They've been having a bad run lately. First a class-action lawsuit in the land famed for its legal tangoes. Yes, nothing is sacred before the litigation-happy American consumer. Having stuffed their faces and watched their once-trim frames pile on the kilos, they've now decided someone's got to pay for their expanding waistlines. What better target than fast food operators like McDonald's.
While the legal troubles boil over in the US, fast food operators now find themselves waging a battle of another kind in Asia. This one involves McDonald's, which so generously splurged big bucks to sponsor the very successful World Cup tournament in Asia.
McDonald's didn't simply pay for a couple of ads, it even went through the trouble of cooking up a rice burger as part of its Thailand promotion.
Was all of this for nothing? Apparently, going by McCann-Erickson's Pulse survey of World Cup sponsors. A female respondent in Hong Kong simply couldn't see the link between the fast food chain and football. She was convinced team coaches didn't feed their players with Big Macs and fries.
Well, if they did, those players would have been on a sofa instead of the pitch.
