Even if they pay for ad-free experiences on their streaming apps, McDonald’s customers cruising through the drive through might soon experience a throwback experience: being stuck watching commercials.
During its Investor Day event last week, the fast food giant announced that it was already testing a pilot program for the ads across 450 company-owned restaurants as part of its plan to establish the McDonald’s Media Network. These advertisements pop up on the drive-through menu boards.
“We’re at the beginning of our aspirations to build McDonald’s Media Network into a $1 billion business across the McDonald’s system, over time,” said Morgan Flatley, executive vice president and global chief marketing officer at the company. She added that “it’s an opportunity to generate revenue for the system with little in the way of additional costs, no operational complexity and no disruption to our customer experience.”
However, both the New York Post and The Takeout noted that many responses to the plan on social media were negative. One poster on X compared the ads to “un-skippable” YouTube ads and another on Reddit likened the move to the 2006 film “Idiocracy”.
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - OCTOBER 23: A customer waits to order from the breakfast menu in the Drive Thru lane at a McDonald’s restaurant on October 23, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images“This limited menu board advertising pilot at select company-owned restaurants is exploring ways to share post-purchase content that customers may find helpful, relevant, or interesting, while ensuring the McDonald’s experience remains at the center of every visit,” McDonald’s Corporation told People magazine in an emailed statement about the plan.
McDonald’s also noted that it routinely has tested different pilot programs throughout its history. Other major companies like Amazon and Walmart have already established their own media networks, but McDonald’s would be a pioneer in the fast food space, according to CNBC.
“The move could eventually bring McDonald’s a steady stream of high-margin revenue as costs for key inputs like beef climb and as the chain plans to invest billions of dollars in restaurant upgrades over the next decade,” the outlet said.
During its Investor Day event, McDonald’s also highlighted its goal to become “the first choice” for more customers with its “NEXT” strategy. Last week, Audacy also reported on McDonald’s bringing back its MONOPOLY game that offers customers prizes, including a $1 million grand prize.
