Happy Thanksgiving! McDonald's-style

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is where The McChronicles found Ronald McDonald today.

According to the show's announcers, the Ronald McDonald balloon weighs 375 pounds and requires 55 people to keep it on the right path.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: daylife.com

HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON from The McChronicles!!!

Let's kick off this holiday season with a spirited celebration of McDonald's!
Here is what you get when you mix ElfYourself with McDonald's.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The McChronicles CAN'T WAIT to hear your COMMENTS ...

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Video: ElfYourself and JibJab.

McDonald's Monopoly Game

The McChronicles just wrapped up another losing season of the McDonald's Monopoly game. The best we've ever done is to score some free fries.

Here is our unsuccessful game board and a McDonald's sign with an unfortunate typo on it. We would think that there would be a little quality control on the signs for a major promo program (not that WE haven't typo'd before ourselves).

Maybe next year!

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images: The McChronicles.

Quarter Pounder: The Store! (part 2)

The McChronicles recently reported on a very focused store called QUARTER POUNDER. This very unique McDonald's has only two items on the menu: quarter pounder with cheese and double quarter pounder with cheese (you can also buy fries and beverages). There are 2 QUARTER POUNDERs, both in Tokyo.

Readers wanted to know WHAT? and WHY? So, The McChronicles investigated. Here is what we learned.

According to a plugged-in McDonald's insider, "This is creative buzz marketing. The CEO of McDonald's Japan is passionate about innovation, new thinking and breakthrough marketing."

The McChronicles' source added that McDonald's:

• is about to launch the quarter pounder as a McDonald's branded product (currently quarter pounders are not sold in Japan). This is pre launch buzz. The burger and the brand will soon be reunited.
• wanted to create a buzz around the burger and its name beforehand the product was launched.
  
• had two McDonald's restaurants in key shopping streets in Tokyo which are about to close due to their leases ending. So, for their final days they created the "Quarter Pounder Store".

It is very interesting to note that these stores are unique restaurants that have no McDonald's branding. McDonald's built up customer interest for pedestrians by putting up boarding with peep holes so people could see some of the activity going on inside. Then, when they finally pulled the boarding down there was a store selling nothing but quarter pounders; still with no McDonald's branding, even on the fry box that came with the meals.

The result was huge lines - and the quarter pounder became "the thing to try".

The McChronicles is told that the making of the link between this new hamburger and McDonald's will occur at the official launch.

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's
Images:

• quarter-pounder.net
  

• broccolicity.com

McDonald's Supports People In Need

"... McDonald's has always had an understanding that charity is a good way to build good will. For the most part, it comports itself with dignity, very rarely discussing its charitable endeavors, most notably Ronald McDonald House."

This is a quote from Bob Garfield, advertising critic and editor-at-large with Advertising Age. More on this subject can be read in an interesting article appearing in QSR Magazine.The article goes on to cite McDonald's for promoting diversity, awarding millions in minority scholarships, sponsoring workshops to help minorities enter college, and for their Ronald McDonald House.

In this article, Cristina Alfaro, communications manager with McDonald's USA, says, "Through the collective efforts of our chapters, we've awarded $19 million in scholarship funds to 14,000 Hispanic students. We've also established a national scholarship program that awards $100,000 apiece to four Hispanic students."

This kind of goodwill makes The McChronicles want to run out and buy lunch!

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: QSR Magazine article.

Attention McNugget Lovers

Today, McDonald’s launched www.nuggnuts.com , an online fan community dedicated to honoring the devoted fans of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets. The site launched this morning to pay tribute to the 25th anniversary of the popular menu item. Fans will have the opportunity to show why they deserve a coveted spot in the Nuggnuts Hall of Fame, learn the official McNuggets pledge, and purchase exclusive Nuggnuts apparel.

Two of the five individuals www.Nuggnuts.com is featuring are:

· Kevin Byers, an expert juggler and self-styled “Nuggler”, Kevin once juggled three Chicken McNuggets (after eating the 4th), a record 112 times late one night. He also attempted creating the world’s tallest McNugget tower.

· Adam Cater is the founder of “I Love Chicken McNuggets®” on Facebook. “I am the biggest McNuggets fan and I was trying to find everyone else in the world who also loves them like myself. I’d love to talk all day about my love for McNuggets. When I’m not eating McNuggets, I feel sad and empty inside.”

Comments anyone?

Quarter Pounder: The Store!

Apparently there is a McDonald's restaurant in Tokyo, Japan called QUARTER POUNDER that sells only two items:

1. Quarter Pounder with cheese
   
2. Double Quarter Pounder with cheese

The first image is a grab from the QUARTER POUNDER store website.

The second image is a grab from broccolicity.com website, where The McChronicles first heard of this interesting concept.

From what we're able to gather, if you're in Tokyo, head to Omotesando Shibuya East and you'll be close (there's a map on the website).

It also appears that some beverages are also available, as are fries, though they do not appear on the menu that is on the website (though they do appear in an image there). Another hint at that is the fact that the store sells the Quarter Pounder as a "set" meal. Makes sense.

There is more info available at the inventorspot blog.



The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Images:

• quarter-pounder.net
  

• broccolicity.com

(a follow-up to this story appears here.)