Happy Meal Comes with Moshi Monsters

Moshi Monsters get promo at McDonald's.

According to the article, "Mind Candy has joined forces with McDonald's to launch a new North American Happy Meal promo for Moshi Monsters. The promo will run from December 14 through January 10, and participating restaurants will provide one of eight Moshi Monsters toy characters, including a new mystery Moshling, with every Happy Meal. Popular characters Katsuma, Poppet and Iggy will be offered while supplies last. Each toy also comes with a free three-day membership to MoshiMonsters.com." To promote the Moshi Monsters, McDonald's uses a full marketing campaign with television advertising, in-restaurant merchandising at more than 14,000 locations, custom packaging and online presence at happymeal.com. There are 70 million registered users in 150 territories worldwide. I, personally, never heard of Moshi Monsters. It has been a while since I've had a happy meal. This may or may not be a good idea to attract young children. It's hard to tell. We'll see what happens during the holiday season.

Article link: http://kidscreen.com/2012/11/21/moshi-monsters-get-qsr-promo-at-mcdonalds/

- Hanli Tjahyono

5 Extra Value Meals Under $5

5 Under $5
Participating McDonald's restaurants across the New England and Albany area have added a new "5 Extra Value Meals Under $5" menu to the current existing McDonald's menu. this menu is more expensive and is not included where most "Value Meals" are located that are ranging in the one dollar section.

 McDonald's is offering customers the bulk of their favorite meals like the Big Mac and Filet-O-Fish combinations which come with french fries and a soft drink for under $5.

The 5 Extra Value Meals Under $5 are:


Big Mac, medium fries, medium soft drink

Quarter Pounder with Cheese, medium fries, medium soft drink

 

Filet-O-Fish, medium fries, medium soft drink

Filet-O-Fish, medium fries, medium soft drink

Premium Crispy Chicken Classic

 

Nicole DiNoia, communications manager for the Boston Region talks about her success in her region saying "Our launch of the 5 Extra Value Meals Under $5 menu allows us to better meet our customers' desire for quality food at a great price with the convenience we're known for," She also stated that "Now our customers can enjoy some core McDonald's favorites as a medium meal for a great value, every day. This is exciting news for our region and our customers".

For more information go to mcdonalds.com and search daily values and promotions. All images are taken from McDonalds' website.

-Gwendolyn Satchell

McDonald's USA President Steps Down

Jan Fields backed efforts to modernize McDonald's and make its food more healthful.

The president of McDonald's USA is on her way out because of the intense competition and unfavorable financial problems. She has held this position for more than two years. She will be replaced by Jeff Stratton, currently McDonald's global chief restaurant officer. According to spokeswoman Lisa McComb, "The time was right for this leadership change, a business decision by our senior management team." The reason for her termination is because most industry analysts believe that "top management and directors had lost confidence in her ability to turn around the U.S. division of the world's biggest burger chain." Despite Fields's efforts to promote more healthful food, consumers' enthusiasm didn't last. Investors are aware of the chain's slumping profits, "which fell 3.5% in the third quarter, to $1.45 billion, and sank 4.5% the previous quarter compared with the same periods last year." Thirty-five years ago, Fields started out making French fries, then rose through the ranks and has been called "one of the world's most powerful women on lists compiled by Forbes, Fortune and other financial publications." Recently she was credited with "helping to expand McDonald's McCafe premium beverage menu, updating its restaurants, reworking the Happy Meal to be more healthful and disclosing calorie counts at the chain's 14,000 American outlets." I think it is unfortunate that Jan Fields has been fired. She did the best she could to make McDonald's the most innovative fast food chain in the world. However, the competition has been closing the gap and "there's much less differentiation for McDonald's." Things should get better though as the holidays are coming soon. All the advertisements on television are persuading people to get the dollar menu value items. The low prices should lure many customers in to try them out.

Article link: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mcdonalds-fields-20121116,0,4138005.story

- Hanli Tjahyono

FEED THE FAMILY FOR LESS THAN $10



Image taken from Mcdonalds.com

Now at participating McDonald's hungry customers can pick up their warm crispy chicken nuggets in a variety of sizes. The smallest size starts at 4pcs for just $1. Most individuals get the 6pc nugget combo and complete their meal but there are others trying to get the most out of their dollar in this economy.

      Using a strategic market strategy many McDonald's locations has decided to offer a promotional temporary deal on nuggets this deal includes TWENTY!!! pieces of nuggets for only $4.99. This is an incredible deal but wait, it get better.

      For all of America's nugget lovers McDonald's has just introduced a whopping! 40 piece for only 8 bucks and 99 cents. Keep in in mind customers at participating locations can order any size soft drink or tea for just $1. Lastly whats a meal without the fries? NOTHING! when a value fry at every McDonald's is only $1.


Image taken from thehealthyboy.com

I'm not sure if you guys did the math yet but, that's a whole meal for under ten bucks!! Click here to read about McDonald's delicious warm crispy nuggets.

