McDonald's plans to create its own media network to display third-party businesses' ads.

Its company-owned U.S. restaurants have begun displaying ads on its digital drive-thru order boards.

Retailers like Amazon and Walmart have found success running high-margin media networks.

McDonald's on Wednesday announced plans to create its own media network, following in the footsteps of retail giants like Amazon and Walmart .

In August, 450 of its company-owned U.S. restaurants began displaying advertising for other companies on its digital drive-thru order boards as part of a pilot. It is early days for the program, which has not yet rolled out to the franchisees who operate the rest of its roughly 14,000 U.S. locations.

Still, McDonald's hopes that it could eventually grow to be a $1 billion business for the company.

"Commerce media is one of the fastest-growing areas in advertising, and it's 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 ventures, said during an investor presentation.

"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 added.

The move could eventually bring McDonald's a steady stream of high-margin revenue as costs for key inputs like beef climb and as the chain plans to invest billions of dollars in restaurant upgrades over the next decade.

In the restaurant industry, McDonald's would be a pioneer for creating its own media network. CFO Ian Borden said that the company is uniquely positioned to make it a success.

"We have one of the most valuable brands of any company of our size and scale in any industry," Borden told CNBC. "We serve about 85% of the U.S. population at least once a year, so we have reach that's quite unique, and we have 14,000 locations across the U.S., which means we're in every community, and we're connecting with every consumer."

Retailers like Amazon and Walmart have found success running their own media networks, which tend to be high-margin businesses. Amazon reported $68.6 billion in advertising service sales in 2025, accounting for just under 10% of the company's overall revenue. Amazon's ads appear across its portfolio, from its shopping pages to Prime Video to lockers and live streaming platform Twitch, as well as third-party apps and websites.

Walmart does not share specific sales results for its advertising unit, but the company said that Connect, its U.S. ad business, grew sales 43% in its fiscal second quarter . The retailer's media network shows ads on its app, website and inside its more than 4,600 U.S. stores, plus outside apps like Instagram. It also bought TV maker Vizio in late 2024 with an eye toward its ad business.

McDonald's newest venture was announced as part of the company's investor day , which was hosted at its Chicago headquarters. In addition to the media network, executives shared more details about plans to grow sales through pricey restaurant upgrades and better food quality.

麦当劳计划打造自己的媒体网络，用于展示第三方企业的广告。

其在美国的自营餐厅已开始在数字得来速点餐屏上展示广告。

像亚马逊和沃尔玛这样的零售商，在运营高利润率的媒体网络方面已取得了成功。

麦当劳周三宣布计划打造自己的媒体网络，效仿亚马逊和沃尔玛等零售巨头的做法。

今年 8 月，该公司旗下 450 家美国直营餐厅开始在其数字得来速点餐屏上展示其他企业的广告，作为试点项目的一部分。该项目目前仍处于早期阶段，尚未推广至特许经营商，这些特许经营商负责运营该公司在美国其余约 1.4 万家门店。

尽管如此，麦当劳仍希望这项业务最终能发展为公司价值 10 亿美元的业务。

" 商业媒体是广告业中增长最快的领域之一，预计到 2028 年仅在美国市场规模就将超过 1000 亿美元，" 麦当劳全球首席营销官兼新业务执行副总裁摩根 · 弗拉特利在一次投资者演示中表示。

弗拉特利补充道：" 这是一个为系统创收的机会，几乎不会增加额外成本，不会带来运营复杂性，也不会影响我们的客户体验。"

这一举措最终可能为麦当劳带来稳定的高利润率收入，尤其是在牛肉等关键原材料成本攀升之际，且该公司计划在未来十年内投入数十亿美元用于餐厅升级。

在餐饮行业中，麦当劳将成为创建自有媒体网络的先驱。首席财务官伊恩 · 博登表示，该公司具有独特的优势，能够确保这一举措取得成功。

博登告诉 CNBC：" 在同等规模和体量的公司中，我们拥有全行业最具价值的品牌之一。我们每年至少为约 85% 的美国人口提供服务，因此我们的覆盖范围相当独特。我们在全美拥有 14,000 个门店，这意味着我们遍布每个社区，并与每一位消费者建立联系。"

亚马逊和沃尔玛等零售商在运营自家媒体网络方面取得了成功，这类业务往往利润率较高。2025 年，亚马逊公布的广告服务销售额达到 686 亿美元，占公司总营收的近一成。亚马逊的广告遍布其各类平台，从购物页面到 Prime Video，再到储物柜和直播平台 Twitch，同时也覆盖第三方应用和网站。

沃尔玛并未公布其广告业务的具体销售数据，但该公司表示，其美国广告业务 Connect 在第二财季的销售额增长了 43%。这家零售商的媒体网络在其应用程序、网站以及全美超过 4600 家门店内展示广告，同时也在 Instagram 等外部应用上投放广告。此外，沃尔玛还于 2024 年底收购了电视制造商 Vizio，意在拓展其广告业务。

麦当劳的最新业务是在其芝加哥总部举办的投资者日上公布的。除了媒体网络之外，公司高管还分享了更多关于通过昂贵的餐厅升级和提升食品质量来促进销售增长的计划细节。