Claiming it’s “driving guests back to our restaurants,” McDonald’s $5 Meal Deal will outlive its original four-week plan for the majority of restaurants. According to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg, roughly 93 percent of U.S. stores have committed to keeping the bundle on menus beyond the initial run rate, which began June 25. Timetables will vary, the publication said, with some electing to keep the deal through August.

CMO Tariq Hassan and Myra Doria, McDonald’s national field president, signed the message, which noted the $5 Meal Deal, a lineup that includes a McDouble or McChicken, small fries, four-piece Chicken McNuggets, and a small drink, has met the company’s objective of igniting traffic as value-minded customers pull back in light of inflation. “Driving guest counts ultimately propels our business and is the key to sustained growth,” the letter read.

The memo added McDonald’s isn’t done addressing value. It plans to focus on affordability through the rest of the calendar and could extend this offer even further. McDonald’s also said it was exploring extended hours of operation to capture off-peak demand, Bloomberg reported.

MORE: How is McDonald’s $5 Meal Deal Performing? It’s a Mixed Bag

McDonald’s will report Q2 earnings a week from Monday. It’s bankable “value” will factor deeply into the call as the industry grapples with rising prices from both sides.

Full-service restaurant prices, according to the BLS, rose 0.6 percent, year-over-year, in June. That was up 3.9 percent annually. Quick service climbed 0.2 percent higher in the month and 4.3 percent so far this year. Food-at-home prices, meanwhile, lifted 0.1 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

For McDonald’s, the brand has acknowledged softness from the $45,000 and under demographic going back into last fiscal year. It’s had to release statements tackling erroneous reports of price surges over recent years, with some headlines claiming McDonald’s raised figures north of 100 percent on items like the Big Mac. McDonald’s called these examples an exception rather than a rule.

Still, the chain admitted the need to deepen its value proposition to meet the times, which is where the $5 Meal deal rolled into focus in late June. Early reports showed the best traffic Tuesday of the year at launch, but some rocky trends as well, including guests tacking on 20 percent digital discounts to weaken margin lines for operators.

Franchisees told BTIG analyst Peter Saleh traffic remained tepid in Q2 as McDonald’s lapped its wildly popular Grimace promotion from last year. As far as value goes, operators informed Saleh there were “rumblings a national marketing extension could be happening in the coming weeks.”

And worth noting as well, it’s likely the current deal points to something more lasting in the future as “the price wars and deep discounting will continue through the summer and likely for the balance of the year,” Saleh said.

McDonald’s in Q1 reported 2 percent global same-store sales growth—the brand’s 13th straight quarter of positive figures, with 30 percent growth over the past four years. The U.S. increased 2.5 percent thanks to average check growth, menu price increases, effective marketing campaigns featuring core menu items, and continued expansion of digital and delivery.

Fast Food, Finance, Menu Innovations, Story, McDonald's