Earlier this week, righteous hullabaloo was raised over the claim that Wendy’s, the beloved fast-food chain, was going to introduce surge pricing across its locations in 2025.
An article published by Food & Wine announced that “Wendy’s Is Introducing Uber-Style Surge Pricing.” The piece insinuated that Wendy’s, like Uber, would raise prices when demand was high and lower them as demand decreased. Prices would be determined by algorithmic software connected to newly installed digital menuboards. In other words, a burger would cost more during the lunch rush than, say, in the middle of a midafternoon lull.
The American people swiftly fell into ranks and took to the internet to voice their displeasure at the prospect of fresh-never-frozen price gouging. Immediately, jokes were made about fast-food arbitrage — Baconator brokers would buy low and sell high, hoarding burgers in their fridges during the day. Ronny Chieng at the Daily Show snorted salt packets in mock preparation for the impending Frosty market. Burger King jumped in to kick Wendy while she was down, remarking that “the only thing surging at BK is our flame!”
Wendy’s was quick to correct the “surge pricing” claim, insisting that they planned only to install digital menuboards that would allow for contextual discounts via dynamic pricing. Wendy’s asserted that they did not intend to increase the cost of menu items at peak times but rather use the technology to offer discounts during sparse hours.
We have no plans to [raise prices] and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most. . . . Digital menuboards could allow us to change the menu offerings at different times of day and offer discounts and value offers to our customers more easily, particularly in the slower times of day.
The immense pushback to from Wendy’s stalwarts across the country to the alleged “surge pricing” plan underscores what makes fast food a modern marvel. The streamlined sourcing of ingredients, the on-site efficiency of staff, and the pared-down menu offerings allowed customers to buy meals of happiness for staggeringly low prices.
The menu — and the low prices — remained consistent. This was the draw of the whole operation. Foods such as chocolate shakes and cheeseburgers were luxury items before the dawn of fast food. In recent memory, one could still order a burger in the U.S. for just a buck.
Ironically, Wendy’s was the first major fast-food chain to introduce a dollar menu, via the Super Value Meal.
Wendy’s took charge with their Super Value Meal back in 1989 — a full thirteen years before Micky D’s followed suit. Wendy’s Super Value Meal, featuring nine different items priced at $.99 each, was an early innovator in the value menu space.
What happened to the dollar menu, anyhow? These days, just about the only item available for $1 at a fast-food restaurant is a 15-calorie pouch of Calcium Ascorbate–coated apple slices at McDonald’s. Even a small soft drink purchased beneath the Golden Arches rings up at $1.29 — or higher.
Over the past two decades, a hike in commodity prices (a euphemism for the raw materials, such as ground beef and seed oils, needed to make your delicious Happy Meal) has resulted in pricier and pricier fast-food offerings. For example, the price of beef has nearly tripled since 2000. Since 2020 alone, the price of beef has surged 20 percent because of rising costs inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic and protocols and a nationwide cattle shortage.
In addition to growing commodity costs, labor costs have surged. California’s latest push to set the minimum wage at $20 will undoubtedly annihilate any vestiges of a dollar menu in the state. (But hey, maybe Panera Bread will swoop in and offer their own, competing discount menu. I’m not even mad about their corrupt exemption from the minimum-wage law. You haven’t lived until you’ve had chicken wild-rice soup in a bread bowl at Panera.)
Chains such as Chick-fil-A — which understand the ethos of fast food — have thrived, while others that have turned away from the tried-and-true model of simplicity, efficiency, and service have struggled.
Seed-oil naysayers be damned. Fast food is a great American invention, and it shall live on.