McDonald's® Invites People Around the World to Step With It and 'Go Active!™'

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) today unveiled Go Active! Day in Athens, Greece by announcing new worldwide initiatives showcasing the company's ongoing commitment to active, balanced lifestyles and the spirit and ideals of the Olympic Games. The event featured Olympians Carl Lewis and Jackie Joyner-Kersee and included a donation of 25,000 stepometers to the Greek Ministry of Sports for the children of Athens.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040824/CGTU055 )

McDonald's balanced lifestyle activities are focused on assisting and engaging consumers in three key areas: offering menu variety, supporting physical activity and providing consumer nutrition education. New initiatives include:

  -- Expansion of McDonald's http://www.goactive.com/ web site; now available
     in English and German, will soon be translated into French, Spanish,
     Portuguese, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese as well.
     http://www.goactive.com/ , developed in partnership with the
     International Olympic Committee (IOC), offers consumers tips and
     approaches for increasing physical activity in everyday life.

  -- New partnerships with world-class Olympic athletes and role models from
     all over the world -- such as basketball superstar Yao Ming and Chinese
     diving hopeful Guo Jingjing, French swimmer Virginie Dedieu, New
     Zealand triathlete Hamish Carter, Polish race walker Robert
     Korzeniowski, Japan's Women's Field Hockey Team, U.S. tennis stars
     Venus and Serena Williams, gymnast Carly Patterson and basketball
     player Tim Duncan -- to help communicate the importance of physical
     fitness and activity to consumers worldwide.

  -- Distributing nearly 30 million stepometers to customers in Europe, the
     U.S. and parts of Latin America as an easy, fun daily activity that
     promotes overall wellness, including:

        -- Supplying more than 30,000 stepometers to athletes, trainers and
           spectators at the Games to educate consumers about the benefits
           of walking;
        -- Donating 25,000 stepometers to the Greek Sports Ministry to help
           support fitness initiatives.

  -- Educating customers around the globe with McDonald's nutrition
     information posted on trayliners, leaflets and web sites.

  -- Incorporating new menu choices including Salads Plus throughout Europe
     and Australia, and new Chicken McNuggets® made with white meat in the
     U.S. and U.K.

  -- Supporting sports and athletic programs worldwide from grassroots to
     global events including the recent Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup,
     McDonald's All-American™ High School Soccer and Basketball Games,
     and the extension of the company's TOP sponsorship of the Olympics
     through 2012.

  -- Introducing the McDonald's Go Active! Happy Meal for Adults in 16
     European countries, including Greece, offering a premium salad, a drink
     and stepometer so consumers can track their daily fitness activity.

  -- Establishing Ronald McDonald® School Fitness programs globally,
     including partnerships with National Olympic Committees in Canada and
     The Netherlands, to encourage children to have fun while being active
     in everyday life.


  Go Active! Day Celebration

McDonald's executives joined Medical and Scientific Director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Dr. Patrick Schamasch, Greek Deputy Minister of Sports, George Orfanos and Olympic Track & Field gold-medallists Carl Lewis and Jackie Joyner-Kersee at the McDonald's restaurant in Omonia Square as they helped encourage people to incorporate physical fitness into their daily lives.

"Celebrating Go Active! Day against the backdrop of the Olympics reinforces the whole concept of balanced lifestyles," said McDonald's Corporate Vice President, Ken Barun, who leads the company's balanced lifestyles initiative. "Not everyone can be an Olympian, but these athletes and fitness advocates help demonstrate the importance of daily activity." "Physical health and well-being are utmost priorities in Greece," said Greek Deputy Minister of Sports, George Orfanos. "We are pleased that McDonald's would make this donation to support our outreach to the children of Athens."

Global Partners

McDonald's new web site -- http://www.goactive.com/ -- offers health and wellness information to help people worldwide establish and maintain an active lifestyle. McDonald's partnered on http://www.goactive.com/ with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), two of the world's most recognized leaders in sport and exercise science. The site offers research and insight on health, fitness and physical activity, enabling consumers to make more informed lifestyle decisions. A virtual trainer is also available to help each user create a customized fitness plan. Visitors also can access live chats with experts in exercise science and sports nutrition, Olympic athletes and celebrities.

"I'm so excited to once again be at the Olympics -- this time to partner with McDonald's Go Active! efforts," said Olympic Gold Medallist Carl Lewis. Fellow-Olympian and member of McDonald's Advisory Council on Balanced Lifestyles, Jackie Joyner-Kersee added, "We feel very strongly about inspiring people of all ages to get active to enhance their mental and physical strength."

Background

McDonald's became an official sponsor of the Olympic Games in 1976 and has a long-standing commitment to the Olympic Movement. At the 1968 Olympic Winter Games, McDonald's airlifted hamburgers to U.S. athletes competing in Grenoble, France who reported they were homesick for McDonald's food. Since then, McDonald's has served its menu of choice and variety to millions of athletes, their families and fans.

The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games mark McDonald's fourth Olympic Games as a TOP Sponsor and fifth as the Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games.

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.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040824/CGTU055
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990916/MCDLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

SOURCE: McDonald's Corporation

CONTACT: Adam Scholder of Burson-Marsteller, Local mobile:
+30-697-636-4926, or Mobile: +1-847-204-0949, adam_scholder@chi.bm.com ; or
Lisa Howard of McDonald's Corporation, Office: +1-630-623-5044, or Mobile:
+1-630-408-1873, lisa.howard@mcd.com

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