Why Nobody's Eating McDonald's Anymore

This video is made in partnership with my company, Near — hire great talent in Latin America for 60–70% less than US salaries: https://links.girdley.com/near-jul8 Also sponsored by Bedrock Quality of Earnings — financial due diligence for business buyers who want fewer surprises after close. Learn more at https://bedrockqoe.com/ McDonald’s built its empire on affordable, dependable fast food. In this business breakdown, Michael Girdley explains how the company’s U.S. business drifted away from that promise, why franchise economics pushed prices higher, and what happened when its core customer finally pulled back. Get the 2-minute cheat sheet for this video → https://girdley.com/youtube 👇 SUBSCRIBE for more business breakdowns    / @michael-girdley   ------------------------------------------------------------------ ► Get my weekly letter to business owners: essential insights to run, grow, and stay ahead in your business → https://links.girdley.com/newsletter-yt ► For sponsorships or inquiries please reach out to: Contact@girdley.com ► Do you have a hat I should wear in a video? Send it to us: Contact@girdley.com ► Free events on all things small business: https://links.girdley.com/lectures-yt ► Deep dives on businesses for sale:    / @acquisitionsanonymouspodcast   ► Follow me on Twitter/X: https://x.com/girdley ------------------------------------------------------------------ McDonald’s is one of the most powerful restaurant businesses ever built. The company used scale, franchising, and a real-estate-heavy model to create a machine that could grow for decades while keeping a tight grip on its operators. That model made McDonald’s incredibly resilient and turned it into one of the most dominant fast food brands in the world. But this McDonald’s documentary is really about what happened when the company drifted too far from its original value promise. As leadership pushed more risk onto franchisees and costs rose across labor, food, and regulation, local operators had little choice but to raise prices. McDonald’s may not set every menu price directly, but customers still blame the brand when a Big Mac meal starts feeling expensive. The result was predictable. McDonald’s lost ground with the lower-income customer that built the business, while better fast-casual options and chicken chains looked like stronger value for the money. This business breakdown explains why McDonald’s is struggling in America, why people say McDonald’s got too expensive, and how the company ended up stuck between bargain fast food and premium indulgence. It also shows why McDonald’s is not falling apart the way weaker chains do. The real estate moat, international profits, and loyalty economics still give the company options. But if McDonald’s wants to win back its core U.S. customer, it has to rebuild trust around the one thing that made it unstoppable in the first place: affordable food at a reasonable price.