JFC I didn't even notice the x axis at first glance.

The time line doesn't matter since it is only comparing different brands to inflation, not against time. You could stretch the graph but the comparison will stay the same.

2014 is just chosen as a starting point. Most probably because the info was readily available. You can make the same graph starting from any point in time and the conclusion of the graph wouldn't change.

I guess just because it's 10 years difference?

I was talking with a coworker the other day and they were talking about how raising minimum wage causes inflation because businesses will raise prices to offset to rise in labor costs. I asked if he thought inflation had gotten bad in the past 5ish years in particular. He said of course. I said well federal minimum wage hasn't risen since 2009, which was 15 years ago, so it sounds like inflation is gonna happen regardless of wages and is based on the capitalistic goal of infinite growth, so maybe we should raise minimum wage so lower income people have a shot at affording basic necessities.

He just said no, then inflation just would've been worse. It's maddening.

Actually, this graph does display the % average wage increase!

It’s the line where the x axis is.

This companies are able to generate billions in profit every quarter, let alone every year. They have also been reporting record breaking profits quarter after quarter for the past several years. I'm pretty sure the 17 y/o Burger flippers aren't the problem here.

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/gross-profit

• McDonald's gross profit for the quarter ending March 31, 2024 was $3.439B, a 3.77% increase year-over-year.
• McDonald's gross profit for the twelve months ending March 31, 2024 was $14.688B, a 9.03% increase year-over-year.
• McDonald's annual gross profit for 2023 was $14.563B, a 10.26% increase from 2022.
• McDonald's annual gross profit for 2022 was $13.207B, a 4.98% increase from 2021.
• McDonald's annual gross profit for 2021 was $12.58B, a 29% increase from 2020.

[1]Average franchise profitability at Burger King rose nearly +50% last year (2023) compared to 2022

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/SBUX/starbucks/gross-profit

• Starbucks gross profit for the quarter ending March 31, 2024 was $5.914B, a 0.06% decline year-over-year.
• Starbucks gross profit for the twelve months ending March 31, 2024 was $25.104B, a 8.86% increase year-over-year.
• Starbucks annual gross profit for 2023 was $24.567B, a 12.01% increase from 2022.
• Starbucks annual gross profit for 2022 was $21.933B, a 7.93% increase from 2021.
• Starbucks annual gross profit for 2021 was $20.322B, a 28.43% increase from 2020.

It's the black line on the bottom

It’s garbage food.

It's quick, convenient, and explicitly designed to rub all the right parts of your palette. Besides, the worst part of the fast food menu is the soda and fries. The rest of the meal is marginal.

Realisticly it’s always been the worst and often most expensive choice.

Its consistently worse than home cooking. But not everyone has the luxury of a functional kitchen or a stocked fridge or the time to prepare the meal. And as to "most expensive"... hardly. I remember getting Chipotle on campus, when a burrito was $8 and came in at around 1000 calories. Very hard to name another restaurant that offered that kind of value, speed, and convenience.

A lot of what fast food restaurants are banking on today is this over-reliance on their convenience making them an inelastic good. No more home economics classes, teaching young people how to cook. Lots of gig work means people are always on the road. Lots of people living alone. Lots of shitty apartments where major appliances simply don't work.

You're stuck, dude. Now give me $15 for a sandwich.

I'm lucky that I live in a town with about 2 billion taco trucks that are all insanely better and cheaper than Taco Bell. Plus, Taco Bell tastes like a Midwestern white lady's version of Mexican food, which made it easy to avoid even when it wasn't so expensive.

Yeah, look at the x axis labels. 5 years, 2 years, and 3 years. WTF?

I'm definitely weary of posts like this with no data backup. Also what is "actual inflation"? Wouldn't that be like average inflation across all goods? Doesn't inflation affect certain markets differently?

I have found the article here: https://financebuzz.com/fast-food-prices-vs-inflation

At work so I can’t read it atm, but I’m interested to hear your conclusion later