Corporation History

1937

McDonald brothers open Airdrome

May 15, 1940

Richard "Dick" J. McDonald and Maurice "Mac" McDonald were two early American fast food pioneers, originally from Manchester, New Hampshire, who established the first McDonald's restaurant in 1940. The McDonald family was of Irish origin. The brothers' first food venture was a hot-dog stand in Monrovia, California called the Airdrome, opened in 1937. Using the profits generated from Airdrome, the McDonalds brothers and their father Patrick McDonald closed it and opened their first restaurant, a barbecue drive-in in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. It was their first McDonald's restaurant, which made $366.12 on its first day, on Route 66, at 14th and E St., on May 15. Its menu consisted of 25 items, mostly barbecue. As was common at the time, they employed around 20 carhops. The restaurant quickly became a popular and highly profitable teen hangout. The McDonalds noted that most of their profits came from Hamburgers. And then, inspired by the assembly line of Henry Ford, in 1948 they closed their restaurant for several months, and pared service back to the essentials, offering a simple menu of hamburgers, french fries, and milkshakes, produced on a continuous basis (rather than made to order, as all restaurants had done) and with no substitutions offered. Food could thus be served nearly instantaneously -- a new idea that Dick called "fast food." The carhops were fired; customers walked to a single window to place and receive their orders. They made the food preparation area visible to the customers, to exhibit its standards of cleanliness, and they eliminated all china and cutlery, serving only in paper bags. The system worked so well because parents would drive up and send their children up to the window to place the orders, still in full sight of the parents. The employees were instructed to "Treat Every Customer with Respect" and so children were made to feel special when they ordered. The result was the "Speedee Service System.". The food was not only served quickly, to a consistent standard, but it was also inexpensive. A McDonald's hamburger cost only 15 cents, less than half of what it might cost at a typical diner. The service became very popular and its fame spread by word of mouth. The brothers can arguably be said to have invented the modern fast-food restaurant, although similar ideas had already been implemented at White Castle and the similar Krystal Fourth McDonald's restaurant opened, in Downey, California at the corner of Lakewood and Florence Avenue, and is the oldest McDonald's restaurant still in operation. With low sales, damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and the lack of a driveup window and indoor seating, the restaurant was closed. However with both the public and preservationists demanding the restaurant be saved, McDonald's spent two years restoring the restaurant and reopened it. Customers today can visit the original restaurant and an adjoining gift shop and museum. In 1954 a milkshake machine salesman, Ray Kroc, became fascinated by the McDonald's restaurant during a sales visit, when he learned of its extraordinary capacity and popularity. After seeing the restaurant in operation, Kroc approached the McDonald brothers, who have already begun franchising, with a proposition to let him franchise McDonald's restaurants outside the company's homebase of California and Arizona, with himself as the first franchisee. Kroc worked hard to sell McDonald's. He even attempts to prevail on his wartime acquaintance with Walt Disney, in the failed hope of opening a McDonald's at the soon-to-be-opened Disneyland. Ray Kroc hired Fred Turner as a grillman in his store in Des Plaines. Started as a grill operator, Turner quickly rose through the ranks and became

