The great McNugget caper: McDonald's is ripping you off
Filed under: Bargains, Food, Ripoffs and Scams
We run into McDonald's because it's easy and cheap, and that keeps us from turning on the stove. But did you know that you've also probably been turning off your brain? The Golden Arches is pulling off a little sleight of hand in the way it prices its McNuggets. Like the best optical illusions, the truth has been right before your eyes, but most of us have never noticed it.
Depending on where you live, your nuggets cost a buck if you get them on the Dollar Menu. That's a quarter each. Get 10, and you pay around $4, or 40¢ each. Spring for the whole 20-piece banquet, and the price is more than $7, or 35¢ per bird chunk.
If you really want 20 nuggets (and I must remind you that chickens do not actually produce nuggets in nature), just buy five orders off the Dollar Menu and you can save two bucks. Two bucks! Most of us assume that the larger portion options and set meals are available because they offer economy of scale. Clearly, that's a Kroc.
As soon as I heard about this, I ran to a local Mickey D's to see if the scam was true everywhere. It's not usually easy to piece together, so to speak, because McDonald's obscures any comparison by scattering the available sizes in various locations all over the menu boards. Sometimes, the lower-priced options aren't posted on the menu at all, preventing customers from knowing the price unless they ask the clerk before ordering.
Sure enough, the McDonald's near me offered a better value for the four-piece (45¢) than it did for the six-piece (47¢). At this restaurant, though, the bigger batches did offer a better deal: 36¢ each for the 10-piece or 29¢ each for the gargantuan 20-piece. However, given that the meal-sized six-piecer is probably ordered more often than the four-piecer, I can't help but suspect that my McDonald's is pulling a fast one to wring more money out of the most popular version of the fried dish.
I also checked a local Burger King and a Wendy's. Burger King passed, with nuggets worth about the same however they came. Wendy's, though, was inconclusive. Although it offered a five-piecer for the equivalent of 28¢ each, it wouldn't sell me a 10-piece box unless I bought it as a meal, with fries and a drink.
Jennifer 8. Lee, the octo-named New York Times writer, first noticed the scam. She clearly has an eye for inauthentic menus, having recently published a digestible history of the Americanization of Chinese cuisine.
Come on, Ronald. Am I gonna have to bring a calculator to the counter next time? I can see now why the Hamburglar turned to a life of crime.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
6-10-2009 @ 2:01PM
maudetyler said...
Typical of all fast food "joints" as far as I am concerned. It's just one reason I don't eat at them; and the fact that their food isn't very good comes into play too. Anyone for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?
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6-10-2009 @ 3:22PM
Sae said...
Oh come on, even my favorite stores pull off stuff like this all the time. That is why I am so glad my cell has a calculator; it's always with me! Even JCPenny, where I picked out a shirt I liked in Petites but couldn't find my size. It had been on sale, but when I find my size of the same style in regular, I paid better than $10 more!
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6-10-2009 @ 3:23PM
Annee said...
Give me a break. Are you so stupid that you haven't known for years that you should always compare prices? Sometimes it is cheaper to buy multiple small quantities than the large. HELLO>
Any good mom/shopper could tell you this. I always check this possibility whether buying detergent or chicken nuggets. I hardly think that McD is cheating you. If you are too stupid to add, you are cheating yourself.
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6-10-2009 @ 4:12PM
tvluvmee said...
It aggravates me how all these people who previously had money to burn, keep writing and publishing these articles on their 'revelations' about saving money, when the rest of us have been living this way for years. Tell us something WE don't know and welcome to the real world!
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6-11-2009 @ 9:58AM
pamela said...
I know we have been penny pinching for years. All of a sudden we have company. I think it is funny!!!! Thanks for writing your review.
6-11-2009 @ 10:56AM
MA said...
Love the comment! My friends and I talk about this all the time. We have scrimped and saved and economized all our lives....even those of us with money. Now the rest of the country is realizing how idiotic they have been with their resources.
