Creativity, New Advertising on the Menu for McDonald's® at Cannes

One year ago, a small group of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) marketing executives attended the Cannes International Advertising Festival with a single purpose: to interview directors for the company's first ever global brand campaign. Since then, "i'm lovin' it™" has become McDonald's signature brand voice in 119 countries, generating awareness figures as high as 96% in some parts of the world.

McDonald's continues its leadership marketing strategy this week with a return visit to Cannes to raise the "i'm lovin' it" creative bar even higher.

"We are bringing our top creative teams from around the world to Cannes to gather ideas, study trends, and find inspiration in the outstanding work of others," said Charlie Bell, McDonald's President and CEO. "It's part of our ongoing leadership marketing strategy and our desire to attract and develop the best possible talent to help us create world-class advertising."

"We are committed to seeking and sharing ideas across borders and speaking to our customers with one brand voice and one brand message," said Larry Light, McDonald's Global Chief Marketing Officer. "The Cannes Festival will allow us to further this philosophy in a meaningful way by interacting with the best creative minds from around the world."

McDonald's will unveil new advertising at Cannes, said Light, including a campaign for the Olympic Games starring Chief Happiness Officer, Ronald McDonald. "Ronald McDonald continues to evolve into a more relevant and contemporary icon of our brand," said Light. "We want to surprise and delight our customers in unique ways, which is the essence of these new Ronald McDonald commercials."

Created by Leo Burnett Worldwide, these "i'm lovin' it" ads feature Ronald McDonald participating in various sporting events like diving, water ballet, swimming and hammer throw. They will be aired by McDonald's worldwide later this summer to coincide with the Olympic time period.

"These humorous Ronald McDonald ads showcase the 'forever young, forever fun' spirit of McDonald's," said John Montgomery, Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett and director of the commercials. "McDonald's new brand direction and 'freedom within a framework' approach have allowed us to create fresh, relevant and breakthrough advertising."

McDonald's will also debut a new Olympic commercial starring tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, and another featuring McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew, who will serve athletes, coaches and spectators at the Games in Athens.

The International Advertising Festival -- Cannes Lions -- is the largest gathering of worldwide marketing and advertising professionals, as well as the most prestigious advertising awards. Each year, about 8,000 delegates from the advertising and allied industries attend this event to celebrate the creme de la creme of creativity in all major media, discuss industry issues and network with one another. Over 16,000 ads from all over the world are showcased at the Festival and a unique program of high-profile seminars, organized by some of the biggest names in the industry, is also presented. Winning companies receive the highly coveted Lion awards, honoring the most creative TV/cinema, press, outdoor and online advertising, as well as the best media and direct marketing solutions.

McDonald's is the world's leading foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants, serving nearly 47 million people each day in over 100 countries. More than 70 percent of McDonald's restaurants around the world are owned and operated by independent, local businessmen and women.

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SOURCE: McDonald's Corporation

CONTACT: Lisa Howard of McDonald's Corporation, +1-630-623-5044,
lisa.howard@mcd.com ; Adam Scholder of Burson-Marsteller, +1-847-204-0949,
adam_scholder@chi.bm.com

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