Burger King vs McDonald’s: Fast-food rivals battle it out with $5 meal deals, Wendy’s says ‘stop taking…’

Fast-food giants are battling it out by offering value deals to attract customers. Last week, McDonald’s revealed it plans to release a $5 meal to win back its once-loyal customers who parted ways due to the company’s soaring prices, per Bloomberg. As Mickey D’s is “laser-focused on affordability,” Burger King has come up with its own $5 meal deal. The two companies are known to be each other’s competitors. However, the latter appears to be taking the first jab as it plans on rolling out its value deal ahead of McDonald’s.

Burger King escalates plans for release of $5 meal

While McDonald’s $5 meal is set for late June, Burger King is “accelerating its value offers after three quarters of leading the industry in value traffic. We are bringing back our $5 Your Way Meal as agreed upon with our franchisees back in April,” the company said in a statement to USA TODAY.

As part of the upcoming deal, customers will be able to choose between three sandwiches in addition to chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink, the company confirmed in an email to the outlet. Moreover, the Burger King deal is also slated to stick around for “several months,” in contrast to the McDonald’s deal, which will only be available for four weeks.

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“Regardless of their plans, we are moving full speed ahead with our own plans to launch our own $5 value meal before they do − and run it for several months,” Tom Curtis, Burger King’s US and Canada President, said in a memo as reported by Bloomberg.

McDonald’s focus on ‘affordability’ with $5 meal

While McDonald’s is yet to confirm the contents of its upcoming deal, which the company is planning to roll out in lieu of “affordability,” the meal will reportedly offer a choice of a McChicken, McDouble or four-piece chicken McNuggets with fries and a drink, per USA Today.

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Chris Kempczinski, the CEO of McDonald’s, said during the company’s latest earning calls, “I think what you’re going to see as you head into 2024 is probably more attention to what I would describe as affordability,” adding, “It’s imperative that we continue to keep affordability at the forefront for our customers.”

Wendy’s calls out rival Burger King online

In response to a Reuters article titled “Burger King to launch $5 value meal ahead of McDonald’s,” Wendy’s wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “Stop taking the concept of a Biggie Bag and making it worse.”

The company reiterated its feelings as it told the outlet, “We know the other guys are trying to catch up with Wendy’s OG Biggie value, trying to copy the $5 Biggie Bag… but Wendy’s has offered fans a $5 meal deal, complete with a choice of one of three sandwiches, nuggets, fries and a drink, every day since 2019.”

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This is not the first time that Wendy’s has directly called out its competitors. In another X, formerly Twitter post, the company mocked McDonald’s plans to create their largest burger with a photo that featured the message, “Things that get worse as they get bigger.”