McDonald's® Introduces Mighty Kids Meal™ for Growing Kids Who Want More Grown Up Meals

On Friday, March 30, McDonald's will launch its Mighty Kids Meal in restaurants nationwide, giving customers ages 8-10 a more "grown up" Happy Meal.

Mighty Kids Meal, the newest permanent addition to McDonald's menu, is similar to McDonald's traditional Happy Meal®, however, it offers older kids more of their favorite food to satisfy their appetites and differentiate them from younger kids. The Mighty Kids Meal offers the same toy as the Happy Meal, along with the same size French fry and drink, but includes a double hamburger, double cheeseburger, or 6-piece Chicken McNuggets® as the main entree. McDonald's Happy Meals offer -- a small fry, small drink and either a hamburger, cheeseburger, or 4-piece Chicken McNuggets.

"Our Mighty Kids Meal was developed to enhance the McDonald's experience for kids who have outgrown Happy Meal-sized food, but who are not quite ready for an Extra Value Meal™," said R.J. Milano, vice president of Marketing, McDonald's USA. "We understand that kids ages 8-10 have growing appetites, and do not want to be identified as 'little kids' anymore. Our Mighty Kids Meal addresses these needs."

Consumer research shows that children between the ages of 8-10 are looking for a McDonald's meal created especially for them, but still desire McDonald's popular Happy Meal toys. To satisfy the wishes of these younger customers, McDonald's created the Mighty Kids Meal. The Mighty Kids Meal provides 8-10 year old kids with a menu option that empowers them to feel more grown up while enjoying their favorite McDonald's foods and toys.

The Mighty Kids Meal will be served in a more mature looking brown paper bag -- different from Happy Meal bags, which are printed on white paper and feature kids activities. Unlike the Happy Meal bags, the Mighty Kids Meal bags will not change with each promotion.

The launch of McDonald's Mighty Kids Meal will coincide with the launch of the Spy Kids™ Happy Meal promotion, which runs March 30 through April 18. The promotion is tied to Miramax's newest movie, Spy Kids, starring Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino. During the promotion, the Spy Kids toy collection, featuring nine toys each with a unique "spy function" modeled from the movie, will be offered in both McDonald's Happy Meal and Mighty Kids Meal.

The Mighty Kids Meal campaign will be supported by national television advertising developed by Leo Burnett Co., Hispanic television advertising by del Rivero Messiano Advertising, and African American radio and print advertising by Burrell Advertising-Chicago.

McDonald's is the world's leading foodservice retailer with more than 28,000 restaurants, serving more than 45 million customers each day, in 120 countries. Approximately 80 percent of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent, local businessmen and women.

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SOURCE: McDonald's Corporation

Contact: Julie Monzo of McDonald's Corporation, 630-623-6049, or
julie.monzo@mcd.com, or Cindy Pettersen of Burson-Marsteller for McDonald's
Corporation, 312-596-3494, or cynthia_pettersen@chi.bm.com

Website: http://www.media.mcdonalds.com/