You may notice this the next time you're at a McDonald's drive-thru
The fast-food giant said during the company’s Investor Day presentation Sept. 23 that it is launching the McDonald’s Media Network, a new advertising business that will allow other companies to place ads across McDonald’s digital platforms and restaurant screens.
McDonald’s began testing the idea in August 2026 at 450 company-owned U.S. restaurants, the chain said during the presentation. This does not include franchisees which are independently owned and operated.
The pilot features advertising from other companies on digital drive-thru menu boards after customers place their orders.
Between this, dynamic pricing, and the god awful food and service, there is no reason to keep eating this trash.
If restaurants follow suit (seems like Asian restaurants usually go the trch route) you can kindly leave feedback to the owners (if it’s locally owned). They’re people after all
If you stop supporting unnecessary animal suffering you cut out a lot of unethical businesses like this from the start. I haven’t eaten there in years and wouldn’t bother if it were free.
There is Slutty Vegan as one I’m aware of because of the memorable name. Only a few locations but spread out.
I assume there aren’t many vegan/vegetarian chains with a lot of locations because I couldn’t find any with more than a dozen locstions, but they do exist.
Note: I eat meat and also enjoy a lot of meatless meals.
In a world where every fast food joint is vegan, this would still happen. I’m not pro meat, I just don’t like equating unrelated things. As soon as meat substitutes become profitable and marketable enough, McDs will switch to them. And they will continue to extract as much profit as they can.
They already started. Textured Vegetable Protein. It’s very profitable. Every time I bring this the focus shifts to that I eat meat. Completely ignoring that all sorts of fillers are being used, some of which aren’t even disclosed and at a certain point you wonder what percentage of it is actually meat. It’s kind of like my late dogs treats had wood pulp mixed in.
Not if the companies that implement this suffer financially. I had already stopped going to McDonalds for other reasons, but this is just another reason to avoid it.
I do go to fast-food once in a while, but in my experience McDonald’s is really the worst of them, mediocre is too generous. Not any cheaper for basically cardboard.
I’m not saying local is cheaper per say - I’m saying local is now comparably priced for better food. I can eat at good diner for the same price as McDonald’s now. The point of fast food was always cheap and fast over quality. Now all it offers is fast and even that is not a given. It’s just not worth it anymore.
There is a mexican food truck that will give me two meals worth of food for $10. I haven’t eaten “fast” food in a long time, but I live in the city. There is an indian grocery store that sells samosas, as well as other items, hot and ready.
I would rather hit a Quick Trip or Circle K before I would touch McDonald’s or any YUM! brand, basically any fast food or chain. And I am still not keen on gas station food. I eat from locally owned if I eat out, usually. (grabbing food while going on site at work will cause me to make exceptions: still won’t do McDonald’s. I have done Arby’s if they have a good deal, or Subway has a good meal of the day).
Chipotle is stellar if something prepared and warm is needed and you have a fridge+microwave where you’re staying. Ask for extra beans and rice, get a bunch of salsa (and a cup on the side) and a pack of cheap tortillas from another store. You can get four or more meals at 300-400cal each from one bowl, more if you have some cheap chips and salsa with it!
If you have a stove and lettuce, you can really “fancy” it up—plop two spoonfuls of bowl stuff on a tortilla, wrap it up tight, and shallow fry each side until brown. Mmmmmm
Because your hotel room doesn’t have the means to prepare those ingredients. Or you’re homeless and only have access to a fridge and microwave, if you’re lucky. Or your shit is broken. I did say “if something prepared and warm is needed,” which kinda disqualifies buying all the ingredients and making it yourself.
Has McDonald’s everywhere been converted to cooking the food by order instead of pre-making a bunch of food, or is it just where I live?
I like their food these days, tastes pretty good. 🤷♂️ Complete overhaul of freshness, main ingredients. High quality IMO, much better than Burger King where I live, e.g.
Yeah, it’s not at all bad food IMO. Burger King by comparison is shit, where I live. I actually like the fries at McDonald’s nowadays, since they started cooking to order.
It might not be that way where you live, but in my town, and in MY opinion, McDonald’s tastes better than Burger King. We have 1 MD and 1 BK. Not too much to go on statistics wise, but oh well.
But out of all the large fast food franchises in my town, the single Burger King is probably the worst one to get a burger at here, ngl. We have a very popular local, national burger joint franchise which is close to 60 years old now. That one trumps BK and MD by a mile.
But of course, just go to any truly local spots that do smash burgers and you’ll beat the big ones by a parsec. So good.
I think franchisees have a lot of leeway as to how things are run, down to some of the suppliers. It makes sense to me that it varies by location. The downside is that if I’m used to it being bad (which I am) then it taints every other location for me. I don’t know whether McDs or Sonic is going to be ok versus awful and I pay the same either way so if I have literally any other choice I’m not going to gamble on it.
Quite understandable. I rarely gamble with ordering food. If I’m paying money for someone to cook me something to eat, I want to know that I’ll like it.
