Consumer
McDonald’s $5 Value Meal Is Slowly Bringing Diners Back
The promotion is helping the burger giant keep customers from defecting to competitors, but it’s not a gamechanger yet.
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McDonald’s Corp.’s new $5 meal deal has led to a modest increase in US visits and brought back some low-income diners — the first signs that the burger chain’s strategy to appear more affordable is paying off.
Traffic began picking up in late May following news of the impending launch of the meal, and visits largely continued to grow after its debut on June 25, according to cellphone mobility data compiled by Placer.ai for Bloomberg News. McDonald’s initially planned to run the promotion for a month, but franchisees voted to extend it based on early results.