A user on TikTok is calling out some McDonald’s franchise owners for “gouging” customers on the new Grimace Birthday Meal.
Announced on June 6, the Grimace Birthday Meal features a choice of Big Mac or 10-piece McNuggets alongside a medium order of fries and a purple-colored, berry-flavored shake. The purple shake can only be ordered with the Grimace meal.
Now, TikTok user Snackolator (@snackolator) is alleging that some locations are inflating the price of these meals, meaning that customers are paying significantly more for the meal than if they were to order each part individually.
“I love McDonald’s promotions, but it’s awful to see a lot of franchises taking advantage of customers,” he writes in the caption. “someone even posted their McDonald’s was over $17 for the Grimace meal.”
@snackolator I love McDonald’s promotions, but it’s awful to see a lot of franchises taking advantage of customers – someone even posted their McDonald’s was over $17 for the Grimace meal. #mcdonalds #mcdonaldshacks #mcdonaldslife #mcdonaldssecrets #grimace #grimacesbirthday #mcds #fastfood #mcdonaldshack #pricegouging ♬ Blue Blood – Heinz Kiessling
To explain his point, he shows two nearby McDonald’s locations that offer the Grimace Birthday Meal via the chain’s app. One offers the meal for just over $10, while the other sells the meal for over $15.
The TikToker then breaks down the meal into its requisite parts. At the latter location, the 10-piece McNuggets cost $4.69, and the medium fries cost $2.99. Given this, this means that people ordering from this McDonald’s are paying almost $8 for the Grimace shake, while a normal medium chocolate shake costs just $3.79.
“So they’re gouging you $4 to get the Grimace meal, which McDonald’s is promoting,” summarizes the TikToker. “Their franchises are screwing their customers over by gouging them. So if yours is one of them, don’t go there.”
In the comments section, users shared the high prices they’ve seen for the Grimace Birthday Meal.
“16.78 at one location. 9.69 at another location 4 miles away,” wrote a user. “Crazy.”
“ours was charging $18,” claimed another.
“Mine was $20.26 and $18.16,” alleged a third. “I said nope not today.”
In an email to the Daily Dot, Snackolator says the meal is worth a try—but only at the right price.
“I thought trying the meal was a lot of fun and my local McDonald’s was only charging 20 cents more for the Grimace meal than a standard McNuggets meal, so for the cost I thought it was absolutely worth trying,” he explained. “If my McDonald’s was charging $4-$5 more for that meal as so many are, there is no way I would try it—not only because it’s not worth it, but I don’t want to encourage those franchises to exploit their customers with future promotions.”
He also detailed why he thought the alleged price gouging may be happening.
“A lot of McDonald’s franchisees know that customers want to try the Grimace meal because they see it on TV, so they’re charging them quite a bit more without customers knowing that they’re not actually getting any more food for that large increase in cost beyond trying the Grimace shake, which to me is highly unethical,” he shared. “These franchise operators are taking advantage of customers who are excited about Grimace’s birthday celebration and hoping that customers don’t notice. They know customers want to try the purple milkshake, and since they won’t sell it separately, they’re gouging customers by hiding the added cost in the meal price.”
The Daily Dot reached out to McDonald’s USA via email.
