As a FIFA World Cup Sponsor through 2014, McDonald’s has global rights to both the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa(TM) and the 2014 FIFA World Cup(TM) yet to be selected on the South American continent, as well as to the FIFA Confederations Cups during this period. This enables McDonald’s to continue to bring the world’s passion for football to life for millions of fans as part of the company’s “i’m lovin’ it®” strategy of making stronger, more relevant connections with its customers around the world. McDonald’s sponsorship provides the opportunity to share the thrill of FIFA World Cup through special creative promotions, contests, advertisements, and in-store activation in more than 100 countries across the globe.
The renewal agreement with FIFA also allows McDonald’s to continue its status as the exclusive retail foodservice operations sponsor with special advertising rights, and the sole sponsor of the McDonald’s Player Escort program for the FIFA Confederation Cup as well as FIFA World Cup. This initiative provides the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for more than 1,400 children ages 6-10 from around the world to walk onto the field hand-in-hand with the top football players at the start of all 64 FIFA World Cup matches. In Germany, 51 countries participated in the program, which also featured special Player Escort matches held throughout the tournament.
“McDonald’s ability to reach more than 50 million customers in our more than 30,000 restaurants worldwide puts us in the unique position to activate a truly meaningful and relevant World Cup program,” said Mary Dillon, McDonald’s executive vice president and global chief marketing officer. “Our support of FIFA World Cup at both the global and grassroots levels also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to promoting balanced, active lifestyles for customers around the world. As a local family restaurant, McDonald’s encourages thousands of families and children to participate in community football activities, including club sponsorships, youth football schools and junior tournaments.”
“With McDonald’s, we have another long-time Official Sponsor on board for the FIFA World Cup events in 2010 and 2014. By opting to pursue the partnership also symbolized with the player escorts that has bound us for the last 12 years, McDonald’s has once again shown its faith in FIFA and our initiative “Football For a Better Future” in particular the “Win in Africa with Africa” programme we launched yesterday,” said FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter
