Earned & PaidRestaurant Brands
Restaurant Brands spent $1.29B on advertising and marketing in fiscal 2025, up 1.9% on the year before and +49% since 2019. That's 13.7% of revenue, less than in 2019: the business outgrew its marketing.
Marketing spend by year
Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue. Years where the filing's revenue line isn't comparable are left out of the line.
What they told investors
“In Q1, we achieved the #1 position in Brand Health's best breakfast ranking for the first time, leading our nearest competitor by approximately 2 points, and we're focused on building from that position of strength.”Joshua Kobza · 2026 Q1 · transcript
“Brand health continues to be a key advantage, with Tim's leading in affordability, trust, and relevance with guests.”Josh Kobza · 2025 Q4 · transcript
“we once again saw a year-over-year improvement in brand health metrics across most categories, including food and coffee quality and taste, as well as overall brand connection”Jose Cil · · transcript
What the 10-K says about marketing
- investing in brand “As a result, new restaurants in those markets may have lower average restaurant sales than restaurants in existing markets and may take longer than expected to reach target sales and profit levels, or may never do so. We will need to build brand awareness in the new markets we…” 10-K, Feb 20, 2026
Say vs do
We found no statement about the size of Restaurant Brands's marketing budget on its earnings calls or in its 10-Ks, so here is its record against its peers.
What they said
No statement about the size of its marketing budget.
What they did
| Year | Marketing spend | Change | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $1.29B | +1.9% | 13.7% |
| FY2024 | $1.27B | +5.6% | 15.1% |
| FY2023 | $1.20B | +16.4% | 17.1% |
| FY2022 | $1.03B | +7.3% | 15.9% |
| FY2021 | $962M | +10.6% | 16.8% |
| FY2020 | $870M | +0.6% | 17.5% |
Against its peers. Compared with the 5 other Restaurants advertisers we track (Starbucks, Chipotle, Yum Brands, Domino's, Wendy's): since 2019 its marketing spend went +49% (peer median +100%); its share of revenue moved -1.7 pts (median +0.4); last year +1.9% (median +19.6%).
In interviews, its leaders made 167 statements about marketing: 12 argued for investing in brand and 0 for cutting.
How we check: a statement gets a verdict only when it's clearly about the size of the whole company's marketing budget over a full fiscal year; we compare it with the advertising and marketing expense in that year's 10-K. Statements about one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix between brand and performance can't be checked against annual filings.
What they say about media
The marketing channels it talks about using for itself on earnings calls and in its 10-Ks and 10-Qs, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Creative campaigns “As we look ahead, Axel and the team have an exciting marketing calendar, kicking off next week with our Harry Potter Back to Hogg Worth campaign, featuring magical baked goods and beverages designed to appeal to fans of all ages and celebrate 25 years since the release of the…” Joshua Kobza on the earnings call · Aug 13, 2026 · source
- Sponsorships & athletes “In May, we also strengthened our connection with families and kids by collaborating with Disney's Mandalorian, helping drive Q2 kids meal AUVs above $28 per day.” Joshua Kobza on the earnings call · Aug 13, 2026 · source
- CRM, loyalty & first-party data “And we also think that member-only offers through the app and the loyalty program are also going to help drive more penetration.” Josh Kobza on the earnings call · Feb 12, 2026 · source
In the news
- Tim Hortons' Adds A 'Golden Ticket' To Hockey Cards Drop MediaPost · Sep 29, 2026 · campaign
- Burger King’s CMO on why the chain keeps turning failures into ad campaigns Ad Age · paywall · Sep 24, 2026 · campaign
- Burger King CMO: don't treat agencies like creative vending machines Campaign UK · paywall · Sep 24, 2026 · marketing
- How Tim Hortons turns the Tims run into an adidas drop ContentGrip · Sep 23, 2026 · campaign
- Burger King Royal Perks members get Walmart+ for 40% off: How to claim this clever Peacock hack Mashable · Sep 20, 2026 · sponsorship
- Burger King pokes fun at dishonest political claims in Whopper bus ad Campaign UK · paywall · Sep 16, 2026 · campaign