If you thought the idea and quick discrediting of the Wendy’s price surge idea by their CEO, Kirk Tanner, was the last time you’ll hear about this then you’re sorely mistaken. Wendy’s price surge or dynamic pricing was put out there to test the waters and while the waters were downright hostile, don’t think fast food restaurants like Wendy’s aren’t trying to cook up new ways to squeeze every cent out of their customers. All they care about is jacking up the prices so they can enjoy the profits with their shareholders.
The Wendy’s price surge idea was based on what Uber does to it’s pricing when there is a lot of demand, it jacks up the prices. Concerts, sporting events etc. Uber will raise the price of their fares and use the excuse that it is a high demand time to jack up their rates.
Wendy’s was the first fast food company to publicly toy with the notion of “dynamic pricing” but I can almost guarantee that every other fast food chain has thought about it or some other way to continue to raise prices on their customers. Capitalism at it’s finest. Overcharge everything in the name of profits.
There was a slight breeze, well guess he have to raise our prices and say the breeze was the reason for supply chain issues.
Wendy’s use to have the 4 for $4. Now the “Biggie deal” is $7. The dollar menu has been replaced with food items for under $5.
And don’t think it’s Wendy’s who have begun the full onslaught of the price gouging on their customers. Every fast food chain has raise their prices and justifying them with phantom excuses.
Fast food use to be about quick turnarounds and affordability. Both have flown out the door.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said recently after their quarterly revenues were disclosed, “From an industry standpoint, we actually saw that cohort decrease in the most recent quarter, as eating at home has become much more affordable.”
When your target customer base is the lower middle class and below and they’re stop going to your restaurants because it’s cheaper to buy groceries and eat at home then you’re about to have a huge problem. Now your product is exclusively made for the upper class and do you think those types of people fancy themselves galivanting about with lower classes of people? Oh the audacity.
The prices at these fast food restaurants are so obscene that Kellog’s CEO, Gary Pilnick, made a comment that the poor should eat cereal for dinner. Well specifically their brands of cereal. These CEO’s are so out of touch is embarrassing. What Gary Pilnick was basically saying was the equivalent of Marie Antoinette saying before she was executed, “Let them eat cake.”
If these fast food CEOs lose their target demographic because of the exuberant prices of their paltry products do they really believe that the ultra rich are going to slum it and eat their fast food? Do you think you will see little Margo and Todd playing in the dirty ball pit at Chic-fil-a or going down the Grimace slide? They’re not going to dirty their Chanel or Balenciaga at a fast food restaurant.
I know it’s the cool and in thing to raise the prices of everything and blame phantom reasoning, but how long do you think that business model is going to last you? How long before franchises start closing up because no one goes them? And I’m still trying to figure out how the hell Arby’s is still open when their parking lots are as empty as the morals and values of these fast food CEOs.
Don’t think that the idea of Wendy’s price surge or dynamic pricing is dead and buried. These companies will now just find other ways to raise their profits by raising the prices on their most loyal customers. Just like good ‘ol American way of putting profits over people all in the name of capitalism.
Photo by Batu Gezer on Unsplash
