McDonald's Pilots Third-Party Ads on Drive-Thru Digital Menu Boards
2026-10-01 · via AV Magazine
McDonald's is running a pilot that places third-party advertising on its digital drive-thru menu boards, kiosks and in-restaurant screens at 450 company-owned restaurants in the US. The test, which has been underway for about a month, also extends to the McDonald's app, according to the company. For an industry built on retail media and DOOH ad sales, this is a signal that one of the largest quick-service operators in the world wants a share of that revenue.
The effort is called the McDonald's Media Network. Morgan Flatley, the company's global chief marketing officer and executive vice-president of new business ventures, told an investor presentation in Chicago that McDonald's wants to turn the network into a billion-dollar business, according to a CNBC report cited in the announcement. Flatley framed it as commerce media, a category she said is expected to pass $100 billion in US ad spend by 2028.
Flatley's pitch to investors was that the network can generate revenue "with little in the way of additional cost, no operational complexity and no disruption to our customer experience," because it uses screens and devices McDonald's has already installed for ordering.
A McDonald's spokesperson gave a more cautious description to Bloomberg, calling it a "limited menu board advertising pilot" at select company-owned restaurants that is testing "post-purchase content that customers may find helpful, relevant or interesting." That wording suggests the ads McDonald's is testing may run after an order is placed rather than competing for attention during the ordering decision itself, though the announcement does not specify ad placement, format, or which brands are involved.
For operators and vendors in digital signage, this pilot matters because it points to where large chains see untapped value in hardware they already paid for. Drive-thru boards and kiosks have mostly been used to sell McDonald's own menu and run upsell prompts. Opening that inventory to outside advertisers puts McDonald's in the same business as Walmart Connect, Amazon's retail media arm, and grocery chains that have turned checkout and aisle screens into ad inventory. It also raises questions the announcement does not answer: how ads will be targeted, whether franchisees who do not own company stores will get access to the network, and what cut of revenue, if any, flows back to restaurant operators.
The pilot is limited to company-owned restaurants, which make up a minority of McDonald's roughly 13,000-plus US locations, most of which are franchised. The announcement does not say when or whether the network will expand beyond the test group, what the 450-restaurant pilot has shown so far, or what technology platform is running the ad delivery. McDonald's has not named a timeline for a wider rollout.
The announcement in full
Reproduced from AV Magazine for reference. Digital Signage Magazine did not write the text below.
By AV Magazine in Digital Signage and DOOH , Leisure and Hospitality , US&Canada September 30, 2026 0
The McDonald’s Media Network pilot uses drive-thru menu boards, kiosks, in-restaurant displays and its app to test third-party ads as a new revenue stream at 450 restaurants in the US.
McDonald’s plans to following in the footsteps of retail giants such as Amazon and Walmart by developing a media network that involves advertising other businesses on its digital drive-thru displays.
The fast-food giant hopes to build the McDonald’s Media Network into a billion-dollar business by showing ads from other brands while customers are waiting for their order.
The company has been piloting the initiative over the past month at 450 company-owned restaurants across the US.
The ads from third-party brands are shown across digital customer touchpoints including drive-thru order boards, kiosks, other restaurant-based screens and the McDonald’s app.
Morgan Flatley, McDonald’s global chief marketing officer and executive vice-president of new business ventures, said the initiative could create another revenue stream from assets already woven into the customer journey.
“Commerce media is one of the fastest-growing areas in advertising, and it’s expected to reach more than $100bn in the US alone by 2028,” he said last week at an investor presentation day in Chicago reported by CNBC .
“It’s an opportunity to generate revenue for the system with little in the way of additional cost, no operational complexity and no disruption to our customer experience.”
A McDonald’s spokesperson said in an email to Bloomberg : “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.”