Mcdonald's 'bringing People Together Like Never Before' For Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

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3rd July 2008, 06:20am - Views: 1593









McDonald's 'Bringing People Together Like Never Before' for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games


OAK BROOK, Ill., July 3 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --


     - More Than 200 McDonald's Champion Kids 

 

     - Two Million Players for The Lost Ring 

 

     - Olympic Athletes Tyson Gay, Alexandre Despatie and Edwin Moses 

 

     - 1,400 McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew 

 

    Calling McDonald's 2008 Olympic Sponsorship "the most innovative ever" in a webcast today, Mary Dillon,

McDonald's Global Chief Marketing Officer, detailed the company's plans to bring the Olympic Games to life

for customers around the world.  As a proud partner of the Games for 40 years, McDonald's has created

unique programs  for Beijing, ranging from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for kids to a cutting-edge web-

based Alternate Reality Game (ARG) featuring Olympic track and field legend Edwin Moses.  

    "In the spirit of the Olympic Games, we're bringing people together like 

never before through innovative programs around the world," Dillon said.      Dillon presented samples of

television creative from across the globe, including a global TV ad that captures the spirit of unity that the

Olympic 

Games represent and the role McDonald's plays in feeding the athletes as the 

Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games. She also shared a Canadian TV 

commercial that salutes parents of athletes.  Another ad from Australia 

features the delights of a real McDonald's Champion Kid in being selected to 

go to Beijing.  

    The McDonald's Champion Kids(TM) program is part of the company's ongoing 

commitment to children's well-being, engaging young people worldwide in 

activities that focus on body, mind and spirit.  

 

    -- More than 200 kids from 40 countries will travel to Beijing for an exclusive opportunity to experience the

Games, meet athletes, visit the 

Olympic Village and see the wonders of China.  

    -- Countries determined their participant selection process through a combination of physical, mental and

verbal skills activities. 

    -- Many of the kids will also act as youth correspondents reporting their 

stories and experiences back to their hometown media outlets.   

 

 

    The Lost Ring, an ARG created by McDonald's in collaboration with  

world-renowned game designer Jane McGonigal, interactive marketer AKQA and the 

International Olympic Committee, speaks to the company's new approach to 

engaging and connecting the world's youth culture.  

 

    -- The Lost Ring represents the single-largest ARG ever played, with more 

than two million participants working together online, in multiple languages, 

spanning 100 countries and culminating in Beijing. 

    -- Track and Field Olympic Gold Medalist, Edwin Moses, revealed his 

identity as a blogger in The Lost Ring.   

    -- In the spirit of community that the game represents, McDonald's will make an additional $100,000

donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities(TM) 

Earthquake Relief in China. 

 

 

    Through the McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew program, a longstanding 

McDonald's Olympic tradition, the company recognizes and rewards its top 

restaurant employees. 

 

    -- 1,400 of McDonald's best-of-the-best restaurant employees from around 

the world will travel to Beijing to serve the world's best athletes and 

thousands of others at McDonald's four new Olympic venue restaurants. 

    -- To celebrate their skills and the shared Olympic ideals of teamwork and 

excellence, McDonald's will host a Big Mac Building competition during its press event in Beijing on August

7.  These McDonald's restaurant all-stars will be competing to assemble the highest quality Big Mac

sandwiches. 

    -- The Olympic Champion Crew were invited to create a short video that tells their own story and

experience -- and expresses their Olympic spirit. 

The top "Olympic Spirit of McDonald's" videos will be posted on mcdonalds.com 

on July 7 and displayed online for four weeks where the public is invited to 

vote for their favorites. 

 

 

    Four new McDonald's Olympic venue restaurants will be open.  These include 

one in the Olympic Village to serve the athletes, one in the Main Press Center 

for the more than 30,000 media expected onsite, and two for spectators on the 

Olympic Green.  Customers will find a variety of products, from long-time favorites such as the Egg

McMuffin(TM) and Big Mac(TM) sandwiches and World 

Famous Fries(TM) to Premium Chicken offerings, salads, Apple Pies and Corn Cups, a local Chinese

favorite.  

    McDonald's restaurants around the world will introduce new menu items in 

celebration of the Olympic Games including a Beijing Burger, Caramel and 

Banana Sundae, and Rice Sticks in Latin America, and the McFresh line in 

Russia with Chicken and Fish sandwiches and a Shrimp Salad. In the U.S., 

McDonald's will promote its recently launched Southern Style Chicken with nine 

Olympic and Paralympic athletes featured on packaging.  Australia's "Flavor of 

the Games" promotion will feature five different burgers during the Games:  The American, The Euro, The

African, The Asian and The Australian. 

 

    McDonald's China Activities 

    Phyllis Cheung, Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald's China, outlined the 

host country's activities. She detailed restaurant promotions, alliances with 

athletes and their Olympic television commercial focusing on teamwork and excellence, a cheering contest

for consumers, as well as local programs that 

involve restaurant employees and customers throughout China. For the first time ever, McDonald's China

has partnered with CCTV, the largest television 

network in China and official broadcaster of the 2008 Games, to create a  12-month program that follows the

China McDonald's Champion Kids' journey up 

to and through the Games.  

 

    McDonald's Olympic Games History  

    McDonald's became an Official Sponsor of the Olympic Games in 1976 and has 

a long-standing commitment to the Olympic Movement.  At the 1968 Olympic 

Winter Games, McDonald's airlifted hamburgers to U.S. athletes competing in Grenoble, France, after they

reported being homesick for McDonald's food.  Since then, the company has served its menu of choice and

variety to millions 

of athletes, coaches, their families and fans.  The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games 

mark McDonald's sixth Olympic Games as a Worldwide Partner and seventh as the 

Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games.  McDonald's current sponsorship will 

continue through the 2012 Games in London.   

 

    About McDonald's 

    McDonald's is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 

30,000 local restaurants in more than 100 countries.  More than 75 percent of 

McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by franchisees and affiliates.  Please visit our

website at http://www.mcdonalds.com to learn more about the Company. 

 

To view today's Webcast and learn more about McDonald's Olympic Sponsorship 

  Programs go to http://www.iian.ibeam.com/events/mcdo001/26993 or visit the 

McDonald's Olympic Resource Center at http://www.mcdepk.com/2008OlympicGames 

 

     CONTACTS: 

     Suzanne Valliere, McDonald's 

     630-623-7555 

     suzanne.valliere@us.mcd.com 

Sports Sports McDonald's 2 image

 

     Molly Lynch, GolinHarris 

     515-450-8668 

     mlynch@golinharris.com 

 

SOURCE  McDonald's 

    

    CONTACT:  Suzanne Valliere of McDonald's, 

              +1-630-623-7555, 

              suzanne.valliere@us.mcd.com; 


              or 


              Molly Lynch of GolinHarris, 

              +1-515-450-8668, 

              mlynch@golinharris.com, 

              for McDonald's 



              AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org 

              PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com 

   



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