This Big Mac hack seems like a ham-burglary.
As inflation is seemingly sending Big Mac prices to Pluto, McDonald’s aficionados think you deserve a break today and have devised a way, among other McHacks, to save money on their trademark double-decker hamburger.
The money-saving shortcut comes as the Golden Arches experienced a 14% uptick in revenue spurred by “strategic menu price increases.”
Although the fast-food chain didn’t disclose the exact figure for the price hike, Big Mac menu costs have seemed quite McPricey of late.
One branch in Darien, Connecticut, even charges as much as $18 for a Big Mac combo meal.
Thankfully, McExperts have devised an ingenious shortcut to keep people’s wallets as full as their bellies.
To Mac-gyver the nosh, simply order a McDouble — a much cheaper, two-tiered meat mountain — with a side of Big Mac sauce, per the Daily Meal.
Hold the ketchup, mustard and lettuce to save on extra modifications so you’ll only be charged for the sauce.
No middle bun? No problem: replicate the Big Mac’s trademark mezzanine level with a layer of french fries.
Voila — you’ve just jerry-rigged the restaurant’s three-story sandwich for $3 cheaper on average.
The hack reveal has good timing, as McDonald’s buffs have complained that the so-called budget restaurant has become anything but.
“A ‘value meal’ at McDonalds now costs just as much as a meal at a lot of sit down restaurants like Applebee’s,” one user declared in a Reddit thread.
Some cited the McDonald’s app in New York City, for example, where the “$1 $2 $3” menu paradoxically doesn’t actually have anything worth $1 or $2.
Of course, the Big Mac hack is just one of a McFlurry of ways that fast food aficionados game the Golden Arches — although some work better than others.
Earlier this month, a McFan set gears turning online after divulging a coronary-causing off-menu item called the “Monster Mac.”
This fast food monstrosity entails a classic Big Mac with six additional patties sandwiched by the trademark lettuce, cheese and onion goodness.
Some of the best shortcuts came from Golden Arches insiders.
In June, an ex-McDonald’s chef unveiled a supposedly fool-proof litmus test for gauging if a neighborhood location is any good — by having them crank out 10 double quarter-pounders with special ingredient requests in under five minutes.
Unlike a casino, where such hacks can get customers blackballed, McDonald’s seems to celebrate certain shortcuts.
In an ode to fan reimaginings in 2022, the Golden Arches released “menu hacks” in which customers could mix and match combinations of their favorites to create the ultimate McFrankenfoods.
Perhaps most notable was the “Land, Air and Sea,” a high-octane hydra of a Big Mac, a McChicken sandwich and a Filet-o-Fish.