McDonald's Wants to Build a $1 Billion Ad Business

The next time you order a McDonald’s burger, don’t be surprised if it comes with an ad. During an investor day presentation on Wednesday, McDonald’s leadership revealed that it is rolling out McDonald’s Media Network, an ad business that will pitch its data to other brands. McDonald’s hopes to build a $1 billion business off of advertising revenue, according to Morgan Flatley, global chief marketing officer at McDonald’s. “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,” Flatley said in the presentation. “You've seen the power and potency of our marketing model. When more customers choose us, we have to meet them with great food, speed, convenience, and an experience that feels worth it.” McDonald’s has 70 million daily customers globally, according to Flatley. This gives McDonald’s the ability to target groups of consumers at different times of the day with personalized offers. McDonald’s Media Network will place ads within its app, kiosks, menu boards, and in restaurants. The fast food chain began testing McDonald’s Media Network in 450 company-owned stores in the U.S. in August, Flatley said, adding that there is also an opportunity for ads to be used by franchised locations. McDonald’s did not immediately respond to a request for further details about McDonald’s Media Network. Biting into commerce media McDonald’s is the newest company to enter commerce media, and faces tough competition for ad dollars. Commerce media spend will hit $84 billion in the U.S. this year, according to Emarketer. However, Emarketer also expects for Amazon and Walmart to grab 89% of incremental spending this year. McDonald’s fits into the growing non-retail category of commerce media players, which also includes financial and travel companies like JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Uber, and PayPal. Similar to retailers, these companies pitch their troves of data to target specific groups of consumers. The chain's intention to hit $1 billion in ad revenue would make it one of the bigger players beyond Walmart and Amazon. Target’s advertising arm, Roundel, made $915 million while Macy’s made $188 million from ad revenue last year. Uber’s ad revenue topped $2 billion in 2025. Independent retail media analyst Andrew Lipsman said that $1 billion is “a credible opportunity” for McDonald’s because of the chain’s large physical footprint. “For McDonald's, they have a massive in-store network of 14,000 stores to work with—that's more than almost any U.S. retailer,” he said. “McDonald's also gets a lot of foot traffic and drive-thru traffic, so there's plenty of scale that's attractive to national advertisers.” McDonald’s also already has a steady stream of commercial partnerships to build ad revenue off of, like Netflix and Disney. “I’m not overly optimistic about a lot of the commerce media networks out there right now, but McDonald's is one that I think will work out,” Lipsman said.

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McDonald's Wants to Build a $1 Billion Ad Business

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Lauren Johnson

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