First McDonalds restaurant

Dec 12, 1948

McDonalds introduce Speedee Service System

1953

Oldest operating McDonalds restaurant opens

1954

Enter Ray Kroc

1955

Enter Fred Turner

Mar 2, 1955

McDonalds Systems, Inc and Krocs first McDonald

Operations Vice President in 1958. He made the move up to Executive Vice President in 1967 and became President and Chief Administrative Officer the following year. Turner served as CEO from 1973 to 1987 and replaced Ray Kroc as Chairman in 1977. Ray Kroc founded "McDonald's Systems, Inc." on March 2, as a legal structure for his planned franchises. Kroc opened the ninth McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, in suburban Chicago on April 15. The company's literature usually refers to this date as the "beginning" of the company, then already 15 years old, writing the McDonald brothers out of its history in favor of "Founder" Kroc. The company still refers to this restaurant as "McDonald's #1". In July, Ray Kroc opened his second McDonald's restaurant in Fresno, California, operated by Art Bender, Kroc's first subfranchisee. The Fresno site is referred to as "first McDonald's restaurant franchised by Ray Kroc" on a plaque on the site, which has been rebuilt to resemble the 1950s-style restaurants. The same year Kroc hired Harry J Sonneborn, a former vice president of finances at Tastee Freeze. Sonneborn quickly rose to the top serving as McDonald's president and the financial wizard behind The McDonald's Hamburger Empire until he resigned in 1967 due to a dispute with Kroc; who had the "last word" as the companys CEO. Hamburger University was found in 1961, at a McDonald's restaurant in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. In the early 60s, the first students were to complete strictly required courses such as chemistry, marketing, and cooking so when they graduate, they would be able to create formulas to increase the profit of the company. Many of those with a "Mcdegree" would get job offerings in a lab so they could invent new way to enhance the food in the cheapest way. After several years of working in the lab, students would usually pursue a "Mcmaster" degree since this degree would allow them to fulfill requirements for any possible managing position available in the corporation. To date, no one has yet to receive a "McPhD". Today, Hamburger University is a 130,000 square foot (12,000 m) training facility of McDonald's Corporation, located at 2815 Jorie Blvd. in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The university was designed to instruct personnel employed by McDonald's in the various aspects of the business. The institution has graduated over 70,000 managers and has 30 resident professors. The Filet-O-Fish was invented and introduced Lou Groen in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a restaurant located in a neighborhood dominated by Roman Catholics who practiced abstinence (the avoidance of meat) on Fridays. It was the first new addition to the original menu, and it went national the following year, with fish supplied by Gorton's of Gloucester. Lou Greens invention (the fish sandiwch), served with cheese and tartar sauce, is now served at McDonald's restaurants throughout the world. In some areas of the United States during Lent, "2 for $3" deals and "Double Filet-OFish" sandwiches are offered. The chain's stand-alone restaurant design which is still most common today, with mansard roof and indoor seating, was introduced. It replaced the standard red and white tile buildings. By then, Fred Turner, called Kroc's first "grill man extraordinaire," became the Senior Chairman of the Board.

1961

Hamburger University opens

1963

Filet-O-Fish, the first fish sandwich

1967

New building style

First McDonalds outside US

1968

The first McDonald's restaurant outside the United States opens in Richmond, British Columbia.

The Big Mac sandwich is a type of cheeseburger, a signature sandwich sold by the McDonald's chain of fast-food restaurants since 1968, made with beef patties, lettuce,

Big Mac comes out in a big way

cheese, pickles and onion, with a "special sauce" and a sesame seed bun. The Big Mac (similar to the Big Boy hamburger), the brainchild of Jim Delligatti, one of Ray Kroc's earliest franchisees, who by the late 1960s operated a dozen stores in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was first introduced in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania market in 1967, before going system/nationwide a year later, following its great local success. The Hot Apple Pie is also introduced this year. Maurice "Mac" McDonald died of cancer in 1971.

1971

Mac McDonald dies

Jul 1971

First Asian McDonalds

Aug 21, 1971

The first Asian McDonald's opened in July, 1971 in Japan, in Tokyo's Ginza district.

First European McDonalds

On August 21, the first European McDonald's outlet opened, in Zaandam (near Amsterdam) in the Netherlands. The franchisee was Ahold.

Dec 1971

First Australian McDonalds

1973

The first Australian McDonald's opened in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona in December.

Egg McMuffin is laid on menu

The McMuffin is the brand name for a breakfast sandwich available at McDonald's consisting of a slice of Canadian bacon, a grill-cooked egg, and a slice of cheese on a buttered, toasted English muffin. A sausage patty may also be selected in place of the Canadian bacon (in which case it would be called a Sausage McMuffin with Egg). This trademarked McDonald's egg sandwich was invented in 1972 by Herb Peterson, owner and operator of a Santa Barbara franchise, and was important in the history of the company. Ray Kroc writes that Herb Peterson, and his assistant, Donald Greadel, the operator of their Santa Barbara franchise, asked him to look at something, not telling him what it was because it was "...a crazy idea a breakfast sandwich. It consisted of an egg that had been formed in a Teflon circle with the yolk broken, and was dressed with a slice of cheese and a slice of grilled Canadian bacon. It was served open-faced on a toasted and buttered English muffin.... The advent of the Egg McMuffin opened up a whole new area of potential business for McDonald's, the breakfast trade." In the 1970s, some McDonald's restaurants served Egg McMuffins all day as a special promotion. The Egg McMuffin is the lowest-calorie breakfast sandwich McDonald's offers.

