McDonald's Commitment to Its People and World-Class Training Play Key Roles for London 2012 Games

OAK BROOK, IL--(Marketwire - May 23, 2012) - McDonald's (NYSE: MCD)

• Company announces 2012 McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew
• McDonald's U.K. supports LOCOG by training up to 70,000 Games Maker volunteers

McDonald's provides unique opportunities for its employees and customers around the world. For the London 2012 Olympic Games, the company will feature two programs that celebrate top-performing restaurant employees and its world-class training and people development.

McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew
McDonald's is proud to announce the 2012 McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew. These 2,000 best-of-the-best managers and crew from 42 countries will serve the world's best athletes, as well as coaches, officials, media and spectators at McDonald's four new Olympic venue restaurants in London.

"People are the heart and soul of our company, from the managers and crew behind the counter, to the people who train them," said Richard Floersch, McDonald's Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. "We share the Olympic ideals of teamwork, excellence and being your best and celebrate these across our more than 33,000 restaurants around the world. The McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew program is just one example of the unique opportunities we offer employees."

The London 2012 Games will represent the largest ever McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew since the program began at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Each participating country determines criteria for selection, such as excellence in teamwork, outstanding leadership and delivering the highest level of service to customers. Meet some of the best-of-the-best:

• Marina Malykh (Sochi, Russia): Manager of the Year award winner, Malykh joined McDonald's in 2000 and in 2004 she helped open the first McDonald's in Sochi. She is eager to experience her first Olympic Games and looks forward to welcoming the world to Sochi when her city hosts the next Olympic Games in 2014.
• Hao Lian (Anhui Province, China): Currently a hostess at her local restaurant, Lian volunteers with Ronald McDonald House Charities, and began her involvement with the charity following the 2008 earthquake in Wenchuan. She has also been very involved with The McDonald's China Volunteer Club, visiting children in orphanages.
• Chris Jeffers (Springfield, Illinois, U.S.A.): Jeffers is a 17-year veteran of McDonald's and has earned five Outstanding Manager Awards. McDonald's means so much to him that he and his wife celebrated their marriage at a McDonald's restaurant.
• David Rodrigo Franca (São Paulo, Brazil): Working at McDonald's was Franca's first job 19 years ago, and he has been with the company ever since. He is currently the proud manager of one of the top-ranking McDonald's restaurants in Brazil.

The four McDonald's Olympic venue restaurants will require 470 staff at one time to serve the thousands of anticipated guests during the Games. The world's largest McDonald's restaurant, located in the Olympic Park, will be managed by two McDonald's London business managers -- Murat Ocalan and Tariq Zaied. These outstanding managers were chosen through a special selection event and participated in the ground-breaking ceremony of the Olympic Park restaurant last November.

During their stay in London, the McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew will have an opportunity to meet athletes, attend Olympic competitions, participate in sports activities in a London Park, visit cultural sites, and interact with their peers from across the globe.

Games Makers Volunteer Program
Up to 70,000 Games Makers volunteers have been chosen to support the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). These volunteers will be at each venue to deliver a first-class customer service experience for the athletes, coaches, fans and media attending the Games.

For the first time ever, McDonald's is the presenting partner of the London 2012 Games Makers program. McDonald's commitment to people and proven track-record in employee development and training was a key factor in partnering on the program to help attract, select and train the volunteers. McDonald's used its 1,200 restaurants in communities across the U.K. to raise awareness about the program and attract volunteers from around the country, resulting in more than 240,000 total applications for the Games Makers volunteer program.

Utilizing the company's long-standing history of best-in-class training curriculum from Hamburger University -- with seven locations across the globe, including the U.K. Training Centre -- McDonald's dedicated two of its U.K. educators, Lorraine Thom and Ben George, to work with LOCOG to help create the training modules for the Games Makers program. Since 2010, Thom and George have been serving as Instructional Designers and helping to define and coordinate the more than 700 different volunteer roles required to ensure the London Games run smoothly.

"McDonald's understands what it takes to train and motivate a large workforce in a fast-paced environment," said Jean Tomlin, LOCOG Director of Human Resources. "Working with our team at LOCOG, McDonald's is supporting and celebrating the volunteers at every stage of their journey to London 2012, with the aim of leaving an enduring training and volunteering legacy for years to come."

In an effort to further equip people with skills and confidence to help them achieve their potential in the workplace after the Games, McDonald's is offering participants who are either unemployed or took part in the U.K. Government's Personal Best Program the ability to earn a professional qualification that may be used as a unit toward an apprenticeship in the hospitality industry throughout the U.K.

About McDonald's and the Olympic Games
McDonald's commitment to the Olympic Movement began in 1968, when the company airlifted hamburgers to U.S. athletes in Grenoble, France, after they reported being homesick for McDonald's food. McDonald's has served its menu of choice and variety to millions of athletes, their coaches, families and fans. London 2012 marks the ninth consecutive Games that McDonald's will feed the athletes as the Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games.

About McDonald's
McDonald's is the world's leading global foodservice retailer with more than 33,500 locations serving approximately 68 million customers in 119 countries each day. More than 80% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local men and women. To learn more about the company, please visit www.aboutmcdonalds.com and follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/mcdonaldscorp) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/mcdonaldscorp).

© 2012 McDonald's