It costs $11 in New York City.

在紐約一份賣 11 美金 (約台幣 339)。

Fast food is supposed to be cheap and convenient, but do you ever find yourself spending more on fast food than you expected to?

照理講，速食該是便宜又方便，但你是否曾發現自己花了比設想還多的錢在速食上？

You're not alone.

其他人也有同感。

According to one study, Americans spend around $1,200 on fast food every year.

根據一項研究，每位美國人一年花約 1200 美金 (近台幣三萬七) 購買速食。

Places like McDonald's and Burger King do everything in their power to get you to spend more money.

像是麥當勞和漢堡王等速食店，盡一切可能從你的荷包吸走更多錢！

And it turns out fast food isn't as cheap as you think.

所以速食不見得如你想的便宜。

Fast food is all about the deals.

全都是套路。

Value meals, combos, coupons... oh my.

搭配組合、套餐、折價券 ...... 老天爺啊。

But the seemingly simple menu actually hides most of the options.

不過看似簡單的菜單看板其實隱藏了大多數的選項。

Compare a fast food menu to a fine dining restaurant menu.

把速食店的和高級餐館的菜單拿來比較。

The restaurant menu is simple and not very stimulating, but the fast food menu is a noisy mess of options and categories.

餐廳菜單很簡約，沒什麼刺激人的圖像，但是速食店菜單卻滿是各種選擇和種類雜在一塊。

And fast food restaurants grab your attention with bright reds or oranges along with big appetizing photos of their food.

速食業者利用亮紅色、亮橘色的字搭配誘人的餐點照片，抓住你的眼球。

There's a hierarchy.

其中是有階級之分的。

The pictures are big, but the prices are small.

圖片很大，價錢標示卻很小。

They keep your attention on the items that cost more by showing these really big on the left side where you start reading.

他們刻意將比較貴的餐點寫在菜單左方，也就是你開始閱讀的地方，而且顯示得很大，抓住你的注意力。

(You're not) wondering if that burger is worth $6, you're just looking at those big juicy patties.

你不會懷疑這份漢堡究竟值不值 6 塊美元，你的目光全在那兩片大大的多汁肉片。

Food pictures, they light up the brain, you know, particularly when you're hungry.

食物圖片讓人們的大腦亮起來，你懂的，尤其是肚子餓的時候。

Large food pictures for a food company are key.

大大的食物圖片對於食物公司來說是關鍵。

That's Hans Taparia.

這位是 Hans Taparia。

He's a health food entrepreneur and a professor of business and society at NYU.

他是一名保健食品企業家，也是紐約大學的商業與社會學教授。

The playbook has been around for awhile, I would say since the '80s, which has been centered around simplicity, cheap and bold and bright.

這種做法已經持續很多年了，我想是從 80 年代開始，重點就是要做得簡單、便宜、大膽、色彩明亮。

Fast food restaurants use other tricks too, like not showing a dollar sign or using a 9.79 or 0.89 pricing format.

速食業者還有其他招數，像是去掉金錢符號，或是採用 9.79 或 0.89 這類標價。

Pretty much $10, but you still think it's $9 because you read left to right.

基本上就是 10 塊了，但你還是會把它想成 9 塊，因為你從左讀到右。

But what about the dollar menu, right?

但那些 1 美元餐呢？

Well, dollar and value menus do exist, but they're often small and far off to one corner where they are harder to see.

1 美元餐和其他便宜餐點當然存在，但它們通常寫在菜單的小角落，很難被察覺。

And if you buy multiple items off the value menu, it won't necessarily be cheaper than a Happy Meal.

而且你就算從便宜餐點中選了幾項，加起來也不見得比快樂兒童餐便宜。

So it's not necessarily less profitable for them, but it accomplishes two things.

所以對他們而言不見得會少賺，但卻能達到兩個目的。

It keeps the consumer coming, and it's catering to a consumer that is increasingly poorer in the case of these conventional fast food outlets.

它能讓消費者持續前來，而且還能吸引那些負擔不起一般速食餐點的消費者，畢竟一般速食都變貴了。

And even though fast food menus are big, their confusing layouts make it difficult to find exactly what you're looking for.

而且雖然速食菜單很大，它們的版面卻讓你很難找到你真的想點的。

It's easiest to read the menu when you're close to the counter.

要到你人都在櫃檯前了，才好看菜單。

But then it's time to order.

但這時候已經要點餐了。

The pressure is mounting, and you just pick that big, bright, juicy Number 3, and that Number 3 is where the real secret of the menu lies: the combo.

壓力越來越大，你就乾脆選了那個又大又亮的多汁三號餐，但三號餐正是菜單套路的精華所在：套餐。

The star of the menu is the combo meal.

菜單的主打餐正是「套餐」。

You can order an entree, a side, and a drink just by saying one easy number.

只要簡單說出一個數字，你就能點主菜、副餐和飲料。

These are a lot less time to order the Number 6 than a 10-piece nugget, medium fry, and a medium drink.

相較起來，點個六號餐花費的時間比點十塊雞塊、中薯和中杯飲料要快多了。

But have you actually done the math to see if that combo is saving you any money?

但你真的算過套餐是不是比較划算嗎？

Take McDonald's for example.

以麥當勞為例。

If you buy a Number 3, it costs $10.39, but if you were to buy the Double Quarter Pounder, medium fry, and medium drink, it costs $10.48.

