McDonald's Was Built on Cheap. Then It Stopped Being Cheap.

McDonald's built an empire on cheap food. Then a photo of an almost $18 Big Mac meal went viral, low-income customers walked away, and the president of McDonald's USA was replaced. This business documentary follows the decisions behind it: the 1948 design that made fast food cheap, the Dollar Menu, the franchise model that lets owners set their own prices, the 40 percent price rise after 2019, the $5 meal deal, McValue, Extra Value Meals, and the August 2026 quarter that showed sales up but visits down. CHAPTERS 0:00 The $18 Big Mac 2:15 1948: a restaurant built on cheap 3:47 The Dollar Menu 5:16 Who really sets the price 6:12 Prices up 40 percent 8:54 The open letter 11:06 The $5 meal deal and the app 12:37 E. coli, McValue and a bad 2025 16:18 2026: the quarter that cost a job 20:32 Why this is so hard to fix 22:14 What happens next #mcdonalds #business #documentary