In December 2022, an Idaho man ordered a limited-edition smoked half-pound Big Mac meal with a side of fries and a soda. The total cost came to $16.10. Now, one year later, his social media post on the purchase is going viral, and is attracting interest from right-leaning outlets like the New York Post, the Washington Examiner and Newsmax as evidence of runaway inflation.
Straight Arrow News contributor Jordan Reid objects to those arguments, pointing out that the average cost of a standard Big Mac is only $5.58, a small fraction of the cost of the limited-edition meal with a side and drink. Reid also argues that inflation has been cooling, and says that Biden should emphasize this if he wants to push back against the right-wing narrative.
Now, that said, the Big Mac kerfuffle — as ridiculous as it is — it still speaks to a problem that’s afflicting Biden’s reelection campaign. Even though inflation has dropped to just 3%, and the job market has rebounded significantly, a survey shows that by and large, Americans are still unhappy with the state of the economy. Just because inflation is slowing down doesn’t mean that wages — when they’re adjusted for inflation — aren’t still below where they were.
On top of that, price hikes continue and several COVID-related aid policies have either expired or are getting set to expire. And what all that means is that many Americans are still feeling a pretty significant pinch. So, when they see this Big Mac story, it can be easy to point to as evidence of their personal financial troubles.
The simple answer should be that Biden and his aid should go all in on the strength of the economy and how much it’s picked back up while on the campaign trail, right? Get the message out there that things may not be perfect, but they’re absolutely going in the right direction. Well, the problem is, if Americans are still feeling significantly less financially stable than they were in 2021 — and a lot of them are — that argument runs the risk of feeling out of touch. And it leaves room for stories like this one — misleading stories with the potential for high virality — to spread like the proverbial wildfire, and that’s not good for anybody.
