The fast-food giant McDonald’s is currently testing a new approach with its digital menu boards: ads from other brands. The trial runs through a limited pilot where these ads appear on restaurant screens after customers have ordered. That means McDonald’s can display extra content while diners wait for their food to be prepared.
The company confirmed the test 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 centre of every visit,” a McDonald’s spokesperson said.
The Scale of McDonald’s Screens
The test is small for now, but the potential audience is enormous. McDonald’s has more than 13,700 restaurants across the US, and the company serves roughly 26 million people in the US each day.
Over the course of roughly a decade, McDonald’s has built out its digital systems across thousands of locations. The company started installing digital menu boards around ten years ago as part of a larger push to update its restaurants, and by 2019 those boards were up and running at more than 11,000 US drive-thrus.
Inside many restaurants, digital boards sit alongside touchscreen kiosks used for ordering, offering McDonald’s multiple spots to show ads.
A Grocery Model for Fast Food
Businesses follow a model long used by grocery retailers, selling advertising space across both physical and digital properties. Customer data is then used to help advertisers target and measure their campaigns.
According to a survey by McKinsey & Co, retail media can make up anywhere from 3% to 10% of a grocer’s total profit. A separate study from Forrester Consulting showed that fast-food restaurants tend to trail retailers when it comes to converting customer data and interactions into advertising businesses.
Why McDonald’s Is Testing This Now
As part of its push to expand its US operations, McDonald’s is exploring a particular strategy, with this trial serving as one component of that broader effort.
The pace of comparable sales growth slowed to its weakest rate in over a year during the latest quarter. In response, the firm is placing greater emphasis on value, alongside announcing plans to upgrade restaurants and enhance both food quality and customer service.
McDonald’s is scheduled to hold its first investor day in three years on September 23, where shareholders are expected to receive more details about the company’s plans for its US business.
What the Ads Might Look Like
At this point, only company-owned restaurants are included in the test, leaving franchisees out of it entirely.
The company states that the ads are “post-purchase content that customers may find helpful, relevant, or interesting.”
Monopoly Is Back, Too
Another major promotion arrives at the same time as the advertising test. The return of Monopoly is official, set for October 6, bringing back physical peel-off pieces and prizes that run from free food and rewards points all the way up to vacations, vehicles, and a $1 million cash prize.
Prizes must be redeemed through the McDonald’s app, and it is also where customers collect their properties.
What This Means for McDonald’s
A clever strategy is at play here: McDonald’s has built up its digital setup over years, and now that system of screens stretches across the nation, ready to carry advertisements.
According to the McKinsey survey, the model appears viable. Forrester’s research, however, indicates that quick-service restaurants have been hesitant to embrace it.
This company owns a huge digital network, and it is searching for methods to turn that network into a source of revenue.
The Numbers Behind the Test
- More than 13,700 McDonald’s restaurants across the US
- Roughly 26 million people served in the US each day
- More than 11,000 US drive-thrus with digital menu boards by 2019
- McKinsey survey: retail media accounts for 3% to 10% of grocers’ total profit
- Forrester: quick-service restaurants lag behind retailers in turning customer data into advertising businesses
- Monopoly returns October 6
- Investor day September 23
The Takeaway
McDonald’s is testing ads on menu screens while customers wait for food. The company says it is exploring “post-purchase content” that customers may find helpful, relevant, or interesting.
It remains unclear whether this counts as a genuine product ad or merely a helpful health tip. What is certain is the company’s trajectory: McDonald’s owns a huge digital network, and it is actively exploring how to leverage that network for profit.
Though modest in scale, the experiment has a huge potential audience. Should it succeed, McDonald’s would have transformed its outlets into a nationwide advertising network. Regardless of the outcome, the fast-food chain is demonstrating that the future of the industry is not solely about selling hamburgers. It is about selling space.
Source material: “McDonald’s tests putting ads on menu screens while customers wait for food,” Dexerto.
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