🍟 If you like tanking your margins, keep doing what you're doing...if not, DO THIS.

Hiya friends,

I’ve been thinking a lot about fries 🍟 lately (and it’s not just because I’m hungry…)

I can’t stop thinking about how wild fries are (they’re basically just a crispy carbohydrate wand, after all). But most importantly, I can’t stop thinking about how McDonald’s made us all believe that adding fries to our meal would magically make it 10X better.

Over time, adding this salted stick of a former vegetable somehow became the “smart” choice…simply because it “saves us money.”

McDonald's iconic upsell phrase, "Would you like fries with that?", has been instrumental in boosting sales over the last few decades. Estimates suggest this cross-selling tactic contributes anywhere from 15% to 40% of McDonald's annual profits, most of it thanks to upselling with salty potatoes.

Now here’s the funny part…

Nobody walks into McDonald’s planning to order the combo with fries, they usually walk in thinking, “I want a Big Mac.” or “I could go for a Quarter Pounder with cheese…”

Customers actually self-qualify into the burger options…not the fry options, which would mean (if we’re thinking logically here), no one on the planet should be buying fries as an upsell.

But these second someone casually asks, “Want to make it a meal?”

BOOM. Your brain does a quick calculation and says: “Wait…it’s only $2 more for fries and a drink? That’s a steal.”

(Spoiler: it’s not…you came in for the Big Mac, remember?) But it feels like it is.

And to the brain, that’s all that matters.

That split second between “GIVE ME BIG MAC” and “wait, it’s only $2 more?” is where the real profit lives. Not in the fries. Not in the drink. But in the perceived value of a “bundled meal”, cleverly designed to trigger a “yes.”

This, my friends, is bundling psychology at its finest.

(Psst: 👀 If this kind of strategy breakdown is your jam, you’d love Tether Lab, my private community for marketers who want to master the psychology of buying without guessing or Googling. We unpack tactics like this every week.)

🧠 McDonald’s Doesn’t Just Sell Meals. They Sell Mental Shortcuts.

When you look at the Value Meal from the outside, it seems like a basic bundle:

🍔 + 🍟 +🥤 = 🤩
Burger + Fries + Drink = “Savings.”

But under the hood, it’s a full-blown psychology engine. Here’s what’s happening inside your brain at the register:

🔒 FIRST: Anchoring Bias Kicks In

You saw the burger for $6.99. Then the $8.99 combo popped up right next to it.
And suddenly… $9 feels reasonable. You weren’t planning to spend $9 at all. But your brain just got anchored to that price because you saw the $6.99 first.

The burger set the reference point. And everything after that gets judged in relation to it…not on its own merits.

What’s wild is that most DTC brands do the opposite. 🤯

They lead with the high-ticket product first, hoping the $59 offer makes the $29 one feel like a steal, but in reality the brain doesn’t reward the cheapest option…

The brain rewards the most fluent option (AKA: the easiest one).

When you anchor low, then upsell slightly higher with added value (like McDonald’s does), it feels like a win, even when you spend more. The “why behind the buy” isn’t about pricing tiers. It’s about what your customer saw first, and how easy of a decision the added value seems.

🧠 SECOND: Cognitive Ease Takes Over

Deciding between multiple items takes mental effort, and effort is the worst.😅

Our brains are so taxed for time, focus, and energy these days, that even tiny efforts get scrutinized. You have to think, compare, and calculate, which slows the brain down.

A brain on “calculate mode” = a brain that opts out of the decision…every single time.

The combo was basically built to be one-click shopping for your stomach. You didn’t have to make a rational decision about the bundle itself. You didn’t have to do any math to calculate the value. In reality, you didn’t even have to check if you were that hungry because the deal was so good, who cares? You could take any extras home and feed them to your dog later…(human dinner and dog dinner in one? What a deal! 🤩)

A lot of DTC brands get this wrong.

They assume their bundles have to be duplications of the original product’s value, so they choose products that have similar or equal value to the original product.

But what science shows (and what McDonald’s knows) is the opposite: our brains are efficiency junkies. We’re wired to choose the path of least resistance, even if it’s not the best deal…as long as it makes sense in the moment to choose it.

TLDR here: we should be bundling items that make emotional sense to have together. That way you’ll remove brain friction + increase AOV all while making your customers feel like you just did them a favor.

💡Want swipe files and examples of bundles that actually work? We share breakdowns inside Tether Lab every Wednesday, with live calls on how to apply them to your brand. It’s nerdy. It’s tactical. It’s way better than scrolling LinkedIn for 4,000 new hooks to test…🙃

🧠 LAST: Default Bias Seals the Deal

Here’s the thing about the phrase “Would you like to make it a meal?”

It’s not really a question. It’s a behavioral nudge. The combo is framed as the default. Referencing it as the normal, expected, socially acceptable choice causes the brain to assume that saying “no” is incorrect.

Saying no doesn’t feel like saving money. It feels like opting out. Downgrading. Making life harder. So most people don’t.

This is called default bias: when we tend to go with the pre-set option, it’s not because it’s actually better… it’s because it’s easier to say yes than to explain to the casheir why we’re saying no. (Can you imagine saying, “I can’t accept your delicious salty potatoes because I don’t quite understand the logic behind adding more food onto an order I previously mentally aligned with in the car…”?

Absolutely not.

McDonald’s doesn’t just make the combo available. They make it feel like the only reasonable option. And none of this is accidental.

McDonald’s isn’t just optimizing your order—they’re optimizing your decision fatigue, and turning it into serious amounts of profit.

