McDonald's Issued Telling Warning to American Consumers

McDonald's is one of many American companies to get off to a sluggish start to 2025.

On Thursday, McDonald's reported its quarterly sales for Q1 of the new year, and the numbers are not good. According to NBC News, the fast food corporation saw same-store sales fall 3.6%, the worst drop since plummeting 8.7%. in Q2 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 3.6% decrease was more than twice the projected decline, which had been 1.7%. Overall, McDonald's is just the latest chain restaurant to report declining sales as consumers spend less.

"People are just visiting less," McDonald's said.

One specific portion of the company's call with investors raised eyebrows. Per NBC, McDonald internal surveys have detected "an uptick in anti-American sentiment, particularly among diners in northern Europe and Canada."

"We have seen ... an increase in people in various markets saying they’re going to be cutting back on purchases of American brands," the company said.

While McDonald's says it hasn't noticed its own brand in particular being docked by anti-American sentiment, the reported findings are worth keeping an eye on. 

The beginning of 2025 has marked a period of economic volatility, and coupled with the uncertainty of President Trump's threatened tariffs, has likely contributed to any negative feelings toward American brands abroad.

“We believe McDonald’s can weather these difficult conditions better than most,” McDonald's Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors Thursday. “However, we’re not immune to the volatility in the industry or the pressures that our consumers are facing.”

Despite some Q1 struggles, McDonald's is still planning on opening 2,200 locations and projecting sales growth to be over 2% for the year.