“$5 MEAL DEAL!” screams a sign outside a McDonald’s, just off Interstate Highway 49 in north-west Arkansas.
The message is a new special offer that McDonald’s launched across the US in late June. Consisting of a carton of four Chicken McNuggets, a sack of fries, a cold drink and the option of a double burger or a chicken sandwich, it makes a filling if somewhat oily lunch.
McDonald’s executives hope it provides something else: a reason for reluctant customers to return. “We must act with conviction, with purpose and with urgency on value, pricing and affordability,” the company told US franchisees and employees this week in a memo viewed by the Financial Times, noting that a goal of the $5 Meal Deal was to “reverse our guest count momentum”.