that doesn’t always result in the best meal — or the healthiest — it’s a tried and true formula. It’s a playbook that’s helped McDonald’s become one of the most successful companies in the US. But a TikTok video is going viral and raising eyebrows — as the golden arches are charging $25 for a “deal” in Southern California.
In the video, TikTok user @shannon_montipaya visited McDonald’s in late march. She purchased a 40-piece Chicken McNugget meal, inclusive of two large fries, for $27 (with tax included). During the video, the user asked “you couldn’t even throw in a Sprite?”, in exasperated fashion.
A recent study from FinanceBuzz, as diagrammed in the New York Post, shows McDonald’s prices have risen 100% since 2014. But that hasn’t stopped some from speculating if this less-than-thrifty “deal” is a result of a recent change to California’s minimum wage laws. All workers must be paid at least $20 per hour, up from the previous standard of $16. A sampling of the video’s comments include: “20 minimum wage…..welcome to your new normal,” while a separate note read: “Welcome to California.” And someone in Florida countered they can get 50 nuggets for $15.
