Health Promotion as a Part of McDonald's Business Strategy - Essay Example

McDonald's began in 1940 as a Barbecue restaurant being operated by Maurice and Richard McDonalds (M. Official Restaurant website). The upgrading of the company to Hamburger restaurant was started in 1948 through the change in the production line principles. The chain was subsequently purchased by businessman Ray Kroc in 1955 who oversaw its global expansion. The restaurants are operated by Franchisee, an affiliate or the corporation itself. In 1960, McDonald improved its advertisement momentum that boosted the sales for its products.

This led to the introduction of the current world-famous Golden Arches logo which enabled it to sell more that a Billion Hamburgers in 1963. This initiated the consistent profit that the company has registered overtime leading to an increase in its share value. According to the McDonald’s Publication of 2007, the company became a partner in Dow Jones Industrial Average after transforming into a public corporation. The company opened its 1000th restaurant in 1968 with Fred Turner becoming the President.

Amid being involved in a number of legal suits and controversies related to brand and workers, the company has maintained a suitable business niche overtime that has ensured its progressive maintenance of competitive advantage in the market. McDonald’s Historical Involvement in Olympic Games. The company has been the main sponsor of the Olympic Games for more than 35 years and applies the Olympic values of excellence, personal efficiency and teamwork. The idea behind sponsorship of the Olympic Games is related to the Company’s goal of reinforcing excellence, unity and achievement among the athletes and spectators from the world over.

According to M.OFFICIAL Restaurant Website, McDonald’s association with the Olympic movement commenced in 1968 when the company provided Hamburgers to the US athletes competing in France. The company went ahead to become the main sponsor of Olympic Games held in Montreal in 1976 which was followed by the provision of funds for the construction of Olympic swimming stadium in Los Angeles (Wally and Hurley 350). In 1996, the Company established itself as the Centennial Olympic Games partner of the Atlanta games (M.

OFFICIAL Restaurant Website). This made the company be crowned as the official restaurant for the Olympic Games for the first time. The management went ahead and participated in the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, marking their debut as the World Wide partner and sponsor of the Olympic Games. After honoring the Olympic champion crew that had gathered in Athens by feeding and taking care of them in 2004, the company announced its participation in the subsequent years, 2006 to 2012. In collaboration with the Olympic committee, the company launched a global physical fitness awareness campaign that was intended to call for the attention of the public on healthy eating habits (Lang et al. 45). The launching of the upgraded version of the above campaign was carried out in Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

The Olympic athletes also contributed in providing information for the unveiling of the grassroots health program for children. The company continued with its commitment towards children welfare through the launch of the McDonald’s Champion Children.