I refuse to believe that making every single drive through order pull up and park makes the experience better for anyone. It’s about artificially driving down wait time metrics by making us wait more inconveniently for everyone. Nonetheless, I’m sure they will be happy to install ad screens in their numbered parking spots.
I’ve recently been to Five Guys for the first time and holy fuck, it was so much better than anything I’ve ever eaten at McDanooj. I’d say it’s about as good as fast food can get even.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still slop, but it’s damn good slop.
I definately was at them post covid and then when egg prices surged their breakfast sandwiches were a relatively good deal I think because of previous contracts they had. That I think was the last point where I was going to them. I actually remember after that I was running home while my wife was in the hospital to let the dog out before coming back and broke down as I needed something to eat quick. man I regretted it. should have just picked up a protein bar.
McDonald must be panicking a little bit after recent financial reports. They have lost a lot of business from their consumers buying something ‘cheap and quick’.
I’m usually not going to spend $15-$20 on a McValueless meal when I can go somewhere else for that price. Let’s not forget the everyday struggle McDonalds employees have when it comes to putting your entire meal and sauces in the bag at the drive through. Don’t drive away and come back to tell them or you will have a manager interrogating you as if you’re trying to steal some gourmet shit.
How about you train your employees better or take your job less serious because you’re just another disposable employee to McDonald’s. This situation definitely didn’t happen to me the last time I went there. I’m not salty about trusting McDonald’s is competent enough to give me what I pay for without having to argue about it.
The fact that McDonald’s is struggling is a symptom of the K-shaped economy. Let’s be real, McDonald’s is where the poors and middle class eat. If the poors and the middle class are doing worse financially, McDonald’s is a discretionary expense that is going to get cut. If McDonald’s wants to survive, they better figure out some new products and markets to expand into where people have disposable income to spend.
You’re probably right. Definitely a sign of the economy doing bad for too long. McDonald’s diluting their product so much that it’s become subpar by fast food standards hasn’t helped.
This is desperation as much as saying water is wet. Fast food has exceeded it’s peak and is crumbling. People aren’t getting excited for fillers; and this goes to a lot of things like frozen food. I’m not sure what exactly is being used as a filler that makes pretty much everything taste and feel like putting a bar of soap in your mouth, but that will lead to their downfall. And it’s not me; everything tastes great whenever I’m overseas… even the McDonalds.
I think that got ramped up in 2020. I did get the 'vid and food started tasting weird. Then I went out on a limb and started cooking at home; I watch a bunch of gugas videos and started grilling my own steaks and I can’t turn back to ordering a steak at a restaurant anymore. Though there is an exception to getting meat overseas.
Home cooked meals are still the best. I agree with food from restaurants declining after 2020. Restaurants must have been hit pretty hard trying to maintain prices with grocery prices constantly changing. I’m gonna have to come over to try your steak one day lol
hah you’re welcome to come over. I’ll eventually get around to making cooking videos like everyone but my focus is to make things restaurant quality but at home. I swear some steaks didn’t make it to even taking pictures. I might actually apply for the open positions guga has since he’s nearby me. I’ve got some recipes and techniques he hasn’t explored yet.
Anyone else see the illusion in the thumbnail? for the longest time I was staring at it, seeing the perspective looking down at the corner of the building, probably a drive through on the bottom left out of frame. sign faces to the right… read the article, look back up, now the perspective is looking up from the sidewalk, sign pointing left.
Meh, I’ll stick with In-N-Out if I want a burger and fries. At least their employees are paid better, the food is better quality, and they don’t pull “make number go” up bullshit like this.
I don’t know if it still applies, but back in 2008 when I still lived near one a double-double and fries was only a dollar or two more than a double quarter meal at McDonald’s.
why on earth would I be at an american-owned fast food chain that is renowned for serving overpriced crap out together by somebody who couldn’t give a half a fuck about the burger being even moderately presentable?
oh, and the drive thru? I haven’t been in one of those in years. I’ll walk inside, thanks, then bitch about how they’re prioritizing drive thru customers over the one person literally standing in front of them
Furthermore if you’re American then you can fuck off because your entire country is ruining the world, and i don’t want to hear ohh it’s not all of us blah blah blah.
Your government your people, think back to how you would deal with North Korea 10 years ago.
My favorite thing is that Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Isreal, Etc can mess with our elections, our media, and our politicians. And our allies wag a finger at us and tell us to fix it ourselves. Shitty allies.
I went vegetarian almost fifteen years ago and aside from a brief stint of working there out of desperation, I’ve had no reason to go in one because there’s nothing there I can eat (no McPlant in the US). I don’t miss it. At all. And from everything I’ve heard their food has only gotten worse in that time.
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No, there is no reason to be eating that trash, that hot candy masquerading as food. And yet people will continue to do so, because they are addicted to it. That word carries a lot of stigma, but it’s the fact.
