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| McDonald's Marketing Pledge |
Visit the blog from Dr. Catherine Adams, Vice President of Global Quality Assurance, on McDonald's pledge in the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative - a voluntary self-regulatory program sponsored by the Council of Better Business Bureau (CBBB). CBBB pledge
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Relevant, user-friendly, motivational information is a key part of our balanced, active lifestyles approach. Building on our more than 30-year history of providing nutrition information, we are expanding our efforts to help our customers make food and fitness choices that are right for them. We are providing more types of information through a variety of communications vehicles.
We understand that to meaningfully inform children we must communicate with them in a fun, age-appropriate way. Ronald McDonald once taught children to fasten their safety belts. Now he is teaching them to eat well and live active lives. |
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 Sample nutrition information format on the back of packaging for chicken sandwich |
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With support from our global nutrition team, our local business units develop and implement nutrition information and education programs appropriate to their menu offerings, customers, and communities. Certain features of the programs are common to many of our major markets.
As in the past, our local business units generally provide breakouts of the major nutritional values of the foods they regularly serve. They also may provide additional types of information, like ingredients lists for people with allergies and food sensitivities and food exchanges for people with diabetes. McDonald’s Japan has established special Web sites that allow customers to access nutrition and allergen information from their cell phones.
A number of our major local markets have expanded their Web-based and other communications to include information about the quality of our food products.
McDonald's U.K. established the Make Up Your Own Mind Web site, which allows consumers to find information about McDonald's on topics ranging from food quality, to business and people practices.
The McDonald’s France and McDonald’s Australia Web sites trace the production of major ingredients from farm to counter.
We have rolled out new food packaging that provides information on key nutritional values in a simple, clear format that customers around the world can use to make menu choices that suit their preferences and requirements. The packaging reflects extensive feedback from our customers and advice from other experts, including our Global Advisory Council on Balanced Lifestyles, our European Nutritionist Steering Group, and government and health leaders. The packaging debuted at the February 2006 Winter Olympics, which we sponsor, and continues to rollout around the world. |
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 McDonald's Australia's online nutrition calculator. |
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Another major new development is the introduction of interactive Web-based tools that make nutrition information more immediately relevant. In many of our major local markets, customers may drag menu items onto a virtual tray or into a virtual bag and receive individualized nutrition information on the meal they have built.
McDonald’s Brazil also provides an in-restaurant Nutrition Guide, with a table that allows customers to calculate nutritional values for their meals.
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| Well-being Information |
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McDonald's is delivering well-being messages through a variety of communications, including television commercials, print and outdoor advertising, packaging tips, trayliners, and brochures.
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For many years, McDonald’s has supported education for children on topics important to their well-being and growth.Building on this tradition, we have launched a new Ronald McDonald show to encourage children and families to Go Active with Ronald McDonald.
Passport To Play is another initiative McDonald's began to encourage children to get active by playing games from around the world. The program began at James G. Blain School, Chicago and each participating school receives a kit designed for use by Physical Education teachers. The kit contains a variety of materials, including a teacher’s guide outlining the program and providing activity ideas as well as a Passport to Play for each student. |
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As students complete each activity during the semester, they’ll get another stamp in their passport, eventually completing their journey around the world of play.
In collaboration with nutritionists, pediatricians, and experts in nutrition education, McDonald’s Spain developed a book on various balanced, active lifestyles topics, including balanced diets for children, nutrition for sports, and nutrition in schools. 100 Questions on Nutrition has been distributed to pediatricians, consumer organizations, local schools, and opinion leaders, and its content was incorporated, as inserts, for a leading parents magazine.
In 2004, McDonald’s UK created a series of informational advertisements featuring animated characters called the YumChums. These colorful characters explain through song and dance how to keep fit and happy by eating a balanced diet, drinking enough fluids, and exercising. With this initiative, McDonald’s became the first company in the U.K. to respond to the British government’s call to the food and advertising industries to help make sure that the right messages about diet and exercise are communicated to children and youth.
Working with a local nutritionist, McDonald’s Germany developed an elementary school curriculum on basic nutrition. The company also provides other classroom materials on nutrition and physical activity and offers teachers the opportunity to bring their students to a McDonald’s restaurant for an educational visit.
McDonald's Japan also offers teaching materials for schools. Its Shokuiku no jikan—Food Education Time—program for elementary and junior high schools seeks to increase awareness of the pleasure of eating right and the importance of energy balance. |
Empowering Our People
As a major employer, McDonald’s recognizes a special opportunity to promote balanced, active lifestyles by informing and motivating our own people. We have launched an intranet site to share information about our initiatives and access to news about our efforts.
Working with its independent Nutritionist Steering Group, McDonald’s Europe created a balanced, active lifestyles guide to help employees make choices that work for them. The booklet includes tips on balanced, active lifestyles, nutrition information on favorite McDonald’s menu items, and sample menus showing how McDonald’s food products can fit into a balanced diet and lifestyle.
As part of a broader program, McDonald's UK has distributed 250,000 pedometers to crew members to help motivate them to stay active.
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