McDonalds New "Bribe" Menu Makes Cheap Food the New Luxury...

“If they get diabetes, they get diabetes” - McDonalds

McDonald’s is kicking off 2025 by bringing back something it knows everyone loves: cheap food. On January 7, the Golden Arches will roll out its new McValue menu—a big, bold play to remind everyone that splurging on high-cholesterol food doesn’t have to feel like you’re refinancing your car. 

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What’s more is that this is not just a rehash of old deals, either. McDonald’s is pushing hard with options like the $5 Meal Deal and a Buy One, Add One for $1 offer. According to McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger, the goal is to let customers “define value on their own terms.” Translation: If you value obesity for cheap, have at it friends. 

(Source: CNN_ 

Now, with that said, before most of you roll your eyes at yet another “value menu”, this is a classic McDonalds move—throw some cheap meals at the wall and hope people stop complaining about the price of a Big Mac. But this time, it might actually stick. 

Why? Well because the $5 Meal Deal is back—again. First re-introduced in mid-2024, the deal features your choice of a McDouble or McChicken, four Chicken McNuggets, small fries, and a small drink. All for five bucks. That’s about 4-5x less than the grocery bill I get to make one meal for a family of four. And with this $5 spot, I can essentially feed two mouths. Aka my kids. 

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So basically, it’s justifyingly cheaper to eat McDonalds these days than to buy groceries. And Ronald and the Gang understand this. They know inflation has made even “value menus” sound like a joke, so the $5 Meal Deal is a way to win back customers who want a meal that’s cheap but still feels like, well, a meal.. 

In addition, the other big play on the McValue menu is the Buy One, Add One for $1 deal. It’s simple: buy a menu item at full price, tack on a second one for just a buck. Breakfast options include staples like the Sausage McMuffin, Sausage Biscuit, or even a Hashbrown. For lunch and dinner, you’ve got classics like the McChicken, small fries, or Chicken McNuggets.

(Source: McDonalds) 

What makes this deal interesting (if not dangerous) is the flexibility. Want to add nuggets to your breakfast order? Go for it. Craving fries with your McChicken? Done. It’s cheap, customizable, and doesn’t make you feel like you’re selling a kidney just to eat. Meaning this is 100% a calculated move by Micky D’s. Especially since the fast-food industry as a whole has basically turned into a value war. Chains like Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and even Popeyes are all fighting for the same budget-conscious diners.

But McDonalds is apparently playing this game differently. Instead of tossing out random discounts like a clearance rack at Target, they’re building an actual plan. The McValue menu is a unified, nationwide effort to win back the bargain hunters, but with enough flexibility for local franchises to tweak deals as needed. Cory Watson, McDonald’s 2025 National Value Chair summed it up: “We have great value for everyone, whether you’re a party of one or feeding the whole family.”

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Which in reality, is a smart play, especially since McDonald’s hasn’t exactly had a banner year. Between an E. coli outbreak tied to its mysterious onion fiasco and a dip in customer traffic, the company needs all the help it can get. Not to mention the fact that McDonalds has seen its prices balloon by 40% over the past five years–where unfortunately, the company has started to feel out of reach for many, and the McValue menu is clearly an attempt to fix that.

Now with that said, is this the magic bullet McDonald’s needs to fend off its competitors and make everyone forget about inflation and their onion clusterf**k? Maybe. The $5 Meal Deal and Buy One, Add One for $1 are solid plays, and the focus on app-exclusive deals is smart. But the real question is whether customers will buy into the idea that McDonald’s is “affordable” again after years of watching prices creep higher and higher.

(Source: Giphy) 

For now, the McValue menu is a step in the right direction. Whether it’s enough to fend off Taco Bell’s stoner-friendly $2 burritos or Wendy’s relentless 4 for $4 deal remains to be seen. But hey, if you can get a Double Cheeseburger and nuggets for $6, maybe that’s all McDonald’s really needs to do. Sometimes, cheap food solves everything. Or at least makes you forget about the rest for a while.

In the meantime, keep an eye on McDonalds as their new menu shuffle catches steam (or not). And as always, stay safe and stay frosty friends! Until next time…

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Stocks.News holds positions in McDonalds as mentioned in the article.