1973

The Quarter Pounder is cheesed in

A Quarter Pounder is a McDonald's hamburger made from approximately 1/4 pound (4 ounces or 113 grams) of beef, weighed before cooking. It was introduced in Fremont, California in 1971-1972 and became part of the national menu in 1973. It is sold with or without two slices of processed cheese, but the Quarter Pounder with Cheese (QPC) is by far the more popular item.

Oct 12, 1974

First in UK but 3000th for the corporation

1975

On October 12, the first McDonald's in the United Kingdom opened in Woolwich, southeast London. It was the company's 3000th restaurant. Woolwich was chosen because it was considered to be a representative English town at the time.

Drive-Thru is introduced

Sierra Vista was the first city to have a McDonalds drive thru. It first opened its window on January 24, 1975 to be able to quickly feed many of the soldiers from nearby Fort Huachuca (a United States Army installation) who were not allowed to wear BDUs while off post except while in a vehicle. The original McDonalds was closed down and demolished in May of 1999 and a new McDonalds replaced it, forever destroying the historic location. The Drive-Thru is later known as "McDrive" in some countries. The first McDonald's in France opened, in Strasbourg. Along with Coca Cola, it played a major part in Americanization of Frances food. The first McDonald's opened in Singapore the same year was also the first in Southeast Asia.

1979

First French and Singapore McDonald

Jun 1979

The Happy Meal is introduced in the U.S.

A "Happy Meal" is a meal specially tailored for children, sold at the fast-food chain McDonald's since June 1979. A toy is typically included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a small box or paper bag with the McDonald's logo. The Happy Meal was the brainchild of St. Louis, Missouri advertising manager Dick Brams, who in 1977 contracted Kansas City-based advertising firm Bernstein-Rein to develop a children's meal item that would promote McDonald's as a restaurant for families, specifically those with smaller children. The very first Happy Meal in 1979 was the Circus Wagon Happy Meal. It cost one dollar and contained either a McDoodler stencil, a puzzle book, a McWrist wallet, an ID bracelet or McDonaldland character erasers. The original Happy Meal consisted of a hamburger or cheeseburger, twelve-ounce soft drink, a small order of french fries, and a "McDonaldland Cookie Sampler"; i.e., a small portion of cookies. McNuggets, as they are commonly known, are small pieces of formed chicken that have been battered and deep fried. They are sold in packages of 4, 6, 9, 20 and come with a choice of various flavors of dipping sauce. They are one of the most popular trademarked items on the McDonald's menu. McDonald's first introduced McChicken sandwich, its first poultry item, in the year 1980. The food flopped and was subsequently removed from the menu. Three years later it was reintroduced as the Chicken McNuggets, a then-novel bite-size piece of mixed dark and white meat; it quickly became a best-seller. Ray Kroc died of a heart ailment at Scripps Memorial Hospital in San Diego, at the age of 81. McDonalds was a main sponsor of the 1984 Summer Olympics. McDonalds ran a promotional game called "When The US Wins, You Win" where customers scratched off a ticket and if the US won that event then they would be given a free menu item. The company lost millions of dollars when the Soviet boycott let the US athletes fare better than they otherwise would have. This was parodied in the Simpsons episode, Lisa's First Word. In this episode Krusty runs a promotion where Krusty Burger is the "Official Meat-Flavored Sandwich of the 1984 Olympics". In the promotion, scratch off tickets are given out and if the US wins the event indicated on the ticket then the holder of the ticket wins a free burger. The promotion however was rigged so only events where communists usually win are given

1983

Chicken McNuggets, first poultry item

Jan 14, 1984

Ray Kroc dies

1984

US McDonalds loses millions on Summer Olympics

out. After the Soviet Union boycotts the games Krusty loses 44 million dollars, causing him to angrily inform viewers, "I, personally, am going to spit in every fiftieth burger!" (Homer: "I like those odds!")
1984

Dick McDonald serves the 50 billionth burger

1984 1987

In 1984, Dick McDonald served the ceremonial 50,000,000,000th (50 billionth) McDonald's burger, having cooked the first one.

