McDonald's Brings Customers to Another Planet in Partnership With James Cameron's Movie Masterpiece 'AVATAR'

McDonald's Brings Customers to Another Planet in Partnership With James Cameron's Movie Masterpiece 'AVATAR'

Exclusive digital experiences & cutting-edge technology highlight McDonald's marketing innovation

OAK BROOK, Ill., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- McDonald's announced today during a live global Webcast its plans to bring amazing digital experiences to its young adult customers through its partnership with Academy-Award winning director James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox -makers of the highly anticipated film AVATAR, debuting in theaters worldwide Dec. 18. An archive of the Webcast is available.

Live from London just hours before AVATAR's world premiere, Cameron and Oscar-winning producer Jon Landau joined McDonald's Global Chief Marketing Officer Mary Dillon and McDonald's USA Chief Marketing Officer Neil Golden to reveal how McDonald's is leveraging the creativity of the movie through an imaginative global promotion for customers. During the Webcast, McDonald's showed sneak peeks of several cutting-edge, interactive experiences. This exclusive digital content provides a virtual experience of Pandora, the world where AVATAR takes place, via high-resolution, 360-degree views.

"We're engaging consumers around the world with one of the most unique digital experiences we've ever created to share James Cameron's vision for AVATAR," said Dillon. "McDonald's partnership with AVATAR gives us the opportunity to bring this adventure alive in our restaurants and online with innovative technology and creativity, all at the value customers expect from us."

Cameron provided an overview of his monumental movie while Landau led a guided tour of Pandora through McDonald's digital content.

"McDonald's has taken my vision of Pandora from the big screen to the computer screen and beyond," Cameron said. "AVATAR has been my dream for 14 years and I am extremely happy with how McDonald's is bringing it to life in their restaurants and online."

Landau, who collaborated with McDonald's to develop the digital experiences, said, "People are going to be captivated by the realism of their experiences. McDonald's is bringing AVATAR's world to life using new cutting-edge technologies to offer that 'wow' factor. They're really cool."

The properties include unique online experiences accessed only on McDonald's local Web sites around the world, such as www.mcdonalds.com/avatar, (which launches Dec. 18 in the U.S.). They include:

-- PandoraQuest: Players are tasked with finding hidden objects within
three different Pandoran landscapes, gaining an exclusive view of
AVATAR's fascinating environments. If players retrieve all objects,
they advance deeper into Pandora and reach their goal of becoming a
member of the "RDA Research Team" from the movie. Players in the U.S.
will also be rewarded with bonus features from the film.
-- McD VISION: An augmented reality (AR) experience that uncovers
characters and scenes from the film, and immerses players in the world
of Pandora. Players use their "McDonald's Thrill Cards" available in
participating U.S. restaurants (through Jan. 7, 2010, while supplies
last) to interact within AVATAR's fantastic world.
-- PandoraROVR: An online discovery experience where players can take
their first steps on Pandora, putting them in the driver's seat for
interactive explorations of Pandora's terrain. The players' mission is
to roam freely, capture and share images of their exotic discoveries.

McDonald's is also bringing the thrill of AVATAR to countries around the world with several exciting promotions:

-- McDonald's Latin America has launched an unparalleled in-restaurant
experience for customers, including photo backdrops that put customers
side-by-side with larger than life-sized images from the movie, as
well as augmented reality table stations, to connect customers with
the movie experience.
-- McDonald's Australia is promoting AVATAR with a unique sweepstakes
with hidden codes on cups and trayliners. They also developed a TV
commercial to thrill the senses of AVATAR fans.
-- Select countries in Europe will be offering a morphing tool that
allows customers to transform a photo of themselves into AVATAR
characters.
-- On Dec. 18, McDonald's USA is unlocking the world of Pandora for
customers with the iconic Big Mac sandwich. From Dec. 18 through Jan.
7, a Big Mac purchase will give customers one of eight "Big Mac AVATAR
Thrill Cards" to access PandoraQuest* featuring McD VISION, and
PandoraROVR, available at www.mcdonalds.com/avatar. In addition, from
Dec. 7 to 17, fans in the U.S. can participate in the "Big Mac AVATAR
Code Breaker Countdown" sweepstakes on McDonald's Twitter page,
@McDonalds, for a chance to win a Big Mac lunch with Landau and a
private screening of the movie.

Additionally, countries around the world will be offering highly innovative Happy Meal toys that encompass the spirit and adventure of AVATAR. The interactive toys feature AVATAR characters that light up via touch, sound or motion.

For more information on McDonald's partnership with the film, please visit www.aboutmcdonalds.com and www.mcdonalds.com/avatar.

About McDonald's

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 32,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. Approximately 80 percent of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by franchisees. Please visit our website at www.aboutmcdonalds.com to learn more about the Company.

About Fox Film Entertainment

One of the world's largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Fox Film Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Atomic, and Twentieth Century Fox Animation.

©2009 Twentieth Century Fox, AVATAR, McDonald's, McD VISION, Big Mac and Happy Meal are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. At participating restaurants, while supplies last.

*No purchase necessary; open to legal residents of the U.S. and D.C., 13 and older; void where prohibited; see Official Rules at mcdonalds.com/bigmac

CONTACT:
Suzanne Valliere, McDonald's
suzanne.valliere@us.mcd.com or 630-623-7555

Lisa McComb, McDonald's
lisa.mccomb@us.mcd.com or 630-623-3707

Ben Lincoln, GolinHarris
blincoln@golinharris.com or 312-729-4466

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990916/MCDLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: McDonald's

CONTACT: Suzanne Valliere, +1-630-623-7555, suzanne.valliere@us.mcd.com,
or Lisa McComb, +1-630-623-3707, lisa.mccomb@us.mcd.com, both of McDonald's;
or Ben Lincoln of GolinHarris, +1-312-729-4466, blincoln@golinharris.com, for
McDonald's

Web Site: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/

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