Remember when we used to go to fast food because it was a cheaper, faster option?! Fast food companies never had the appeal of being the tastier option — unless your cooking skills are a hazard to yourself and others. It was always about the immediate turnaround in how you got your food. Now sit-down restaurants are trying to take advantage of the frustrating fast food experience.
Chili's and Applebees are desperately flailing to get you to spend with them instead. The CEO of Applebee's parent company Dine Brands, John Peyton spoke with CNN to try and get his sales pitch out to the masses. "You can get our burger for $9.99," he explains, "Why would you take a $10 burger ... that you can eat in a bag out of your car?"
For a minute, it sounded good. In my head, the Chili's and Applebee's ambiance is the sell. It's also what made many look at these sit-down restaurants as a special treat vs a consistent, reliable option.
Fast Food Really Wants You to Come Back
But let's be honest for a second. Look past the CEO trying to grift the consumers once again and consider the details he conveniently leaves out. Sure, you're being served and pampered by a server but you're also tipping the server. There is no drive-thru option so it's planted in your mind that you have to stay. That $10 burger can easily escalate to $30 if you let them.
What they don't tell you is that they're hiding all the cheap deals on their mobile apps. But even that option is being cracked down by these companies. I used to have a deal with McDonald's that gave me 20 chicken nuggets and 2 medium fries for roughly $8. It would feed me so often when I was broke. Now it's gone.
Speaking of McDonald's, they are scraping the barrel to try and get back on consumers' good side. According to CBS News, the fast food giant is attempting to roll out a $5 meal to recover from their economic hit.
It's clear they're trying to take what worked for Wendy's and give it its own spin. Maybe you get a double cheeseburger or a McChicken. Maybe you get a kid's meal-size fry and drink. You might even get lucky and they pity you with 4 chicken nuggets. They will do all of this just to take it away from you just like Wendy's did.
These places are trying to rob us of even the smallest conveniences. The jig is up, guys.
