How McDonald’s is rewriting the retail media menu

McDonald's customers will soon be seeing third-party ads as the fast-food giant prepares to test its own retail media network in the US, with long-term plans to scale it into a US$1 billion business across its system.

The network is being developed as a new revenue stream for McDonald’s and its franchisees, with global CMO and head of new business ventures Morgan Flatley describing it as the first example of how the company plans to create new value for its customer and media assets.

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“Commerce media is one of the fastest-growing areas in advertising and is expected to reach more than US$100 billion in the US alone by 2028,” Flatley said during McDonald’s Investor Day on 23 September.

“We are at the beginning of our aspiration to build McDonald’s Media Network into a billion-dollar business across the McDonald’s system over time," she added.  The network builds on McDonald’s existing customer relationships and owned media footprint. The company has more than 70 million daily customers globally, and nearly 220 million 90-day active loyalty customers across 70 markets.

Rewriting the retail media playbook

With more than 46,000 restaurants globally and US$139.4 billion in system-wide sales last year, McDonald's possesses a scale that few consumer brands can match, according to Basil Chua, managing director at Multiverse Partners. Chua added that many other enterprise with high footfall, broad distribution, and a robust loyalty programmes are now considering similar moves. 

For example, Delta is currently building out media capabilities and hiring for its new network, while United Airlines previously launched Kinective Media to connect travellers with personalised ads based on travel behaviours.

For McDonald's, Chua highlighted that the primary advertising opportunity lies in reaching adult consumers through non-endorsed categories. For instance, drive-thru screens, self-ordering kiosks, and mobile apps could feature promotions from tourism boards, airline fare sales, or streaming service offers once an order is completed.

McDonald's entry matters because it reframes what retail media can be, said Ranganathan Somanathan, global chief strategy officer, billups.

"McDonald's has something structurally different: cultural context. The Golden Arches carry decades of emotional encoding; family rituals, childhood memory, everyday comfort," said Somanathan. That context doesn't just reach an audience - it colours how a brand appearing within it is perceived.

"We'll see more brands pursue retail media, but the ones that move beyond CPM arbitrage toward context-led partnerships will define the next chapter of the category," he added. 

Somanathan added that the US$1 billion revenue target is achievable, provided McDonald's maintains a focus on the customer experience that makes the environment valuable in the first place.

“Extending beyond the app into in-restaurant screens and drive-thru digital panels is the natural next step - that's where the upper and mid-funnel story gets physical scale, and where McDonald's media network starts to look less like a retail media play and more like one of the most contextually rich out-of-home environments in the world," he added.

Leela Nair, managing director APAC & MEA at Ebiquity, emphasised the broader market context driving this strategy. She noted that APAC retail media is forecast to reach US$75.5 billion in 2026 - roughly double the size of linear TV in the region - and is projected to grow to approximately US$110 billion by 2031. "In the US, commerce media revenues reached US$63.4 billion in 2025, up 18% year-on-year," Nair added.

Nair noted that while scale and transactional signals give McDonald's clear media value, advertisers will increasingly look beyond raw reach to evaluate audience differentiation, contextual relevance, and incremental business impact.

How will the retail media landscape evolve?

McDonald’s entry into retail media mirrors broader moves across the retail and hospitality sectors. In Hong Kong, DFI Retail Group recently acquired out-of-home specialists Cody Outdoor and Buspak Advertising to expand its physical advertising footprint. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven Australia is also launching a dedicated retail media network spanning more than 760 stores, its My 7-Eleven loyalty programme and digital channels.

While in Singapore, FairPrice Group launched 'FPG ADvantage' last year, an omnichannel retail media network aiming to connect brands with consumers across every part of their daily lives from shopping and dining to digital engagement.

Chua said non-traditional media owners open up audiences that publishers can't easily reach: audiences who are waiting, ordering, or travelling. “That brings in brand budgets, but it also exposes the measurement gap. If an airline runs an ad at a drive-through, there's nothing to show whether a seat was sold."

The networks that win will offer audited, data-driven audience measurement, as any responsible publisher does.

Somanathan added one area to look out for is that retail media industry is often at risk of replicating the same race to the bottom that damaged programmatic display, an over-index on measurable last-touch attribution at the expense of brand-building value.

"McDonald's has a genuine opportunity to model a different approach: one where the media environment's emotional and cultural weight is treated as inventory, not just the data layer sitting on top of it. That reframes the competitive logic."

As more non-traditional players enter the space, advertisers face growing fragmentation across isolated networks with varying buying processes, ad formats, and reporting metrics.

To succeed long-term, media owners must balance revenue generation with customer trust, said Phang Chee Leong, CEO and co-founder of Innity. "Consistent measurement and easier coordination across partners will become essential. Media owners must also balance ad revenue with user trust by prioritising data privacy, experience quality, and brand relevance.

Ultimately, the next era of retail media will belong to those who seamlessly connect media, content, communities, and commerce to deliver proven business impact.

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