6-10-2009 @ 4:30PM
R. O'Quinn said...
I think this is a great article. While I have known about this nonsense for years, I think it's important to make this common knowledge, even for folks who don't normally count their pennies.
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6-10-2009 @ 5:04PM
Tammy O said...
What disturbs me more about this story than the price trickery is that so many people actually eat those nasty nuggets. If you cut open a nugget it is unrecognizable. I have two kids and they have only had nuggets once when a friend took them, as I will not buy the nuggets for them. After having them the one time, and only having real chicken other than that, they have never asked to have them again. Thank God!
But beyond that, price calculations are always a good idea. But when sitting in a car with a line of cars behind you sometimes it is hard to take the time to figure it out. Wish we could trust all of them to do the right thing.
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6-10-2009 @ 5:05PM
Matt said...
If you're eating "chicken" nuggets at McDonalds, the price per nugget is the least of your problems...
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6-10-2009 @ 5:10PM
RJ said...
Didn't you just counter your point when you said your local McDonalds has the better deal for bigger batches? 2 cents per piece seems hardly a big deal when comparing the 4 to 6.
You don't offer any evidence that this is actually the case at many McDonalds since the only one you cite actually had better deals.
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6-10-2009 @ 6:57PM
jenn said...
I always order the nuggets off the dollar menu for my teenage son. I can get him more nuggets that way for the same price, give him my drink and fries and have a water for myself with my sandwich. A bigger package doesnt always mean more value - so always check price per unit -even at the grocery store.
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6-10-2009 @ 5:19PM
Ed said...
This is really not news, it marketing. Go to the grocery store and price the larger sizes. I do on a regular basis. On a per ounce/unit basis, virtually everything I check at the grocery store is more expensive in the larger size. To the point where I'm now usually surprised when its cheaper.
Even better, my favorite store puts the ounce/unit price right on the tag for each item so its very easy to see, yet people still shovel the super size into the cart.
That's what makes America great.
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6-10-2009 @ 5:25PM
DCH said...
Reason #456 why I don't go to McDonalds (or any other fast food joint).
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6-10-2009 @ 5:32PM
adven2rous said...
Nice Ray Kroc joke....
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6-10-2009 @ 5:41PM
John said...
Why is this a scam? From my perspective, being able to purchase a four-piece package for far below normal price is a good deal, not a scam. I suppose you think that being able to purchase a new car at $5,000 off and 0% interest is a scam too?
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6-10-2009 @ 7:33PM
brendan said...
i'm pretty sure wendy's lets you buy just the 10 piece nuggets /sandwich without getting a full combo meal. At least every wendy's i've been in has that lower price option in the bottom left corner of the meal display.
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6-10-2009 @ 5:51PM
Brandon said...
Apple Pies at mcdonalds aren't much better...
$0.99 for 1
or
2 for $1.00
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6-10-2009 @ 5:51PM
bobartig said...
I noticed this 11 years ago. I remember distinctly because it was the summer after my freshman year of college, and I was eating super-cheap McDonalds while taking a bunch of math classes over the summer. Coinciding with the summer theatrical release of "Mulan 2", McDonald's did a "mulan meal pack" which worked out to the cheapest way to buy mcnuggets.
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6-10-2009 @ 5:57PM
jonathan said...
Congratulations on passing basic arithmetic. If by scam you mean your lack of ability to calculate prices then no, it's still not a scam.
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6-10-2009 @ 6:20PM
PCDT3 said...
look, screw the price ok. ive seen reports where McDonalds nuggets were the worst food you can put in your body. that bieng said i watched the whole "super size me" documentary and everything. but i love the nuggets the batter and the flavor is stupendous. i dont eat them but maybe once every couple of months.i do not suggest you eat them everyday. but, at the same time they are unique from other places and delicious. just eat them sparingly. there delicious
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