San Ysidro McDonalds massacre

The McDonald's massacre was an incident of mass murder which resulted in 21 deaths and 15 injuries at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro section of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984. The massacre was carried out by James Oliver Huberty, a 41-year-old former welder from Canton, Ohio. In January 1984, Huberty had moved to San Ysidro with his wife and children, where he worked as a security guard until his dismissal one week prior to the murders. His apartment was located near the site of the shooting spree. Huberty had eaten at a McDonald's in Clairemont a few hours prior to the massacre. Huberty used a 9mm Uzi semi-automatic (the primary weapon fired in the massacre), a Winchester pump-action twelve-gauge shotgun, and a 9mm Browning HP in the restaurant, killing 21 people and wounding 19 others. The massacre began at 4 p.m. and lasted for 77 minutes. Huberty had spent 257 rounds of ammunition before he was fatally shot by Chuck Foster, a SWAT team sniper perched on the roof of a nearby post office. On September 26, 1984, McDonald's tore down the restaurant where the massacre occurred and gave the property to the city. In 1986, Etna Huberty, his widow, unsuccessfully sued McDonald's and Babcock and Wilcox, James Huberty's longtime former employer, in an Ohio state court for $7.88 million, claiming that the massacre was triggered by the combined mixture of McDonald's food and work around poisonous metals. She alleged that monosodium glutamate in the food, combined with the high levels of lead and cadmium in Huberty's body, induced delusions and uncontrollable rage. An autopsy did reveal high levels of the metals, most likely built up from fumes inhaled during 14 years of welding. Autopsy results also revealed there were no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the killings.

1988

First Communist McDonald

Jan 31, 1990

McDonald's opened its first restaurant in a communist country, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. McDonalds in Regiposta street, Budapest, Hungary followed in the same year. On January 31, the first Soviet McDonald's opened, in Moscow. At the time it was the largest McDonald's in the world (it is still Europe's biggest). For political reasons, McDonald's Canada was responsible for this opening, with little input from the U.S. parent company; a wall display within the restaurant shows the Canadian and Soviet flags. To overcome Soviet supply problems, the company created its own supply chain, including farms, within the USSR. Unlike other foreign investments, the restaurant accepted rubles, not dollars, and is extremely popular, with waiting lines of several hours common in its early days. The Sydney River McDonald's Murders occurred on May 7, 1992, at the McDonald's restaurant in Sydney River, Nova Scotia, Canada. Derek Wood, 18, an employee of the restaurant along with two friends, Freeman MacNeil, 23, and Darren Muise, 18, broke into the restaurant after closing, planning to

First Soviet McDonalds

1992

Sydney River McDonalds

Murders

rob the establishment. They shot, stabbed, and beat three employees to death and left a fourth to die after shooting her in the head. She is now permanently disabled. The victims were: ? Jimmy Fagan, 27 ? Donna Warren, 22 ? Neil Burroughs Jr., 29 ? Arlene MacNeil, 20 (permanently disabled) The killers claim they had not planned on using any violence in the break and enter; it was to be quick and easy money. Yet MacNeil, Muise, and Wood inched their way into the restaurant via a basement door Wood had left ajar earlier in the evening and wore Halloween masks. They were armed with a .22 caliber pistol, several knives, and a shovel handle. Expecting to find over $200,000 in the restaurant's safe, the three made off with just over $2,000. Freeman MacNeil is now in a maximum-security prison in Renous, New Brunswick, sentenced to 25 years before parole eligibility. Darren Muise received 20 years before parole eligibility. He is eligible for release in 2012. Derek Wood was given two terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder and attempted murder, as well as two ten year terms for unlawful confinement and the armed robbery. Wood will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years.

Apr 23, 1992

Worlds Largest McDonalds of 1992

1993

On April 23, the world's largest McDonald's opens in Beijing, China (over 700 seats). Along with adjacent buildings, it is later demolished.

World's first floating McDonald's restaurant

1995

The world's first floating McDonald's restaurant was located onboard Silja Europa from its maiden trip until 1996 when it was closed down and replaced by Silja Line's own hamburger restaurant.

Competition among franchisees

1996

McDonald's received complaints from franchisees that too many franchises are being granted, leading to competition among franchisees. McDonald's starts conducting market impact studies before granting further franchises.

McDonalds strives for an adult image

In response to the demographic trend of longer lifespans and an expanding older market, McDonald's made a conscious decision to attempt to market its food to a more adult audience. Rather than compromise its existing brand images, the company decided to create a new line of burgers with more sophisticated ingredients. It commissioned Executive Chef Andrew Selvaggio to create the Deluxe line of burgers including the Fish Fillet Deluxe, Grilled Chicken Deluxe, Crispy Chicken Deluxe and the flagship Arch Deluxe. The Arch Deluxe was released in early 1996 in one of the most expensive advertising campaigns to that date. However, customers were turned off by the high price and unconventional ads, and consumer groups were upset by the higher caloric content. The brand was gradually discontinued, and is no longer found at McDonald's stores today.

