A viral social media video about a $25 McDonald’s “deal” recently sparked an online debate about California’s minimum wage increase.
A TikTok user who posts videos under the username @shannon_montipaya shared the video on Mar. 27.
She was in the drive-thru of a Southern California McDonald’s location when she saw a sign for a 40-piece Chicken McNugget meal deal, which also included two large fries.
The price of the meal bundle was $25.39 – including sales tax, it would come to roughly $27.
In the video, the social media user lamented that the meal didn’t even include a drink.
“Okay, so it’s $25.39 for 40-piece nuggets and two large fries,” she said.
“You couldn’t even throw in the Sprite?”
“You couldn’t even throw in, like, a medium Sprite in there? Holy crap.”
While the meal is designed to serve four people, it demonstrates how prices at the fast food chain have risen over the years.
A recent study by FinanceBuzz found that McDonald’s prices have increased by 100% since 2014.
Ten years ago, the average price of a 10-piece McNugget meal was $5.99 – now the meal usually goes for $10.99.
The video ended up amassing 2 million views, bringing thousands of TikTok users to its comments section – many of whom were nostalgic about past McDonald’s prices.
“Remember when 40 pieces nuggets was $5 and a large drink was $1,” one comment read.
“The managers special used to be 40 nuggets, a gallon of tea, and a LG fry for like 20 dollars SMH,” another said.
“I spent $48 there yesterday…my jaw on the floor,” a third commenter wrote.
Inevitably, some social media users pointed to the recent legislation in California that increased the minimum wage for fast food workers from $16 to $20.
“20 minimum wage…..welcome to your new normal,” one person said.
“Welcome to California,” another chimed in.
Other users shared their local McDonald’s prices – and very few came close to being as high as California’s.
“50 nuggets here is 15 [dollars],” one Florida resident said.
