RISE - Menu Monitor

McDonald’s units in Japan offered half-price Big Macs in exchange for customers’ pledges to fight global warming. Customers
were asked to download a form from the Environment Ministry’s website and list ways they could reduce carbon dioxide
emissions. The initiative was part of the chain’s strategy to meet Japan’s global warming standards as set by the Kyoto
Protocol. (Yahoo! News 9/5/07)
McDonald’s New Zealand branch plans to abolish different pay rates for young employees and budget $7 million a year to
increase pay packets of 16- and 17-year-old employees. McDonald’s, one of New Zealand’s largest employers of youths with
approximately 30% of its 6,000 workers under 18, has had difficulty recruiting younger staff members with its current pay rate.
The fast-food chain is hoping this initiative revives its image as a competitive employer. The new policy is slated to begin in
March of 2008. (The New Zealand Herald Online 9/12/07; Radio New Zealand News 9/11/07)
McDonald’s hamburger waste will power buildings in South Yorkshire County in the U.K. Refuse will be turned into electricity
and heating for 130 buildings, including the Lyceum theatre and the Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield, in which 11 McDonald’s
restaurants in the county will take part. McDonald’s plans to introduce the scheme across the U.K. if it is successful.
(News.bbc.co.uk 9/19/07)
McDonald’s business is booming in Russia. Of the 118 countries that McDonald’s calls home, Russia is the busiest, with each
location serving 850,000 people annually. However, the company is hesitant about expanding operations in the country, partly
due to Russia’s bureaucracy and partly to McDonald’s philosophical shift. The company’s expansion plans in the past have
backfired, leaving it to focus on quality. Instead of adding new units in the country, McDonald’s is focusing on improving its
existing locations. (Wsj.com 10/16/07)
McDonald’s U.K. is rolling out free wireless Internet access in its 1,200 restaurants. The company claims this move will make it
the largest free Wi-Fi provider in the U.K. McDonald’s currently offers free Wi-Fi in more than half of its 13,000 U.S.
restaurants as well as select stores in Belgium. (Financial Times Online 10/6/07)
McDonald’s has canceled its franchise agreement with Japanese operator Athlete Co. because of altered food labels.
McDonald’s took control of Athlete’s four Tokyo restaurants after the franchisee admitted to changing labels on 12-hour-old
salads to make them look freshly prepared. McDonald’s says that despite violating company rules by not throwing away the
salads after 12 hours, the operator did not violate the food sanitation law. (Suntimes.com 11/27/07)
Technology |
McDonald’s is using the Internet as a way to reach consumers. The burger chain is posting blogs in response to other
bloggers’ criticism as well as producing podcasts. In addition, McDonald’s is trying to reach out to younger consumers by
posting video “webisodes” on YouTube and Yahoo. Ronald McDonald even has his own MySpace page. In other news, the
chain is testing self-serve kiosks in select restaurants and also experimenting with handheld devices that process orders.
(Crain’s Chicago Business 10/24/06)
McDonald’s locations in Chicago have ended its tests that enabled customers to use laptops, cell phone and handheld devices
to request in-restaurant entertainment. (NRN Daily NewsFax 2/1/07)
McDonald’s franchisees in the Chicago area tested the use of technology that allowed customers to use cell phones, handheld
devices or laptops to request music or videos for in-store entertainment. The test ran at three franchised stores. One of those
outlets reported that the technology contributed to a 17% increase in same-store sales. (NRN Daily NewsFax 2/01/07)
McDonald’s Corp. is using nontraditional media outlets to attract a younger demographic. The company has recently posted
banner ads on Yahoo and MSN search engines and debuted several one-minute commercials on YouTube and Google Video.
In addition, it also featured ads on TMZ.com, a gossip website, during the holiday season. (Crain’s Chicago Business 1/22/07
p16)
McDonald’s Corp. will add about 179,000 Wi-Fi “hotspots” in 2007. Hotspots are locations where customers can get wireless
internet access. (Boston.com 4/25/07)
McDonald’s is testing new cash registers to decrease the number of incorrectly filled orders at 10,000 of its 32,000
restaurants. The registers have large touch screens with colorful images rather than small buttons with product abbreviations.
With 65% of sales derived from drive-thru service, the new system is estimated to improve accuracy by 33% and is expected
to allow restaurants to serve a dozen more cars an hour. (Chicago Business Online 8/4/07)
McDonald’s partnered with SK Telecom to implement a new ordering system using mobile phones and infrared sensors that
enable customers to order from their table. The system, “Touch Order,” sends customers a text message when the food is
ready. The “Touch Order” menu is the first in the world to utilize radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in a selfordering
system at a restaurant. The system was unveiled at McDonald’s Shinchon branch in western Seoul. SK Telecom
hopes to expand it to more McDonald’s locations by December, and to other chains by 2008. (Koreatimes.co.kr 9/12/07)
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