OAK BROOK, Ill. — McDonald's has launched several programs as part of its sponsorship of the 2008 Olyimpic Games in Beijing, ranging from giving kids an opportunity to travel to China to a Web-based alternate reality game featuring Olympic track and field legend Edwin Moses.
The McDonald's Champion Kids program will give more than 200 children from 40 countries the chance to travel to Beijing for an opportunity to experience the Games, meet athletes, visit the Olympic Village and see the wonders of China. Participants were chosen based on their country's selection process through a combination of physical, mental and verbal skills activities.
McDonald's also will debut The Lost Ring, an alternate reality game created by McDonald's in collaboration with game designer Jane McGonigal, interactive marketer for AKQA and the International Olympic Committee. The game represents the single-largest game of this type ever played, with more than 2 million participants working together online, in multiple languages, spanning 100 countries and culminating in Beijing.
Other activities include 1,400 of McDonald's restaurant employees from around the world traveling to Beijing to serve the athletes at McDonald's four new Olympic venue restaurants; a Big Mac Building competition; and posting of employee videos that express the "Olympic Spirit of McDonald's."
McDonald's will make an additional $100,000 donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities Earthquake Relief in China.
