A Little Bit of Inconsequentiality
Let’s start this off with some irrelevant ramblings, shall we?
I was in the mood for some fast food for dinner today, so I stopped by Wendy’s on the way home from the office. (If you don’t know what Wendy’s is, I am sad for you. I don’t think they have much of an international presence, though, but they are my favourite major fast food chain.) I got my usual; two 5pc chicken nuggets, small fries, and a small chocolate Frosty. The total rang up to about six dollars, which, considering the quantity of food this actually indicates, got me to thinking.
How do fast food places manage to charge as much for the tasty but cheap and not very large quantity of food that I purchased as it would’ve cost me to get a nice cafe sandwich at Panera? Or a gigantic serving of pancakes at the local diner? Or a six-inch sub and a drink at Subway?
My first thought was that people are willing to pay extra for the convenience of getting their food fast. But, they already have the cost tradeoff from using cheaper ingredients, and places like Subway are of comparable speed.
Could it really just be due to the convenience of the drivethrough…? I swear, modern society is entirely too dependent on cars. I’d take brand recognition into account also, but then you have the lesser-knowns like Wendy’s charging nearly the same prices. Admittedly, McDonald’s is the worst value. Cheap food, terrible preparation, higher prices, and it doesn’t even taste good.
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