Americans have lost their appetite for Big Macs and fries as McDonald’s reported its first sales drop in nearly four years, citing inflation-weary customers pulling back from fast food. But there’s a missing part of the McDonald’s equation that hasn’t widely been taken into account, argued Stephen Zagor, food and restaurant consultant and adjunct assistant professor of business at the Columbia Business School: the election.
“Because of the constant drumbeat of the political parties saying, ‘You're feeling bad; we know you're feeling bad, so we want to solve your problem,’ I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of that doesn't relieve itself until the elections,” he told Fortune.
