McDonald's® Partners With Fitness Expert Donna Richardson

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) today announced an exclusive partnership with professional fitness guru Donna Richardson, executive producer and host of the "Donna Richardson Show" on TV One, personal trainer to the stars; and named one of Fitness Magazine's "Top 10 Movers and Shakers" and "Top 25 Fittest People." McDonald's partnership with Richardson is part of the company's industry- leading, comprehensive balanced-lifestyles platform to help address obesity in America and improve the nation's overall physical well-being. As part of its balanced-lifestyles platform, McDonald's will work with the nation's foremost health, nutrition and education experts including Richardson to develop and execute programs to help all Americans lead balanced lives.

"At McDonald's, our customers are our top priority," said Michael Roberts, president, McDonald's USA. "We have always led the way on issues that are important to our customers, such as food safety, the environment and children's well-being, so it is only natural that McDonald's would also take the lead on addressing this important issue. We want to help adults achieve the right balance between their daily calorie intake and physical activity, and to help children adopt active, balanced lifestyle habits early on."

The goal of McDonald's multi-disciplinary plan is to educate, assist and engage consumers in ways that change individual behavior, resulting in better food/energy balance in their lives. Food/energy balance is the simple equation of calories in/calories out.

To support McDonald's balanced-lifestyles platform, Donna Richardson will bring her expertise about food/energy balance to specifically address this initiative from African Americans' perspectives regarding food choice, physical activity and education. Richardson will participate in the "McDonald's Go Active! American Challenge with Bob Greene," a national campaign launched in April 2004, where Bob Greene (Oprah's personal trainer and best-selling author) will literally walk and bike across America for 36 consecutive days, challenging people to take steps toward more active lives. The McDonald's Go Active! American Challenge will be the largest sustained undertaking to date to encourage Americans all across the country to commit to more physical activity in their lives.

"I am thrilled to partner with McDonald's balanced-lifestyles platform to educate African American families about striking balance between physical activity and food choices as part of a healthy and happy lifestyle, said Donna Richardson. "I welcome the opportunity to work with McDonald's to also help African American women achieve food/energy balance in realistic and attainable ways."

McDonald's balanced-lifestyle platform is focused in three significant areas: food choice, physical activity and education. Attached is a fact sheet highlighting elements of the platform.

         McDonald's 2004 Balanced Lifestyles Platform Highlights

  New Food Choices and Ordering Options

  -- National launch of the first-ever "Go Active!™ Adult Happy Meal."
     Designed to promote the importance of food/energy balance, this Happy
     Meal for adults includes a Premium Salad, bottled water, and a
     Stepometer™ so consumers can track their daily steps.  There will
     also be a brochure that promotes walking as an attainable -- and
     effective -- exercise goal.  Authored by exercise physiologist, and
     Oprah Winfrey's personal trainer, Bob Greene, and endorsed by the
     American College of Sports Medicine, consumers can use the brochure as
     a stepping stone to create their own exercise and physical activity
     routines.

  -- National launch of McDonald's New Happy Meal Choices.  New Happy Meal
     Choices give parents and children the opportunity to mix and match
     offerings.  The new offerings include Apple Dippers® (fresh, peeled
     apple slices) served with a low-fat caramel dipping sauce, and new
     beverage choices including 100% pure apple juice, white and chocolate
     1% Milk Jugs, served in child-friendly containers.

  -- New McDonald's Menu Choice Ordering Options.  Available nationally,
     these options include the ability to order burgers and other
     sandwiches "low-carb-style," without the buns, and a "Simple Steps"
     brochure that shows customers how to order across the menu to lower
     fat, calories and carbohydrates if desired.

  Education and Easily Accessible Nutrition Information

  -- McDonald's will team up with third-party experts to bring sound
     science and practical tips to all Americans.  Currently, many in the
     health and nutrition industry are already playing a pivotal role in
     working with McDonald's in a broad-scale consumer education campaign,
     including Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the American College
     of Sports Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others.

  -- McDonald's volunteers to take an industry-leading role to respond to
     the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to determine
     the best way to communicate nutrition information to consumers. This
     will occur both in restaurants and through broad-based consumer
     education initiatives, to help Americans make informed food choices
     based on their individual needs and lifestyle.

  -- McDonald's will test providing nutrition information on Happy Meals in
     parent-approved and child-friendly ways. The objective is to help
     families make informed choices and learn ways to achieve good
     food/energy balance.

  -- McDonald's is providing detailed nutrition information on trayliners
     and in-restaurant "McDonald's & You" Nutrition Facts brochures and on
     the food and nutrition section of www.mcdonalds.com , which receives
     more than 250,000 customer visits every month.  This site also
     includes a unique, interactive tool, called "Bag-a-McMeal," which
     allows consumers to select any combination of McDonald's menu items
     and the nutritional values are automatically calculated for them.

  -- McDonald's is providing a program called What's On Your Plate,
     featuring Willie Munchright™, to schools across the country.  The
     program teaches elementary school children the importance of physical
     activity and making smart food choices.  The program has been updated
     to reflect current knowledge in the nutrition community and to address
     relevant needs of today's children. Originally launched and embraced
     by nutritionists in 1992, McDonald's is making copies of this program,
     which includes vignettes, leader guides and activity books, available
     free to schools throughout the U.S.

  -- McDonald's has already reallocated a significant amount of children's
     retail marketing messaging to programming that positively impacts
     parents and children in the areas of health, education and
     development.  This includes helping to underwrite Sesame Street,
     sponsoring Nickelodeon's Playful Parent series that encourages parents
     to take an active, fun role in their children's playtime, and
     collaborating on in-school programs such as McDonald's and Scholastic,
     Inc.'s Reading Corners.

  Physical Activity

  -- McDonald's will launch "McDonald's Go Active! American Challenge,"
     with Bob Greene.  Greene will walk and bike across America for 36
     consecutive days, challenging people to take steps toward more active
     lives. This will be the largest sustained undertaking to date to
     encourage Americans all across the country to commit to more physical
     activity in their lives. Through the "Go Active! Happy Meal" and "Go
     Active! American Challenge," an estimated 10 to 15 million Stepometers
     and walking/fitness booklets will be distributed to Americans
     throughout the country.

  -- McDonald's is bringing together Ronald McDonald, the second most
     recognizable character in the world, and local Olympic athletes to
     help children adopt good physically active habits early in their lives
     through "Get Moving with Ronald McDonald."  This on-lot show
     emphasizes the importance of activity in everyday life and was
     developed in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  -- McDonald's, as a long-standing sponsor of the Olympics, will pilot a
     youth Olympic soccer clinic this spring to help promote physical
     activity among kids.  The goal is to make this program available to
     local soccer organizations nationwide later this year.

McDonald's is the world's leading foodservice retailer, with more than 30,000 restaurants serving more than 46 million people each day. Approximately 70 percent of McDonald's U.S. restaurants are owned and operated by independent local businessmen and women.

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SOURCE: McDonald's Corporation

CONTACT: Marie McGehee of Burrell Communications, +1-312-297-9875,
mmcgehee@burrell.com , or Shannelle Armstrong of McDonald's, U.S.
Communications, +1-630-623-5508, shannelle.armstrong@mcd.com

Web site: http://www.mcdonalds.com/