McDonalds’ 81 restaurants in Ireland are to switch from French bottled water Vittel to Irish brand Ballygowan.  Sport was central to the announcement when athletes from the McDonalds sponsored DCU Academy were used to illustrate a healthy Irish side to the chain.
McDonalds sells 1.25 million bottles of water annually and the switch is part of an ongoing programme to buy Irish in the local market.
“All of the beef, milk, cheese, eggs and water sold in McDonalds throughout Ireland is now sourced in Ireland,” said managing director, Adrian Crean.
McDonalds has been a top tier sponsor of the Olympic Games sincce 1976 and has built the largest restaurant in its worldwide portfolio as a centrepiece of the Olympic village in London.
It will promote healthy exercise throughout its promotional activity around the games but has still come in for criticism with the Academy of Royal Colleges in Britain saying recently that its sponsorship of the Olympics sends out the wrong message to Children.
Speaking in 2010, McDonalds executiuve Steve Easterbrook said that sporting sponsorships were not used to drive sales or awareness but to connect back to local franchisees and communities in which the restaurants are located.
He revealed that sales were down 5% during World Cup matches in 2010 as people went home to watch games though he did concede that many may have visited the restaurants before or after as a way of managing their time.
 
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Latest issue of Sport for Business Weekly (May 3rd to 9th, 2012)
The latest issue of Sport for Business Weekly (May 3rd to 9th 2012)

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