mcdonalds on Wednesday announced plans to follow in the footsteps of retail giants and build its own media network. Amazon and walmart.
In August, the company’s 450 U.S. restaurants began displaying ads from other companies on their digital drive-thru order boards as part of a pilot. The program is still in its infancy and has not yet been rolled out to franchisees operating the remaining approximately 14,000 stores in the United States.
Still, McDonald’s is hopeful that it could eventually grow into a billion-dollar business for the company.
“Commercial media is one of the fastest growing segments of advertising, expected to reach more than $100 billion in the U.S. alone by 2028,” Morgan Flatley, McDonald’s global chief marketing officer and executive vice president of new business, said in an investor presentation.
“This is an opportunity to generate revenue for the system with little additional cost, no operational complexity, and no disruption to the customer experience,” Flatley added.
The move could ultimately provide McDonald’s with steady, high-margin revenue as the cost of key ingredients like beef rises and the chain plans to invest billions of dollars in restaurant upgrades over the next decade.
In the restaurant industry, McDonald’s will be a pioneer in building its own media network. CFO Ian Bowden said the company was uniquely positioned for success.
“We have one of the most valuable brands of any company of any size in any industry,” Borden told CNBC. “We have a very unique reach because we serve approximately 85% of the U.S. population at least once a year, and we have 14,000 locations across the United States. This means we are in every community and connected to every consumer.”
Retailers such as Amazon and Walmart have found success running their own media networks, which tend to be high-margin businesses. Amazon reported advertising service sales of $68.6 billion in 2025, accounting for just under 10% of the company’s overall sales. Amazon’s ads run across the company’s portfolio, from shopping pages to Prime Video, lockers and live streaming platform Twitch, as well as third-party apps and websites.
Walmart does not release specific sales results for its advertising division, but the company said sales at its U.S. advertising business, Connect, rose 43% in the second quarter. The retailer’s media network advertises on its app, website, and within its more than 4,600 U.S. stores, as well as external apps like Instagram. The company also acquired TV maker Vizio in late 2024 with an eye toward advertising business.
McDonald’s latest venture was announced as part of the company’s investor day held at its Chicago headquarters. In addition to media networks, executives shared more details about plans to boost sales through expensive restaurant upgrades and improved food quality.
