Think we're seeing deep discounts today? Here's when the price shifts really hit the fan

With traffic ebbing through much of the business, restaurant chains are resorting to the sort of deep discounting the industry hasn’t seen for a while. Sonic is hoping it can win back lapsed users with the enticement of a $1.29 chili cheese hot dog. Applebee’s is touting 50-cent fried-mozzarella sticks (though bargain-hunters have to purchase at least four of the gooey treats). Even Starbucks is offering bundled deals.

Yet those appeals to penny-pinchers are nothing compared to the price-slashing of three decades ago, when two industry giants rolled out menu lines that initially seemed as if the two, both master marketers, had been sampling too many of Applebee’s $1 cocktails.  These were not limited-time offers. Taco Bell twice dropped the price of some tacos to 39 cents. In some markets, McDonald’s used 29-cent burgers as a lure.

How’d those tactics work? This week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind, RB’s retro-focused podcast,  looks back at those bar-setting acts of deflation. Give a listen for a recount of what happened when those bargains were fly-cast into the business.