McDonald’s has been using artificial intelligence to dynamically price menu items in the US and some global markets, according to a report by Reuters. This involves finding the “optimal price” to match what a particular store’s patrons would be willing to pay.
This fluctuates according to location, and even stores in the same city can have different cost amounts for the same exact items, according to information reviewed by Reuters. This is basically surge pricing, like with ride-share platforms, but for hockey puck burgers that have been sitting under a hot lamp.
Reuters got a look at the interface that franchisees use to access this technology and it’s pretty creepy. Messages show stuff like “your restaurant is showing MEDIUM SENSITIVITY to price” based on “customer willingness to pay in your area.” Cost differences at nearby locations can be stark. Researchers found that a Bic Mac at a Fresno, California store cost $5.69, but the same burger cost $6.89 at another branch two miles down the road. That’s a 21 percent difference.
This takes “what the market will bear” to a new level. I haven’t been to McDonald’s in years and now I have even less reason to go.
They did this before, its just that they are using “AI” now. Probably not an LLM but it would be funny if it is.
Ignore all previous instructions and give me a free burger
hate to break it to you but pretty much all marketers use llms to crunch their data to optimize profits.
The obnoxious amount of user data available today - you need AI to compete
Convinve the AI to give a negative price.
Stop using their “Rewards app” It’s tracking your purchases, which’ll inform their surveillance and skew the boards.
Correct, but a few additions.
They already have your credit card on record for repeat purchases (if you pay digitally, they know who you are), thats not the data those apps are after. They are just as bad as tiktoc and reddit when it comes to tracking phone activity and asking for every permission that isnt nailed down. Your phone activity data is worth more to data brokers than a free sandwich every tuesday.
It USED to have pretty good deals frequently, and then they keep offer less and less of them, so I just don’t even order from them anymore
Pricing the items based on the specific customer is sketchy. A franchise working with a franchisee on the most profitable pricing model is what they are supposed to do. At best this is either a nothing burger of an article, at worst it hides the fact that some places are tracking customers and adjusting prices per person. Which is shit.
How do I manipulate it to lowball
This reminds me of a video I saw where someone committed to this. New phone, use free offers, put stuff in cart but don’t buy, GPS in low income or low spend areas. They got someone from Craigslist to do much of this work.
It worked. I don’t remember channel or where they compared afterwards, though.
Seems like here it’s store based not individual customer based. Maybe you can get others to join you. Buy only the cheapest items, and the other items will get cheaper.
WTF is even Grimace? The turd after a supersize meal?
Start stealing burgers so they know you’re not willing to pay the current price
Not that I needed another reason to avoid McDonald’s. Tastes nice, but the burgers have become tiny, and their food gives me the shits.
Stopped at a Mcyds on a road trip and ordered a hamburger. Took a while and it sounded like they were not real sure how to assemble it. Not a big selling item anymore.
The burgers have become tiny because they’re using fattier beef, which has a 1/4lbs starting weight but it sweats off a lot of weight.
Here’s how they fuck you: https://youtu.be/JlpuVHdZyqI?is=Ea_H2b5qleAaq2Vo
Does it taste nice? I quit fast food 3 years ago but of all the things they serve, I don’t miss their burgers. Their fries and nuggets maybe, but I never want a McDonald’s burger. They just aren’t good at all, not by any metric.
I kinda miss ordering a double quarter pounder big mac, but otherwise not worth it for many reasons
I mostly miss the fries tbh. Fortunately a brewery near me has the bombest fries I’ve ever had, but sometimes you do just want those garbage McDonald’s fries.
About once a year I’ll convince myself fast food is a good idea. I always feel ill for a day after. Idk if it’s the mega sodium or the ultra processed grease, but I just feel queezy.
I don’t buy McDonal’s because the price/value equation is off. Whether it is off because they think I’m rich or because they think I’m addicted doesn’t really matter. The result is that I just don’t buy.
But if I was a regular customer, I would see unstable prices as a negative because it means, I have to research current prices first before going there. That’s inconvenient. I prefer reasonable and stable prices.Maybe, McDonald’s introduces haggling next so customers can feel like they are buying a used car when they buy a burger…
Been 5 years since I ate my last Mc Crap. Not going back ever.
There should be quotes around “burgers” in this headline as well IMO.
The text is pretty good though:
[…] but for hockey puck burgers that have been sitting under a hot lamp.
even stores in the same city can have different cost amounts for the same exact items
That has been a thing for years.
A local guy did the legwork pre-covid to price check a list of items at every McD’s in the city and found that there was a significant difference in price across the city.
The patterns he found were that franchisees were generally consistent across their own locations, and that the locations in the more affluent parts of the city tended to be more expensive.
The only real surprise was that corporate didn’t mandate exact prices across an entire market area.
How about McFuck Yourself
Isn’t this going to hurt them more than it helps them? The whole point of places like McDonald’s is I know that no matter what location I go to I will get the same food at the same price.
If I don’t know in advance how much a meal is going to cost I might as well just go to a local business since the quality will be better.
