McDonald’s Big Mac ATM Is No Joke As Restaurants Deal With Rising Minimum Wages
Perhaps it was the success of Snap’s recent vending machine promotion that has led McDonald’s to bring the first “Big Mac ATM” to consumers, but underneath it all the increasing interest in the fast-food industry for automation and robotics is no joke. Facing increasing cost pressures, including rising minimum wages, restaurant groups from McDonald’s to Wendy’s and all those in between are exploring ways to hold in check rising employment costs that has and is likely to plague the ability to deliver earnings to shareholders. When pressed against a wall, companies will look for solutions even ones that might be rather disruptive.
For a few hours on Jan. 31, McDonald’s will give Boston its first “Big Mac ATM,” which is exactly what it sounds like. McDonald’s franchisee Vince Spadea called it a “really just a fun way to be modern and progressive.”But restaurants have been attempting to automate the fast-food business for more than 50 years—and not just the part where a cashier hands over your cheeseburger.
As the US’ 12.5 million fast-food workers advocate for expanded overtime protections and a $15-per-hour federal minimum wage, restaurant automation is increasingly appealing to executives. US labor secretary nominee Andy Puzder, who is CEO of the company that owns Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, has said that robots are “always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case.”
