McD’s is piling in the pounds

I am writing in reply to your report on the Food Commission’s criticism of McDonald’s over its “use of football in marketing” (MW December 11, 2003).

Despite our contribution to the article, the simple facts of the value of a sponsorship and social marketing programme such as ours were not acknowledged.

McDonald’s has been involved in community football for the past eight years, investing over £18m in grass-roots football in the UK since 1995. Each year, over 500,000 children participate in McDonald’s-sponsored football community projects and activities.

McDonald’s is the official community football partner of the Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and the Northern Ireland Football Association. We have a commitment to creating thousands of additional hours of football coaching and physical exercise for young people, through the training of 10,000 additional football coaches based in clubs, schools and communities across the UK.

Through these community partnerships, we will invest more than £12m in football over the next three years. In 2003 alone, 2,500 community coaches were recruited and trained, delivering an extra 300,000 hours of coaching to children.

We are quite rightly very proud of the legacy we have achieved with our many football partners and will continue to communicate to our customers relevant and timely brand messages through responsible advertising that goes above and beyond all the relevant codes of practices.

For the record, we made no commitment with regard to the Health Select Committee and the future use of sportspeople – footballers or otherwise – in our advertising.

John Hawkes

Chief marketing officer

McDonald’s Restaurants

London N2