⚠️ Why DTC Bundling Doesn’t Work Like You Think

In DTC, we bundle all the time. We bundle products, discounts, offers, and all sorts of benefits…and we’re pretty dang good at it.

Our problem isn’t that we don’t know how to bundle, our problem is we don’t know how to bundle correctly.

I’ve audited enough brands to know how this works. Typically we throw together a few products, slap on a discount, and call it a “starter kit” or “best value bundle” and then wonder why people aren’t purchasing our upgraded, clearly better bundle option (who wouldn’t want 50 more of the thing they just bought 1 of??)

The reality is, the modern-day bundle is just a prettier version of a clearance rack.😬

Bad bundling has some pretty serious complications as well:

• It cannibalizes full-price items

• Lowers perceived product value

• Increases shipping complexity

• And trains your customers to only buy on deal days

And worst of all…it feels like a deal for the customer, but ends up costing you more.

🧠 How to Bundle Like McDonald’s
(Without Destroying Your Margins)

If you want to do what McDonalds does and make your bundles an absolute no-brainer on steroids, we gotta build more strategy into it. Here’s how I would tackle this (from a psychology-based vantage point):

1. Bundle for decision relief, not discount logic.

Anytime you build a bundle you’re not just selling convenience, you’re selling clarity. The customer should feel like they made the smartest, easiest choice, not just the cheapest. Easiest way to do this is to label/title your bundles by what they solve, not just what’s in them.

2. Price anchor with intention.

List the full value first. Show the bundle second. Let the brain see what it’s saving before it even considers the total by giving it context: how much do each of the products inside the bundle cost individually? After anchoring to those prices, the bundle will feel like an easy decision.

3. Keep it tight.

3-5 items max. A good bundle reduces complexity, not adds to it. The more SKUs you toss in, the more cognitive load you reintroduce, so keep your bundle to just 3-5 items max so you can communicate value without overloading the brain with details.

4. Pair new with known.

Use your hero product to introduce a lesser-known SKU. Don’t just package your dead inventory and hope for the best…pair your best selling products with others that solve similar or (even better), new problems that might come up after your customer experiences relief with the core product. (AKA: “I bought shampoo, now my hair is clean, but not as silky. Got any conditioner?”)

5. Protect perception at all costs.

If a bundle feels too cheap, people start assuming your products are low-quality. That’s a dangerous narrative to seed. The best bundles are built by increasing value + price simultaneously, and communicating smaller upsells after you have received commitment from your customers. (This is why McFlurries exist.)

So What’s the Big Lesson Here?

McDonald’s doesn’t win by offering a better burger. They win by offering a better decision experience, which is what bundling is really about.

It’s not about cramming items together. It’s about creating a choice that feels frictionless, value-rich, and smart, even when it’s not the cheapest option on the menu.

The brands that get this right are the ones who design for the emotional brain, not just the logical one.

Because at the end of the day, people don’t buy the bundle.

They buy the feeling of “I just got a deal!!”

🧠 Quick Recap Before You Go:

If you want to build bundles that boost AOV without destroying your margins:

• Bundle for mental ease, not margin erosion

• Anchor with full value first

• Don’t overload the box…keep it simple and strategic

• Let your best SKUs carry your emerging ones

• Never let the bundle feel cheaper than the brand

Otherwise? You’re not bundling.
You’re just discounting with extra steps.

Until next week,

🦕 Sarah

P.S. If you liked this breakdown and want more tactics like it (plus swipe files, pricing tests, and live help applying it to your actual offer) consider joining the Tether Lab!

It’s my private community for marketers who want to learn how to apply psychology to their ads, landing pages, emails, and brands to drive growth. We go deep on stuff like bundling, upsells, and buyer psychology LIVE every Wednesday, so sign up so you don’t miss next week’s LIVE!

Trend Alert: 10,000%+ spike : The “Italian Brain Rot” aesthetic is taking over.

Pinterest just exploded with searches for “italian brain rot,” (and no, this isn’t about pasta-induced comas...)

🍝 The Signal:
This trend is a chaotic cocktail made for Gen-Z. Think Euro summer + cinematic melancholy + romanticized decay and you’re just about there. Gen-Z support of this trend has BOOMED. Here’s what we’re seeing:

🧠 The Diagnosis:
“Italian brain rot” is less about Italy, more about identity. It signals a desire to feel things deeply, dramatically, and aesthetically without actually solving anything. Your audience is saying:

→ “I want beauty without perfection.”
→ “I want chaos, but curated.”
→ “I crave escape…but make it vibes.”
→ “If I can’t afford Capri, I’ll embody it in my kitchen with a cigarette and linguine.”

It’s the anti-aspirational aesthetic. Equal parts sensual and self-sabotaging.

📌 Here’s how to capitalize:

🛍️ DTC Brands
Frame your product as a passport to emotional escapism. Ditch sleek minimalism—lean into sensual textures, nostalgic packaging, and poetic chaos…even better if you can include an animal in it.

Sell it like:
→ “Imported from your imagination.”
→ “Melancholy, bottled.”
→ “Unravel elegantly.”

📸 Creators
This trend is dying for narrative. Don’t just post outfits, stage mini-dramas. Film yourself drinking espresso while reading breakup letters. Romanticize rotting produce in your fridge. Make your followers feel your fake Italian crisis.

💡 Bonus strategy:
Create a “Feral Girl Summer Abroad” lookbook with playlists, recipes, and shoppable chaos. Think of it as moodboard merch for the emotionally unwell but stylish.

Until next time.
—Dex 🦖