Dec 10, 1996

100th country for McDonalds

1997

First McDonald's opens in Belarus, marking the chain's 100th country (by its own calculation; however, this total included many non-sovereign territories). At the opening ceremony, the Belarusian militia is accused of brutality toward members of the public hoping to enter the restaurant in Minsk. The same year on October 13th McDonalds opened its first restaurant in India. The McLibel case is the colloquial term for McDonald's Restaurants v Morris & Steel, a long-running English court action for libel filed by McDonald's Corporation against environmental activists Helen Steel and David Morris over a pamphlet critical of the company. The original case lasted seven years, making it the longest-running court action in English history. Beginning in 1986, "London Greenpeace", a small environmental campaigning group, distributed a pamphlet entitled Whats wrong with McDonalds: Everything they dont want you to know. This publication made a number of allegations against McDonald's, including that the corporation: sells unhealthy food; exploits its work force; practices unethical marketing of its products, especially towards children; is cruel to animals; needlessly uses up resources; contributes to poverty in the Third World by forcing peasants either to leave their land in favour of export crops which could satisfy McDonald's needs, or to convert their land to raise cattle; creates pollution with its packaging; andis at least partly responsible for destroying the South American rainforests. Before McDonald's responded, the pamphlet was regarded as something of a failure. Now, though, the pamphlet has been translated into over twenty-six languages. In 1990, McDonald's responded by bringing libel proceedings against five London Greenpeace supporters, Paul Gravett, Andrew Clarke and Jonathan O'Farrell, as well as Steel and Morris, for distributing the pamphlet on the streets of London. A major mistake by McDonald's and their lawyers when preparing the case was asserting that all claims in the pamphlet were false. Although some of the claims were weak the assertion that the destruction of the Amazonian rain forests was in part due to McDonald's demand for cattle (for burgers), for instance other claims were less controversial. On June 19, 1997, Mr Justice Bell delivered a more than 1000-page decision largely in favor of McDonald's. Steel and Morris had proven the truth of three fifths of the claims in the original leaflet but were found guilty of libel on several points. Bell noted that McDonald's did endanger the health of their workers and customers by "misleading advertising", that they "exploit children", that they are "culpably responsible" in the infliction of unnecessary cruelty to animals, and that they are "antipathetic" to unionisation and pay their workers low wages. Furthermore, although the decision awarded 60,000 to the company, it has been estimated that the case has cost McDonald's 10,000,000. Evidence that surfaced during the trial regarding McDonald's business practices proved extremely embarrassing for the company. It is often described as the biggest public relations disaster in history.

McDonalds wins the McLibel case

Oct 1997

A McFlurry is a brand of flavored ice cream distributed by McDonald's restaurants. Developed by Alicia Jones and first sold in Canada, McFlurry debuted in October, 1997. McFlurry consists of whipped, soft-serve McDonald's vanilla-flavored ice cream product in a cup. The McFlurry has a specially designed spoon with a hole in the handle which is attached to a blender. Sprinkles or various types of candy are added to the cup which is then blended using the spoon. The ice cream product in a McFlurry is the same product McDonald's uses for its cones and Sundaes.

The McFlurry is invented by Canadian franchisee

1998

Dick McDonald dies

1999

Richard "Dick" McDonald died in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1998, at the age of 89. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, a stepson, Gale French, and two grandchildren.

Half-built McDonalds building destroyed

2000

The company opened its 1000th British store, inside the Millennium Dome. The same year investigative journalist Eric Schlosser published Fast Food Nation, a book critical of fast food in general and McDonald's in particular. In the book Schlosser examined the history and growth of fast food restaurants in American culture. Schlosser argues that the fast food industry wields powerful economic and therefore political influence on American culture and exploits that influence to increase profits at the expense of public health and of the social conditions of its workers. In making that argument, however, he insightfully portrays the fast food culture as a unique product of American history and the culture's relation to the emergence of the automobile, the homogenization of corporate culture, changes in labor conditions, and economic globalization. A survey in Restaurants and Institutions magazine ranked McDonald's 15th in food quality among hamburger chains, highlighting the company's failure to enforce standards across its franchise network. McDonald's posted its first quarterly loss ($344m), for the last quarter. It responded to the stiff competition from other fast-food restaurants, offering higher quality burgers and more variety, by attempting to move more upmarket by expanding its menu and refitting restaurants. It also announced it was withdrawing from three countries (including Bolivia) and closing 175 underperforming restaurants. In October, McDonald's opened the first of 2 corporate stores in Lincoln, Nebraska to test concept restaurant called "3N1". The concept incorporated a "Sandwich & Platter" casual dining area, a "bakery and ice cream" area featuring gourmet coffees, and a traditional McDonald's into one building. The second store was launched approximately six months later. The concept was spearheaded by Tom Ryan, who was Executive Vice President and Chief Concept Officer at the time. The concept was abandoned in less than a year, and Ryan left McDonald's to join Quiznos Sub.

