A fondness for fast food can tell us a lot about our behavior and hidden changes in the market
THE PIZZA PRINCIPLE
In 1980, a New York resident named Eric Bram noticed that the price of a slice of pizza had matched the subway fare for nearly 20 years. Later, journalists noted that when pizza prices rose, subway fares often increased as well.
In 2014, scientist Jared Lander studied this principle and found it still held true. Why does this happen? As the author of a BBC article notes, no one knows.
BIG MAC AND KFC INDICES
How much does a Big Mac cost in Lima? And in Abu Dhabi? The answers to these questions can tell us a lot about purchasing power parity (PPP) – that is, the ratio of two countries' currencies and the cost of similar goods in those countries. To make this theory more understandable, in 1986 The Economist created a special tool to compare several base currencies with currencies of other countries around the world.
For example, in February they wrote: "In America, a Big Mac costs $5.06, while in Turkey it costs just 10.75 lira ($2.75), meaning the lira is undervalued."
Since McDonald's restaurants are not as widespread in Africa, the market research firm Sagaci Research invented an additional "KFC index" to analyze PPP in countries on that continent. The price of a Big Mac can tell a lot to someone who has
MARS BARS
In 1932, the world's first Mars bar was produced at a factory in Slough. Fifty years later, Financial Times columnist Nico Colchester discovered a clear correlation between the price of this confectionery in the UK and the purchasing power of the British pound.
By measuring value not in monetary units but in Mars bars, Colchester found that over the past 40 years, the salaries of recent university graduates had grown very little. Meanwhile, train tickets had become cheaper, and roast beef in pubs had increased by more than 60%.
CANNED BEANS AND POPCORN
When trying to determine the state of a country's economy, financial experts often look at food products. In 2009, the cinema chain Odeon introduced the so-called "Odeon popcorn index," which it claimed indicated rising sales and thus signaled the recovery of the UK economy after the 2008 crisis.
Additionally, analysts also examined sales of canned beans – a product that typically gains popularity in hard times. Beans can indicate how the population reacts to periods of economic downturn. When sales fell in 2013, many saw it as a sign that the UK economy had returned to normal.
FRENCH FRIES
In 1998, the author of a notable article in The Oregonian noted that french fry sales were a useful indicator of trade between America and Asia.
Richard Read wrote that this product "takes American industry to foreign markets" because the US exports it in large quantities (still true today). He noted that french fry consumption was an indicator of how developed Asian economies had become. And this meant that the economic difficulties Asia faced in the late 1990s hit American farmers hard.
WAFFLE HOUSE INDEX
How destructive was a hurricane? It turns out you can find out by looking at a fast-food restaurant's menu.
When a natural disaster occurs in the country, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) checks the length of the menu offered at Waffle House restaurants. If customers are offered a reduced menu, it may mean the restaurant is running low on supplies and electricity is only coming from a generator.
And if the restaurant is closed altogether? "Then things are really bad," FEMA administrator Craig Fugate once emphasized.