McDonald’s Tests Ads — or ‘Post-Purchase Content’ — for Other Brands on Menu Screens After You Place Your Order
McDonald’s is testing advertisements from other brands on digital menu screens at select company-owned U.S. restaurants, displaying the ads during the waiting period after customers place their orders. According to Bloomberg, the fast food chain is exploring this strategy to generate additional revenue from its approximately 13,700 U.S. locations by monetizing the seconds or minutes customers spend waiting for their food.
A McDonald’s spokesperson described the initiative as a “limited menu board advertising pilot” designed to share “post-purchase content that customers may find helpful, relevant, or interesting,” while maintaining McDonald’s as the primary focus of the restaurant experience. The pilot represents the company’s effort to capitalize on a previously untapped advertising window—the post-order waiting period—as a new revenue stream.