McDonald's is testing a media network that would sell advertising space on its digital menu boards, both in drive-thrus and inside restaurants. The company confirmed the pilot at its Investor Day presentation, where it showed a Geico ad running on a drive-thru menu board. According to reporting cited by DailyDOOH, the testing is currently live at more than 450 locations.

For anyone running digital menu board networks, this is a significant signal. McDonald's is one of the largest single deployers of digital signage in the world, with 46,000 locations globally and about 13,700 in the US, serving what the company says is 70 million customers a day. If it moves from testing to full rollout, it would be one of the biggest retail media launches built on existing menu board hardware rather than new screens.

McDonald's Global Chief Marketing Officer Morgan Flatley described the appeal in operational terms, saying the media network is "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." That framing matters to operators elsewhere in the industry: the pitch is that ad revenue can be layered onto screens already doing a job, without new capital spend or added friction at the point of order.

McDonald's CFO Ian Borden pointed to the chain's reach as the basis for the opportunity, noting the company interacts with about 85% of the US population at least once a year. McDonald's has said internally that the network could eventually generate $1 billion a year in revenue, according to the report, though the announcement does not say over what timeframe or how that figure was calculated.

One open question the report flags: about 95% of McDonald's US restaurants are franchised, not company-owned, and the testing so far is happening only in company-operated locations. McDonald's has not said how ad revenue would be split with franchisees, or who would control what appears on menu boards in franchised stores. That is a real operational and legal question before any wider rollout, since menu boards in franchise locations are typically tied to brand and pricing compliance, not third-party ad sales.

Jonathan Frohlinger, CEO of adtech platform Big Happy, told DailyDOOH he expects this kind of monetization to spread beyond major chains, including to independent storefront retailers looking to generate revenue from existing screens. For digital signage vendors and CMS providers, a McDonald's-scale rollout would be a strong proof point for menu board ad insertion as a category, though the specifics of ad serving, targeting, and measurement on this network have not been disclosed.

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The announcement in full

Reproduced from DailyDOOH for reference. Digital Signage Magazine did not write the text below.

McDonald’s Testing A #DOOH Media Network

There has been much talk this past week whether, we quote “McDonald’s may turn its menu boards into billboards” and even Bloomberg reported Tuesday (September 22) that “McDonald’s is testing placing ads from other brands on the digital menu boards in its drive-thrus and in its restaurants” .

The fast-food giant is actively testing a media network , in which the company leverages its screen assets to sell advertising to other companies.

At McDonald’s Investor Day presentation last Wednesday, the company highlighted a Geico ad on one of the chain’s drive-thru menu boards and we understand that the media testing is ongoing at 450+ locations.

McDonald’s Global Chief Marketing Officer Morgan Flatley said at the company’s Investor Day presentation “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” .

McDonald’s seems to believe that its media network could ultimately generate USD 1 billion in revenue per year. The company’s restaurants serve 70 million customers a day via 46,000 global locations, including 13,700 in the U.S.

Jonathan Frohlinger , CEO of the creative-first omnichannel adtech platform Big Happy, sees this type of media network extending beyond major restaurant chains and when we spoke to him he told us “The world of DOOH is so untapped from marketers’ perspectives and getting to the POS closer than any other medium can be right on par with POP displays. The technology and creative growth in the space over the next few years will help marketers realize what a place this is to take advantage and spend in and all things callout that this medium drives significant more consideration and purchase intent than that good ol television. Smart marketers will continue to find this as a place to spend more in and win more in. Another huge place we will see this in the USA is regular storefront retailers who realize they can monetize their store better with screens there. Highly effective strategy to again reach consumers and also help out a significant amount of mom and pop retailers.”

Ian Borden , McDonalds CFO said in an interview “Our brand is one of the most valuable in the world of any category or any industry, and we have more physical proximity than any other brand. We’re interacting with about 85% of the U.S. population at least once a year. So I think all those things mean we have a really interesting opportunity that’s going to allow us to generate more revenue over time. Right now we’re just learning, and we’re learning in company restaurants because we’ve got to figure out if we have an opportunity, and how we execute that,””

The testing is in ‘company restaurants’ at the moment because McDonald’s is also a franchise, and in 95% of cases the stores are owned by franchisees, we figure then, that McDonalds has not yet decided who would get the revenue from any ads (or what any revenue split might be)!

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