r/interestingasfuck • u/Charming_History7423 • 12d ago

/r/all McDonald's in the 80s compared to today

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u/Wookie301 12d ago

The burgers tasted better back then too

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u/JorisGeorge 12d ago

Prices were also more Fastfood Chain worthy.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

[deleted]

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u/haberdasherhero 12d ago

Just using inflation is deceptive.

A big Mac in 1980 costs 33% of what you'd make in an hour at minimum wage.

In 2025 a big mac costs 78% of what you'll make in an hour at minimum wage.

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u/rangebob 12d ago

that's just as deceptive because it's going to be different in every country (or state)

Where I live a big mac costs about 23% of the hourly minimum wage

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u/haberdasherhero 12d ago

Definitely not "just as deceptive". My comparison is far more reflective of the fact that purchasing power has decreased dramatically over the last half a century even though the cost of goods, adjusted for inflation, has not changed much.

Your last statement is more reflective of a statistic called "real personal income" in your specific state, which is wages compared against a bread basket of goods, calculated across each state, and then ranked by purchasing power compared to the median. Some states are far better than average, and it sounds like you are in one of those states.

You are certainly correct in your statement that if we wanted a better comparison, we would have to do an income and expense comparison for every state, both for 1980 and 2025. Which, if you'd like to do, I'd love to see the results at such a fine-grained detail.

You'll find the numbers you get are closer to my comparison than to yours though.

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u/geoooleooo 12d ago

I live on the hood so fast food is dirt cheap. I swear they give us the worse quality foods. When i lived in the burbs McDonald's tasted way better. I can get 2 big macs for 6 bucks but in the burbs they dont do any deals. Same thing for Wendy's burbs dont do biggie bags.

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u/No-Neat2520 11d ago

It's not deceptive, it's proof wages haven't increased.

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u/JorisGeorge 12d ago

ChatGPT is not a reliable source. Or only reliable if you check how it ChatGPT got it from its sources. McDonald’s was way cheaper compared to a diner for US or in Europe a bit more expensive than the snack bars. That is no longer the case. Diners are even cheaper in some cases and snack bars are now way cheaper.

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u/No-Neat2520 11d ago

McDonald’s was way cheaper compared to a diner for US

And it still is.

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u/Designer_Situation85 12d ago

I did check the sources and used an interest calculator.

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u/Zephyr_Dragon49 12d ago

Chat also once told me that 3.1 was less than 2.5