The numbers
$130 billion+ — Per its end-of-year financial update McDonald’s global sales for 2024 hit over $130 billion. Revenues were up by over $1 billion year-on-year.
-1.4% — Same-store sales in the U.S. were down 1.4% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2024, but they ticked up slightly, by 0.2%, for the full year.
2,200 — That’s the number of restaurants McDonald’s expects to open globally in 2025, with roughly 600 of those in the U.S.
Watercooler talk
To fight off sluggish sales, McDonald’s spent 2024 promoting low-cost food to inflation-weary customers. And 2025 will bring more of the same.
Other fast food brands including Taco Bell, Burger King, Wendy’s, Popeyes, and Dunkin’, have also been competing in these value wars using marketing tactics and menu updates to entice diners.
The Golden Arches limited-time $5 value meal McDonald’s debuted last June and has now been extended at least through the first half of 2025. The company said in its earnings call that the fourth quarter of 2024 was the best of the year for the American low-income consumer segment. However, it said the 1.4% drop in same-store U.S. sales was likely due to customers spending less per visit and its own failure to bridge that gap.
President and chief executive (CEO) Chris Kempczinski told investors the priority for 2025 is to restore customer traffic in the U.S., at which point the company will tweak its menu offerings by adding new products, such as a chicken strip offering, and bring back its snack wraps.
In January McDonald’s unveiled an ad campaign, created by Wieden+Kennedy NY starring actor John Cena, to hype up its McValue perks, which include a “buy one, add one for $1” offer and a $5 meal deal.
The brand’s new chief marketing and customer experience officer Alyssa Buetikofer, who will take over from outgoing marketing boss Tariq Hassan on Feb. 15, will have to steer the brand through this value wars challenge and help it recover from its recent E. coli outbreak which also dented sales and trust in 2024.
Other headwinds the marketing team will face in the coming year include the emergence of GLP-1 weight loss drugs, and dealing with the potential fallback of rolling back some of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, such as formal inclusion and diversity criteria in staffing and supplier considerations, according to Inc.
