Dynamic pricing & NJ fast food – Here’s what’s really happening

What a difference 24 hours can make after a massive backlash. That's about how long it took for fast food chain Wendy's to backtrack its comments regarding its new digital ordering boards, scheduled to roll out in 2025.

If all the noise surrounding the Wendy's announcement has confused or angered you, you're not alone. And for New Jersey, this plan would've been one of the stupidest moves the fast food chain could've done.

In fact, it would be stupid for any fast food joint to change their prices based on how busy the volume is for any particular item or time of day. With that logic, a simple cheeseburger can end up being more expensive than a deluxe burger.

For now, we can rest assured that this will not be happening anytime soon, according to a story from The New York Post. The issue came about over the phrase dynamic pricing, which is how Uber describes its price hike for rides during busier times.

Hopefully, this will never happen with any chain in The Garden State, but who knows? With the idea now out there, how do we know New Jersey politicians won't try to push a dynamic pricing tax to collect during peak hours?

In this state, nothing should surprise us. But it is good news to know that Wendy's, or any other fast food chain, has no plans to charge us extra to purchase their food during peak hours.

Or, put an upcharge on a particular item automatically thanks to the advancement of AI. Let's hope it stays that way for good.

With that said, it wouldn't be a bad idea to regularly offer special lunch and dinner deals, much like dine-in restaurants do now. More likely than not, people living in New Jersey would get behind that.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.