the fast food industry's oldest trick: make three things one decision.
means a bundled main, side, and drink sold together for less than the sum of its parts, engineered to feel like a deal.
from credited to a mcdonald's franchisee in the 1960s-70s who noticed customers dithering at the counter and started bundling burger, fries, and drink into one number to speed up lines and boost fries-and-drink sales, a tactic wendy's formalized as the combo meal in the 1980s and the whole industry copied within a decade.
mcdonald's big mac meal — the combo that trained america to order by number
wendy's combo meal — credited with popularizing the numbered combo format, 1980s
jollibee chickenjoy meal — philippines national obsession, sold as a bundled value meal