 

 -Gwendolyn Satchell

Special Burgers in McDonald's Japan

These are the "Gracoro Burgers" in McDonald's Japan.

This cross section of the burger is labelled in Japanese. 

While visiting to another country, such as Japan, you might encounter things that are different. Take the Gracoro Burger for instance. Instead of a meat patty, it has "a creamy gratin korokke filled with white sauce, shrimp, and macaroni." The buns, the breadcrumbs, the white sauce, and the macaroni all have flour in it. However, these burgers aren't exactly new. Just like the McRib sandwich in the United States, the Gracoro Burger comes around only during the winter seasons. I'm willing to try it out if given the chance. I wonder how big the size of the burger would be. I remember that Japan has smaller sizes of burgers, fries, and drinks when compared to the United States'. Anyway, the picture does look appetizing no matter what the size.

Article link: http://kotaku.com/5959406/at-mcdonalds-japan-these-special-burgers-sure-arecreamy

- Hanli Tjahyono

500k to help Sandy

500k to HELP SANDY

McDonalds announced they are contributing $500,000 to Hurricane Sandy via the Red Cross.  This news is MAJOR considering how much the East Coast has been struggling.  I actually have a friend of mine who was stuck there and couldnt fly back on time for his mothers birthday.  McDonalds has yet again shown how adapting to situations and supporting by giving back to the people comes a long way.  500k is a lot of money regardless of how small or large a company may be but, its the principle behind it that counts.  Kudos to McDonalds for helping out!

Ricky Madrigal

Team GRH

MKT450

McDonalds Finds A New Way To Celebrate This Holiday Season

        The McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade takes place on Thanksgiving morning in downtown Chicago, on State Street from Congress to Randolph. It is a live event from 8:00a.m to 11:00a.m.

 This is a cherished annual event.

         Each year, the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade features top marching bands from all over the country, including Georgia, Florida and Ohio. This event also includes Chicagoland’s best high school bands, featuring performances The Parade includes performers and special guests representing every part of the country including ANTM winner Jaslene Gonzalez.
        The Parade was originally called the Christmas Caravan in the 1930’s. Back then it was created to help lift the spirits of residents suffering through the Great Depression. Since that time, it has developed into a full-scale spectacle that celebrates the holiday season. An attempt to boost Chicago’s economy has evolved into a cherished holiday tradition for Chicagoans and Americans alike.

        Supporting sponsors of the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade include:  McDonald's Owner Operators of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana, Case New Holland, and MB Financial Bank.
McDonald’s Owner Operators of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana represent more than 100 owner/operators and nearly 500 restaurants throughout the greater Chicagoland region. Clearly, this is alot of land to cover and alot of locations to service. MOCNI manages and facilitates all marketing, sports, community relations, educational and philanthropic programs throughout the region, and is responsible for implementing and maintaining consistency at every Chicagoland restaurant.

         Regardless of the city or state McDonalds is around the way. I personally love this event because it started off as a campagin to help one issue and wound up helping another in a major way. The GREAT! part is this event is still alive and thriving and making thousands smile which mcdonalds is known best for! Theres no holiday that McDonalds team has not thought about which I agree is a major reason while McDonalds is highly profitable and marketable. They are branded 100% everywhere they want to be and more!!!!


Read more: http://chicago.broadwayworld.com/article/McDonalds-ThanksgivingParade##ixzz2BUmpgphK

-Gwendolyn Satchell

French Fries Frenzy at McDonald's in Japan

Kids having a "potato party" with a huge load of fries as others spectate.

60 fries containers were stacked up along with a little pink balloon that announced the effort to consume the fries.

During October, McDonald's Japan has been doing a special sale: "all French fry sizes are 150 yen per order." This means that ordering large sized fries is now a bargain. Some people are taking advantage of this sale and held their own "potato party", in which they order a huge number of fries, and then "upload the images to Twitter or their own blogs." However, others are somewhat upset that not all of the fries will be eaten, which means wasted food. According to the article, "In Japan, you are expected to clean your plate. Not doing so is seen as wasteful. And being wasteful in Japan is a sign of bad manners." Anyway, for the group of kids who ordered sixty French fries, the eating went on for three hours while the adjacent walkway was packed with their friends who watched and took photos. Many criticized the "potato party" as being immature and impolite, since in Japan there are much higher expectations towards how people should act in public. I, personally, don't think it is such a big deal. In fact, I encourage the "potato party." I wonder if kids in the United States would do the same if there was a special sale of fries in American McDonald's restaurants. And if you can't finish all the fries, you can give them away to friends or take them home. Come to think of it, I would really enjoy participating in the party because I enjoy McDonald's French fries very much. I'll just need to bring a lot of ketchup.

Article link: http://kotaku.com/5955694/at-mcdonalds-in-japan-french-fries-are-causing-all-sorts-of-chaos

- Hanli Tjahyono