Did you check the prices, or did you look at a photo of a menu board? I checked the McDonald’s app for a pickup order in my city of 100k in a lcol area just now.
Quarter pounder with Cheese: $5.09
Large Fry: $4.29
The prices in the app are lower than if you actually order in store. Specials and coupons are only offered through the apps now. Actual store prices can be seen on the delivery apps or by just going to a store. You can't actually order online through McDonald's directly because they are trying to force the app on you.
But who actually wants the hassle of having an app for McD, BK, Subway, and other garbage where you're trading your data away, and giving everyday advertising space on your phone, for food that doesn't even taste good for a slight discount.
I think a big difference for low-income people is the cheaper end of the menu.
McDonald's (UK) has a hamburger for £1.19, or even a bacon double cheeseburger for £2.89. A happy meal is £3.89. You could reasonably feed the whole family for £20.
Five Guys (UK) charge £9.95 for their cheapest burger, and £12.25 for the bacon one. It's £4.35 for the cheapest fries and £4.45 for a soda. £20 covers one person's meal.
Fast food isn't really for low-income people. They /work/ there rather than eating there. It's just associated with them because the experience feels poor.
It's more for people who need or want the convenience.
The "slight discount" usually gets me get a pretty full meal for less than $10 and, on occasion, significantly less than that. Really depends on what specials they're promoting and how frisky I'm feeling.
And just turn off notifications to not get unwanted advertising. Don't really care if they know my food preference data since they would have it anyway if I pay with anything other than cash.
At least on android devices you don't even have the option to disable a ton of access to things like sensors.
That data they collect isn't just about ads either. They'll throw you a deal every once in a while to keep you handing over that data, but they're figuring out how much money you have, when you're most vulnerable to suggestion and least likely to resist, all so that they can adjust their prices just for you in order to make sure you're paying as much as possible.
Even with notifications turned off, everytime you open your phone and scroll past the M section on your phone they get free advertising. It may not seem like a big deal, but once you start seeing the gross incentives and manipulation so many of these companies do you begin to notice.
Plus what the other poster said with the massive data dump you're actually giving them.
I just checked the prices at a location in the downtown of one of the five largest American cities: