Mildly Infuriating

"Perceived value"

Without that element, there would be no explanation for Marketing other than pure Brand Awareness promotion working (and McDonalds is definitely beyond needing more Brand Awareness, at least in the Developed World)

Even then, it doesn't explain a lot of how Marketing does its work (namelly the stuff they took from Psychology and use to do things like create associations between brand and specific feelings on people's subconscious - you know, the way cars are "freedom" and perfumes are "sex").

And don't get me started on other techniques that prey of human cognitive weaknesses (for example, FOMO would not work with the fabled Homo Economicus that underpins so much of Free Market Theory)

Anyways, a ton of present day enshittification (and that includes this kind of price inflation) relies on people having a well entrenched positive perception of a brand after years of having a relationship with it (i.e. chosing it as customers) and there being quite a lot of momentum behind it. It also relies a lot on using a "slow boiling" effect to keep people from spotting the full picture of the changes.

Apparently quite a few people have a high tolerance for what they value.

Majority of McDonalds locations are franchised so quality varies widely.

Germany has regulations for food that are much more demanding than those of the US, so there isn't much that fast food restaurants can do to cut costs in Germany aside from the order touchscreens and such.

Here's an example.

Excerpt about additives:

Believe it or not, big name food brands often adjust their ingredients in European countries compared to their products released in the United States. Certain ingredients that are illegal in Europe are still allowed, and commonly used, in the United States. The following eight common ingredients are approved in the U.S. but  banned by the European Union or select European states.

• rBGH (rBST) 

  • Common foods: Milk and yogurt
  • Purpose: Injected into cows to boost milk production

• Ractopamine

  • Common foods: Pork, beef, and turkey
  • Purpose: Increases lean muscle near the end of an animal’s life

• Potassium bromate (bromated flour)

  • Common foods: Hamburger and hot dog buns, and packaged baked goods
  • Purpose: Makes bread fluffier and whiter

• Brominated vegetable oil (BVO)

  • Common beverages: Sports drinks and sodas
  • Purpose: Keeps flavor from floating to the surface

• Olestra 

  • Common foods: Fat-free chips
  • Purpose: Substitutes fat

• Azodicarbonamide

  • Common foods: Frozen dinners, pasta mix, and packaged baked goods
  • Purpose: Bleaches flour rapidly

• Coloring agents (Red #40, Yellow #6, Yellow #5, and Blue #1)

  • Common foods/beverages: Cake mix, candy, soda, and sports beverages
  • Purpose: Changes food color

• BHA and BHT

  • Common foods/beverages: Gum, cereal, vegetable oil, butter, and beer
  • Purpose: Makes food last longer

And these additive ingredients expand past the EU into the United Kingdom. For example, the American version of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is entirely different from Kraft’s “Cheesey Pasta” sold in Great Britain. Take a look at the differences below.

Maybe it's location based, but I had a mcflurry about a year ago and was given a pathetically small amount of the topping poorly mixed in a terrible filler ice cream. Perhaps the ice cream in the mcflurry was always terrible, but I hadn't noticed it before when I would get a lot more of the topping. Also, their coffee was better for a time but it has reverted to burnt mud.