McDonald’s is a well-known fast food chain throughout the world.In recent years, it has worked hard to broaden its menu offeringand try to broaden its food appeal. It has introduced somehealthier options and has also added higher quality food and coffeeas well.

In addition to having thousands of locations throughout theworld, McDonald’s also has very strong brand equity and isgenerally considered one of the top 10 most valuable brands in theworld. This has been achieved over many years through a combinationof store locations, media attention, advertising and other forms ofpromotion, including sponsorships.

McDonald’s is a significant user of sponsorship as a key form ofpromotion. Because of McDonald’s long history in fast foodofferings, there is a proportion of consumers that have a strongnegative attitude towards McDonald’s – because they perceiveMcDonald’s as primarily selling “junk” food. And McDonald’s usessponsorships in order to counteract this and create positive viewof the company by doing good things in the community and for localgroups.

For example, for many years, McDonald’s have been involved inRonald McDonald house and various other related healthsponsorships. In many countries, they also are sponsors of sportand children’s activities. However, critics argue that McDonald’sshould not be associated with anything regarding health orsport.

Discussion Questions

    What is your current perception ofMcDonald’s in terms of their food offerings? Do you think that theyhave worked hard enough to broaden and diversified their productoffering or are they still primarily a fast food chain?

    Do you think that McDonald’s is actingas a “good corporate citizen” in their sponsorship activities, ordo you think that they are primarily interested in associatingtheir brand with food and health?

    Referring to the question above,provided that McDonald’s is supporting worthwhile causes, does itreally matter what McDonald’s intentions and goals are?

    Marlboro (cigarettes) is still one ofthe strongest brands in the world, despite not being able toadvertise in many countries for decades. They are still allowedsponsorship of Formula One racing – do you think that is a suitablearrangement? And do you think it is conceptually different to theMcDonald’s and health and sport sponsorships?