McDonald’s has already revolutionized fast food once — and the next transformation could make their burgers completely free. With ultra-low production costs, targeted ads on packaging and apps, affiliate commissions, and valuable consumer data, McDonald’s could earn more revenue per burger by giving it away than by selling it. In this future, every napkin, bag, and QR code becomes a new piece of advertising real estate — turning the world’s biggest burger chain into one of the world’s most power

The book How to Make a Free Product Company dedicates an entire chapter to showing how everyday items — from tampons, seeds, coffee, and beer to EV charging and transportation — can become free or negatively priced using innovative business processes. It also explains that not all free products are equal: some, like water, reach everyone, while others, like diapers or apple juice, target specific audiences or offer longer ad exposure.

ChatGPT said: Germany’s Affordables.io has burst onto the startup scene with a free water project and plans to offer free supplements like protein and even free pasta next. Their raw, viral videos showing free water distribution in paper cartons — one nearing a million views — have quickly put them in the spotlight. With their rapid growth, the only question left is when they’ll launch the world’s first free German beer.