The Pitch

How an outside idea reaches a company, in its own words · checked 2026-10-29

How to sell an idea to McDonald's

Does not take outside ideas

McDonald’s has a strict policy of taking no ideas from outside its own system. It has bought Boston Market and invested in Chipotle.

Read off McDonald's's own pages on

McDonald's
Solomon203, CC BY-SA 4.0

In its own words

“While we're so appreciative of the passion our customers have for our products, we've unfortunately had to adopt a strict policy of not accepting ideas from outside our McDonald's system.”

“We understand that we may be missing out on some great idea, but we've had to take this position.”

What it has bought from outside

  1. 1998

    Chipotle Mexican Grill (investment) from Chipotle

    “Chipotle had 16 restaurants (all in Colorado) when McDonald's became a major investor in 1998.” en.wikipedia.org

  2. 2000

    Boston Market from Boston Market

    “Boston Market was purchased by McDonald's Corporation in May 2000, primarily for its real estate holdings.” en.wikipedia.org

Other companies that take an invention or product idea

All of them, open doors first