the trial. McDonalds suffered a scandal in connection with its toys when it was discovered that games administrator Simon Marketing's security director had fixed the restaurant's games for well over a decade, and McDonalds launched a five-day promotion to give away $10 million prizes in order to regain its positive image (MacArthur 2001, p.9). A new CEO, Jim Cantlupo, has taken the helm of the fast food chain in order to bolster the company's tarnished image.
The mainstay of McDonalds security and growth has historically been the franchise system and the ownership of real estate. However, American food tastes are changing. Fewer consumers think of McDonalds as a special place to eat, and there is a growing segment of the population that has moved away from the consumption of fast food. (CEO 2003, p.1). In order to manage these demographic shifts, Cantalupo plans several attacks. There will be cutbacks in expansion; cutbacks in expensive plans to modernize the restaurants; cutbacks in staff, and dropping offshoots such as the Donatos Pizza experiment (CEO 2003, p.1). Plans to renovate were dropped because nearly half of McDonalds customers go through the drive through and would not see the dTcor. There are plans to bring back the holding bins and make small changes to improve the taste of the food, including more sugar in the burger buns and a steaming process for the fish sandwiches, so the cheese will melt properly.
Catantalupo plans to layoff between 100 and 300 administrators and close underperforming restaurants, mostly in the U.S. and Japan (CEO 2003,p.2). McDonalds is trying to renegotiate a deal with Disney that turned out to be very expensive and ended up advertising Disney more than McDonalds. There are plans to offer healthier options, especially in the Happy Meals, such as vegetables and juices, to please the families that are moving in the direction of healthier diets. McDonalds has been tied into toy premiu...