如果你點一份三號餐，要花 10.39 美元，但如果你分開點雙層足三兩漢堡、中薯和中杯飲料，則是要花 10.48 美元。

You're only saving 9 cents, and often you'll end up with things you didn't even want in portions that are way bigger than what's healthy.

你不過省了 9 分錢 (約台幣 3 塊)，但卻得到太多的食物，太不健康。

And creating this perception, which is quite real actually, that the per ounce cost of something bigger is lower, and so I'm just getting better value for my money, forget the fact that I'm buying 32 ounces of soda, which has half a cup of sugar.

這種「買越多省越多」的概念其實挺真實的，看起來是花小錢買到更多東西，但卻忘了買的一大杯可樂，其中半杯都是糖。

The convenience of ordering a preselected meal gives fast food restaurants control over what you order.

點既定套餐的便利性讓速食業者能夠控制你點的品項。

Combine this with multiple size options and cheap upgrades, and it's hard to walk away with a small in every category.

再加上還有各種尺寸能選擇、花小錢升級套餐，消費者實在很難只買一點。

When was the last time you went to a place like Taco Bell and just bought one taco?

你上一次去塔可鐘卻只買了一個墨西哥卷餅是什麼時候了？

Fast food restaurants make more money from customers buying multiple items.

藉由讓消費者買多品項餐點，速食業者賺到更多的錢。

Items like soda have a much higher profit margin compared to burgers, so fast food companies do everything they can to get you to buy a drink.

可樂的利潤比漢堡要高，所以速食餐廳會盡可能讓你買飲料。

They've added things like 24-hour locations and all-day breakfast to make sure you can get whatever you want whenever you want it.

他們還加上「24 小時營業」或是「全天候供應早餐」，確保你隨時都能買到你想吃的。

If you think you have more control at an ordering kiosk, you're wrong.

如果你覺得你用自動點餐機會比較能控制自己，那你就錯了。

According to McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook, customers spend more on average at kiosks 'cause they linger longer.

根據麥當勞的執行長 Steve Easterbrook，平均來說消費者用自動點餐機會花更多，因為待得更久。

Guess what those kiosks also have.

猜猜那些自動點餐機也有什麼？

Lots and lots of pictures.

好多好多的圖片！

And that's just the tip of the, um, Frosty.

而這還只是「奶昔」一角。

Fast food companies are experts at getting customers in the door.

速食業者是引顧客上門的好手。

They advertise the most outrageous deals on signs, posters, and TV commercials.

他們在招牌、海報和電視廣告上，主打那些最誇張的餐點。

They can get you in the door for some buy one get one free nuggets, you'll probably buy a drink too.

他們可以用「雞塊買一送一」引你入門，你或許還會順道買份飲料。

Oh, look.

哦快看！

You can make that a meal and add fries for just a dollar more.

再加一元還可以多一份薯條變成一餐！

Companies also use brand tie-ins like Doritos Locos Tacos and coupons that expire within the week, like the ones you may have seen on the bottom of your receipt, not to mention app reward points or special daily deals found only in the app, just like the old-fashioned punch card.

業者還會利用品牌聯名，像是多力多滋瘋狂卷餅，或是你在發票底下看到、一個禮拜就會過期的折價卷，更別提你在他們 APP 得到的獎勵績點或是 APP 專屬特別套餐，作用其實就像傳統的打孔卡。

You'll eat at a restaurant more often if each purchase brings you closer to free food.

如果每次購買都能夠積點，之後兌換免費餐點，你就會比較常去那間餐廳。

Any one thing in isolation itself may not have a huge impact.

單單一個事物或許不會有很大的影響力。

The power of marketing is when you overlay things.

行銷的威力就在於套用多種事物。

But, there's a deeper issue here.

但這裡有個比較大的問題。

Fast food isn't as cheap as it used to be.

速食不像以前一樣便宜了。

According to Bloomberg, the average price of a fast food burger has increased by 54% in the last decade, outpacing fast-casual and fine dining restaurants.

根據彭博社，速食漢堡的價格在過去十年平均增加了 54%，超越了快速慢食和精緻餐飲。

But fast food is sometimes the only option in low-income food deserts.

但對於低收入者來說，速食往往就是唯一的選擇。

And your environment has a big impact on your health and weight.

你所處的環境對你的健康和體重也有很大的影響。

Healthy fast-casual offerings are often so much more expensive than fast food that they no longer target the same demographic, especially if you're feeding a family.

健康的快速慢食通常比速食貴上很多，所以主打的客群也不再一樣，尤其是如果你要餵飽一家人的話。

KFC will give you a lot more food per dollar than an organic salad chain.

同樣花一塊錢，肯德基會比有機沙拉業者提供得多了。

Fast food restaurants are able to lure consumers into spending more money on large, unhealthy portions because it's more affordable than healthier options.

速食業者有辦法吸引消費者花更多錢買又多又不健康的食物，因為那還是比健康餐飲要便宜很多。

Fast food can be cheap and convenient, but you have to fight off all the psychological tricks that are engineered to get you to spend more money.

速食可以便宜又方便，但你要有辦法抵抗那些試圖榨取你荷包的套路。

You shouldn't be paying a premium for low-quality, unhealthy food.

你不該花更多的錢買低品質、不健康的食物。