I stopped by Wendy’s on the way back from the ski rental. I noticed the double was selling for $1 more than the single and the triple was $1 more than the double.

But they were advertising “Double the beef just add 89 cents.” So technically you save 11 cents if you order a single and “double” it. Also does that mean you get a quad for less than the price of a triple if you “double the beef” on a double, or was there some fine print I missed?

It’s strange that the menu system in fast food places requires such a large amount of financial arithmetic in order to order something. I wonder if Dave Thomas is rolling over in his grave.

I hate this crap.

Remembering Wendy’s

Remember when it Value Deal at Wendy’s was called the 99 Cent Value Menu? They had to kill the name when they raised the price on the quarter-pound burger (two 1/8 lb patties) and their “Biggie” fries started to cost more than 99 cents. Now both are off the menu. The former was replaced by the cheeseburger deluxe; the latter by a 99c drink (I don’t remember what it’s called because when you order a small drink, it’s 10 cents more).

You would have thought Carl’s Jr. would have learned from that fast food faux pas when the decided to name it the “Six Dollar Burger.” It immediately makes you wonder what is going to happen when the six dollar burger will cost more than six dollars. At least they got it right the second time when their subsidiary, Hardee’s restaurants, decided to name the same burgers: “Thickburgers.”

(I wonder what happens at Wendy’s when you “Biggie size” your combo meal? “Biggie fries” now are the medium size and their drinks are now much larger. I think Wendy’s had to stop calling upping your combo: “Biggie size it.”)

Counting the pounds

While we are on the topic. I just thought I’d like to reiterate an argument I got into in graduate school with my roommate. He was sure that the hamburgers and Big Macs have gotten smaller over the years—even going so far to bring up his parents memory as confirmation. I took exception to this because I thought our appetites getting larger is a far more likely possibility. (When I was a kid, I could only eat a Big Mac if you were really hungry—believe me I wanted the free Superbowl program that came with the Big Mac but I wouldn’t order it because I couldn’t finish it.) Also, fries and drinks have gotten bigger, and wouldn’t it make more sense that the burger just seems smaller in comparison?

In any case, that argument ended up with him dismissing mine because his parents had lived in the Chicago area their entire lives (franchising for McDonald’s first occurred in that area) and his mom had once worked at McDonald’s. (In my defense, the Big Mac was created from the typical burger served in diners throughout Pittsburgh, but that wasn’t enough to convince him at the time since I’m a lot younger than his parents.)

But let’s dispel this myth once and for all. Fries and drinks may have gotten bigger, but the burgers have not gotten any smaller. One pound of beef creates 10 McDonald’s hamburger patties, always has, always will. (It also creates 8 Wendy’s “junior” patties, 5 McDonald’s Big Macs, 4 Wendy’s Singles or McDonald’s quarter pounders or Burger King Whoppers (some used to be 1/3 lb), and 2 Carl’s Six Dollar Burgers. Oh yeah, in the last case, it is supposedly better because it is “Certified Angus Beef.”)

If you think they’ve gotten smaller, you’re just a victim of overly generous food photography, America’s expanding waistline, and bad memory.

Go look it up.