Fuel Industries and McDonald's reinvent the happy meal for the the digital generation

airies and Dragons makes its debut in restaurants across Europe in early April

OTTAWA, March 17 /PRNewswire/ - After twenty-nine years of wildly popular
children's toys, McDonald's is bringing its Happy Meals to the computer
screen. In an exciting new digital initiative, McDonald's Europe is partnering
with Canadian entertainment studio Fuel Industries to reinvent the contents of
the box that, for three decades, has had children and their parents visiting
McDonald's restaurants across the world.

This spring, children will be introduced to four mischievous Fairies and
four powerful Dragons by way of interactive CD-ROMs that will bring the
characters to life on their computers. In an original twist on what has become
a staple of children's advertising, these Happy Meal toys do not feature
tie-ins to a major children's film, game, toy line or television program.
Rather, they are original licensed creations developed by Fuel Industries, a
branded entertainment studio headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.

Typically, McDonald's has partnered with major studios to bring
already-established characters to their Happy Meals. The fairies and dragons
may be new to children, but McDonald's is confident that the personality of
the characters themselves will be attractive to millions of children in
Europe.

"Working in partnership with McDonald's Europe has been a great
experience, and it is giving us a unique opportunity to have our creations
experienced my millions of kids worldwide," said Warren Tomlin, Chief Creative
Officer at Fuel Industries. "By licensing characters and content from our
100-person shop in Ottawa, McDonald's Europe is making a fantastic statement:
when a company is determined to create top-quality content, people will stand
up and take notice."

In keeping with the campaign's international focus, the interactive
characters communicate without language, and will be released in forty
countries spanning eleven languages. Once the disc, which is included in a
bright plastic case within the Happy Meal, is inserted, and the fairy or
dragon comes to life on their desktop, children follow audio and visual clues
in order to unlock the full gamut of games they can play with the character.

McDonald's will be shipping millions of CD-ROMs throughout April and May,
beginning a new era for its signature toy treat. By working directly with an
entertainment studio in a joint venture to produce original content,
McDonald's has made a unique change to three decades of tradition, and is
banking that the original characters and content are more than enough to keep
a generation born on the web entertained.

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