McDonald’s Tests Ads From Other Brands on Digital Menu Screens

McDonald’s is running a limited pilot that displays s for other brands on its digital menu boards after customers place their orders, the fast food chain confirmed to Bloomberg. The experiment is being rolled out at select company-owned restaurants across the United States, where the company hopes to generate additional revenue from the brief window — measured in seconds or minutes — that diners spend waiting for their food. With roughly 26 million Americans buying from the chain each day and the brand reaching nearly 90% of the country’s population annually, McDonald’s sees the captive audience as an opportunity to monetize a moment it otherwise would leave empty.

According to a spokesperson, the initiative is framed as a way to share content customers might find “helpful, relevant, or interesting,” while keeping the McDonald’s experience front and center. “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,” the spokesperson said. The ads appear on the digital menu screen following the transaction, meaning the primary menu and brand messaging still take priority before secondary content surfaces.

A Revenue Push Amid Slowing Growth

The advertising test arrives at a sensitive moment for the company. Bloomberg reported that McDonald’s sales are not growing as quickly as in prior years, and the chain is grappling with rising costs. In response, the corporation has outlined plans to renovate its restaurants and improve both food quality and customer service. The new ad pilot appears to be one more lever in a broader strategy to squeeze additional value from its 13,700 locations and the millions of daily transactions they process.

“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.”

McDonald’s spokesperson

A Mixed Reception From Customers

The news has landed unevenly with the public, and the reaction has been anything but unanimous. On the foodnews subreddit, one commenter wrote, “They’ll do anything except improve quality for the money.” Another took a sharper tone, arguing the chain is “losing customers at a rapid rate and they’re panicking trying to find methods in which to slow their descent down the st chute.” That person listed a string of grievances — raised prices, smaller portions, reduced quality, eliminated drink refills, higher point costs on the app, and the removal of front-lobby staff — before concluding that the new plan is to “assault the senses of their remaining customers with ads for trash bags and lip balm. This is like something straight out of Cyberpunk.”

The comparison to the dystopian sci-fi franchise has become a shorthand for the frustration many feel. “Oh… thanks, McDonald’s,” one person quipped, noting that modern Americans are “aren’t bombarded enough with ads as it is.” The sentiment suggests that forcing ads on a captive audience waiting in the drive-thru feels like a step backward for a brand that has long positioned itself as a familiar, comforting staple. The images circulating around the announcement, showing the digital menu boards in action, only amplified the debate.

Looking Ahead

There is no indication yet that the advertising test will be expanded to all stores nationwide. McDonald’s has not disclosed a timeline for a broader rollout, and the pilot remains confined to a handful of company-owned locations. As the experiment continues, the company will likely be watching customer engagement and sales data closely to determine whether the post-purchase ads deliver the revenue it hopes for without eroding the brand loyalty that has defined the business for decades.

Whether this pilot becomes a permanent feature or a short-lived experiment remains to be seen. For now, the digital menu boards at select McDonald’s restaurants are quietly testing a new way to turn a few extra seconds of waiting into a revenue stream — a move that has delighted some and irritated many.

Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images.