1000th British store

2002

Year of failures

2003

Im lovin it

McDonald's started a global marketing campaign which promoted a new healthier and higher-quality image. The campaign was labeled "i'm lovin' it?" and began simultaneously in more than 100 countries around the world. It was created by Heye & Partner, a longtime McDonald's agency based in Unterhaching, Germany, near Munich, and a member of the DDB Worldwide

Call centers and made for you experiments

Communications Group, Inc. It was the company's first global advertising campaign and was launched in Munich, Germany on September 2, 2003, under the German title ich liebe es. The English part of the campaign was launched on September 29, 2003 with the music of Tom Batoy and Franco Tortora (Mona Davis Music) and vocals by Justin Timberlake, in which the slogan appears.

McDonald's experimented with call centers for drive-through orders. The center, located in Fargo, North Dakota took orders from more than a dozen stores in Oregon and Washington. The experiment was in part motivated by labor costs, since the minimum wage in North Dakota is over 40% lower than that in Oregon or Washington. Also, owing in part to competitive pressure, McDonald's Australia began "Made for you" policy in which the food is cooked after the customer orders (as opposed to the firm's normal procedure since 1948, in which the food is cooked then sold as needed). It became the standard practice in all Australian restaurants by 2007. Some restaurants in New Zealand also followed suit. The practice had earlier been tested, and abandoned, in the U.S.
2004

Protagonist eats McDonalds and spoils his health

Morgan Spurlock directed and starred in Super Size Me documentary film in which the protagonist eats nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days to the great detriment of his health. Super Size Me follows a 30-day time period (February 2003) during which Spurlock subsists exclusively on McDonald's fast food and stops exercising. The film documents this lifestyle's drastic effects on Spurlock's physical and psychological well-being and explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit. During the filming, Spurlock dined at McDonald's restaurants three times per day, sampling every item on the chain's menu at least once. He consumed an average of 5,000 calories (the equivalent of 9.26 Big Macs) per day during the experiment. After the release of Super Size Me, McDonalds does away with their Supersize options. A fired employee, who was terminated for hitting a female customer, murdered his former manager at a McDonald's outlet in West Sussex, England. Asperger's Syndrome sufferer Shane Freer stabbed Jackie Marshall (57) to death during a children's party at the fast food restaurant she was supervising. Freer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison by Lewes Crown Court. Asperger syndrome is one of several autism spectrum disorders (ASD) characterized by difficulties in social interaction and by restricted and stereotyped interests and activities. AS is distinguished from the other ASDs in having no general delay in language or cognitive development. McDonald's in Singapore began their McDelivery service: customers place their food orders over the phone, and it is delivered to wherever they are. The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The same year, McDonald's also opened a Wi-Fi service in selected restaurants with Nintendo for Nintendo DS. McDonald's and Disney ended their 10 year promotional partnership. Split allegedly mutual although the generally accepted reasons were that McDonald's no longer saw benefit from sticking with one studio; due to the increased competition from other studios, as well as having to promote flop films, and Disney no longer wanted to be associated with a company so strongly tied to childhood obesity. McDonald's also announced that it will include nutritional information on the packaging for all products beginning in March and that its upcoming menu changes will emphasize chicken, salads, and other "fresh foods" rather than hamburgers.

2005

McDonalds manager stabbed at childrens party

McDelivery and Nintendo

2006

McDonald and Disney part ways

2007

Attempts to make its menu healthy

McDonald's Australia introduced Pasta Zoo happy meals in an attempt to introduce a healthier choice for children. McDonald's Australia also introduced Heart Tick approved meals to enforce its healthier image. McDonald's Australia introduced the "Backyard Burger" into its menu.

McDonald's reintroduced its 42 ounce super-size soda under the name Hugo.