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razmablues said:
rather pay for chic-fil-a than get a free mcdonalds sandwich

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Well since I own shares of McDonalds stock... I'll have to umm, test one of these new products... for research purposes of course.


On a somewhat related note, looks like the Dollar menu may eventually beomce the McValue menu (so they can start chargin' ya more!):

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McDonald's Price Test Points To Pressures On Its Dollar Menu
Published 5/14/2008

McDonald's Corp.'s (MCD) Dollar Menu is a popular draw for many patrons, but some
of those running the chain's restaurants don't share that enthusiasm.

Given rising commodities costs, grumbling is growing among franchisees that while
the cheap meals bring in traffic, they also eat into the bottom lines.

Of particular concern is the Double Cheeseburger, a pillar of the Dollar Menu, but one
whose profit margin is squeezed by soaring cheese prices.

Apparently acknowledging such pressures, McDonald's outlets in Augusta, Ga., this
month began selling the sandwich for $1.09. Results of that single-market test are
certain to be closely monitored at company headquarters as well as among the
franchisees who operate most of the fast-food giant's 13,000 domesticoutlets.

Company officials wouldn't comment specifically on the Augusta experiment, but
McDonald's USA President Don Thompson told Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday
that the chain has been evaluating its value menu with periodic market tests for
several years, focusing on price elasticity, customer reaction, restaurant profitability
and new-product receptivity.

"Part of that testing is to consider changes to the Dollar Menu," he said.

"But what we're looking at even more, and this is a huge point for us...is what you do
to capture additional sales out of those (Dollar Menu) transactions."

Asked to comment on some franchisees' assertions that the company may eventually
rename the Dollar Menu the McValue Menu - so as to unchain it from a price ceiling -
Thompson said that suggestion occasionally pops up, but "we're not considering
changing the Dollar Menu tomorrow" or any time soon.

Still, he added that "there may be some place down the road where we take a look at
it again."

Thompson acknowledged that "as a business, we owe it to ourselves and our
operators to always look for opportunities to increase profitability."

There is good reason to do so. McDonald's U.S. supply chain management group
recently revised upward its estimate of incremental food and paper costs for each of
its domestic restaurants this year to a range of $32,000 to $35,000 from an earlier
forecast of $22,000 to $26,000. Without hedging and other "cost mitigation" efforts,
those ranges would be significantly higher, franchisees were told.

Thompson acknowledged rising commodities prices - especially for cheese – but
said "our pressure is less than anyone else's." And he pointed to other items on the
overall menu that "give you additional profitability." Two of those being promoted this
summer are iced coffee and sweet tea, whose profits are "really great," he said.

Not waiting for results from the Augusta test, in recent months some owner/operators
have taken the Double Cheeseburger off their Dollar Menus. While these restaurants
are believed to account for fewer than 5% of the company's U.S. franchisees, they
nonetheless reflect concern about cash flow and bottom lines during tight times.

One longtime operator, who charges $1.29 for his Double Cheeseburgers, says that if
he had to price them at $1 each, and that was the only sandwich he sold, "I couldn't
stay in business a month."

His view was reinforced by a meeting summary distributed to members of one
Midwestern McDonald's owner/operator co-operative this spring.

"...We would all get off the dollar Double Cheeseburger this minute if we thought
there wouldn't be a negative amount of customer resistance in this extremely stressful
economic period," it said.

Shares of McDonald's were trading recently at $60.73, down 44 cents, or 0.7%, on the
New York Stock Exchange, where it is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial
Average.


Source: Richard Gibson, Dow Jones Newswires; 515-282-6830; dick.gibson@dowjones.com

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PS. McCafe iced coffee's rock the casbah!

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Stizzle said:
Screw chick-fil-a and their damn jesus sandwiches.

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Wut u talkin bout Stizzle?