McEconomy of McScale

[candidgamera]

Economy of Scale is the notion that when you buy more of something, you save on the price per unit, because the high quantity allows the manufacturer to compress some of the costs associated with the item. Simple enough.

This notion is the root of one of my all-time favorite jokes, which goes thusly :

Guy One : "You're losing a dollar on every one of these you sell! How do you turn a profit?"
Guy Two : "Volume!"

Anyway. There's an oddity at McDonald's. I present to you Chicken McNugget prices, as observed by me, today:

20 Nuggets - $5.19 - Price Per Nugget : 26 cents.
10 Nuggets - $3.29 (though another spot on the menu had it at $3.49) - Price Per Nugget : 33 cents.
6 Nuggets - $2.59 - Price Per Nugget : 43 cents.

So far, sensible. But here's the quirk :

4 Nuggets - $1.00 - Price Per Nugget : 25 cents.

That makes no frigging sense. Why are the other options even on the menu? No matter how many nuggets you want, it is always better to buy them in units of four. Even if you only want six, buy two units of four and you save money. Does McDonald's really get that many college students at 1AM, coming in stoned and ordering 20 nuggets because they've blitzed themselves beyond the point of being able to multiply by five?

Comments

[jeditigger.livejournal.com]

I've wondered about the McNuggets thing.

[candidgamera.livejournal.com]

I know, this isn't a new thing, it's been that way for as long as I can remember.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

No, I think they get that many people who just don't think about it.

[candidgamera.livejournal.com]

That's my number one beef with my species. 90% of us don't think.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

I think that most of us do think. Just not about the same things. I know I don't think about the price of McNuggets. (Usually because I loathe McDonald's and refuse to eat there) I'm usually thinking about something else.

[candidgamera.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I think a lot of people don't think - particularly, they don't think about what they're doing at the time. The McNuggets thing is just a minor example.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

I'll grant the don't think about what they're doing at the time. Sure. That doesn't mean that they're not thinking. It is very easy to become used to a pattern and not question it because it is the commonplace. There are many things that average people don't think about because they see no need to do so - they have other things to think about.

Ultimately I think it is poor prioritization skills and lack of understanding of causality that gets most people.

[candidgamera.livejournal.com]

I could buy that, particularly the latter.

[steelerdaddy.livejournal.com]

Agreed. The other day, my wife ordered one of their premium chicken sandwiches and a sweet tea. They assumed EVM and gave her the fries, which she really didn't want. What's really funny is that even with the EVM discount, the sweet tea cost $1.45. Had she been clearer, she would have gotten just the sandwich and a sweet tea for $1.

It's why I won't order a happy meal for Tristan, because he HAS all the toddler toys at this point and it's cheaper for me to buy a 4 pc nugget, small fries and give him some of mom's Sweet Tea in the sippy cup or bring juice or milk from home. Then Mom can go refill the cup for free. :)

Parental Poor Skills, gotta love them.

[candidgamera.livejournal.com]

Hey, there's no use throwing money away. Makes sense to me.

[uberdude.livejournal.com]

You ascribe too much intelligence to the average human.

Sorry, I'm in super villain mode today ;)

[fair-witness.livejournal.com]

What, again? ;)

[uberdude.livejournal.com]

It's that kind of month.

[candidgamera.livejournal.com]

That's impossible. ;)