It has recruited a team - made up of past and present sports stars as well as future Olympic hopefuls – aiming to demonstrate that basic activities adding up to 60 minutes of exercise a day can be simple and fun.
Six weeks ago McDonald’s announced a commitment to talk to children the world over about energy balance – using the strap-line ‘it’s what i eat and what i do’ as the rallying call.
To bring the initiative to life McDonald’s UK has enlisted the help of sporting heroes including double Olympic Gold medal-winning rower James Cracknell OBE, Olympic Silver medallist Sharron Davies MBE and World Cup legend Sir Geoff Hurst MBE, who will try to inspire youngsters to think about what they eat and what they do.
During 2005 and beyond the team will visit schools and events across the UK, to back the ’active for 60 minutes a day’ message.
Peter Beresford, McDonald’s UK chairman and chief executive, said: “McDonald’s is committed to reinforcing the importance of energy balance – that is the food you eat balanced with the activity you do. We know that children listen and look up to sports stars, who act as strong role models and who clearly strike the right energy balance.
“As a company, we’ve been committed to promoting active lifestyles for a decade, in particular through our partnership with the four national football associations, creating 10,000 community football coaches by 2006. So far the scheme has benefited over three million children.”
As well as touring the UK, members of the Team will also be appearing in a series of advertisements around the ‘it’s what i eat and what i do’ message.
