‘YumChums’ spring into action
UK Press Releases
August 1, 2004
Today sees the first airing of McDonald’s new two-minute educational advertisements, featuring Ronald McDonald and the ‘YumChums’ - colourful characters who live in everyone’s tummy and explain through song and dance how to keep fit, healthy and happy by eating a balanced diet, drinking enough fluids and exercising. The first screening at 7.12 on Boomerang focuses on the importance of eating five fruit or vegetables a day.
The adverts, have been designed to help inform children about the need to eat a balanced diet and pursue an active lifestyle, in a relevant, entertaining and informative way. The films - developed in association with a nutritionist and specialists in children’s commercials - will feature a set of characters called the ‘YumChums’ to communicate the simple message that “it’s fun when you eat right and stay active”.
The move comes as a direct response to Secretary of State Tessa Jowell’s recent call to the food and advertising industries to work with government in making sure the right messages about a healthy diet and exercise are communicated to children and young people.
Newly appointed McDonald’s UK Chief Executive Peter Beresford commented on the initiative: “We recognise that getting children to eat a balanced diet can sometimes be a challenge for parents. We took the decision, as part of our commitment to responsible communication, to work on a programme which would help parents with just that. We went to great lengths to consult with relevant experts in nutrition, education and commercials to come up with a unique concept which displays true leadership in this area.”
The programmes, based around simple songs, will be repeated a number of times over a period of days to encourage children to learn the songs and respond to the messages conveyed. Children’s commercials director Steve Campbell commented:
“We know that having fun is a number one motivator in getting kids to learn and therefore singing and dancing is a strong, and proven, method of educating children, particularly about topics which don’t carry as much immediate interest for them. Learning comes through interaction not lectures, creating the ‘YumChums’ and using them in conjunction with a character as popular as Ronald McDonald will help parents as they try to communicate these messages themselves in a relevant and fun way.”
In addition, McDonald’s worked with leading nutritionist Anita Bean to develop messages appropriate in tone and content to appeal to young children. Anita commented: “It can be tough for parents to communicate nutritional messages to their children in a fun way. It will certainly be beneficial for children to have a better understanding of the messages if we are to address the statistics facing us in the media every day. By focusing around four core messages, eating ‘5-a-day’ portions of fruit and veg, activity is fun, not to have too many treats, and why you need plenty of fluids, we have developed a concept that is both simple, and effective.”
As part of the development process McDonald’s consulted an independent group of UK mums, all of whom have children between 4-10 years old.
Mum Jo Turner said: I think this way of talking to children is great, and will really appeal to my children. The use of catchy tunes and such a simple concept as the ‘YumChums’ are a great way of getting what is a really important message across which I think mums and dads will appreciate. This reinforces what we try and tell our children already, and will help us make eating healthily at home fun”.
McDonald’s plans to evaluate the efficacy and responses to the adverts in terms of both reaching and teaching children and will share the results of its research with interested parties.
This move is the latest in a long line of initiatives launched recently by McDonald’s. The last year has seen a number of additions to the menu focused on providing greater choice and variety for customers:
· We have sold over 7 million fruit bags since launch in 2003, and are already the #1 retailer of pre-prepared fruit in the UK. Our fruit bags meet one of the DOH's recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day
· In February 2003 McDonald’s launched semi skimmed organic milk into restaurants. Milk sales have since increased by a quarter
· Robinson’s Fruit Shoots now make up 17% of Happy Meal drinks sales.
· New Chicken McNuggets are made with chicken breast, they are lower in fat and have 30% less salt (per 100g)
· In March 2004 McDonald’s introduced Salads Plus, representing the biggest change to the menu for 30 years. The range includes a variety of Salads, sandwiches, plus apples, mineral water and a low fat fruit and yoghurt dessert, which allow the customer to mix and match their options at McDonald’s to a greater extent than ever before. The range also includes a unique new Quorn Premiere, developed exclusively for McDonald’s.
· Other recent salt reductions include 24% for medium fries, and 23% for ketchup.
· McDonald’s Community Football programme is creating 10,000 qualified football coaches who will work with children and young people at clubs throughout the UK.
For more information please contact:
McDonald’s Press Office UK
tel: 020 8700 7320
Notes to editors:
McDonald’s is the world’s leading foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 restaurants serving nearly 46 million people in more than 110 countries each day. In the UK, McDonald’s and its franchisees employ 70,000 staff in 1235 restaurants. This is McDonald’s 30th year of operating in the UK.
The experts:
Anita Bean BSc, R.Nutr. - is one of the UK’s most highly respected nutritionists, specialising in children’s nutrition. She has won top awards for her work and has written ten best-selling books, including Healthy Eating for Kids (to be published July 2004), Kid’s Food For Fitness (both A & C Black) and Lorraine Kelly’s Baby and Toddler Eating Plan (Virgin Books). She also writes for several magazines, presents at national and international conferences and provides a nutrition consultancy. Anita has two daughters and is a strong advocate of a healthy lifestyle
Steve Campbell - Steve is a freelance director with years of experience of communicating to children. He has directed commercials for clients such as Dairylea, Huggies, Childline and the British Dyslexia Association, as well as trailers for CBeebies.
Jo Turner – Jo, from Croydon, South London, is mum to 4 year-old triplets, and 10, 11 and 17 year old children and regular member of the McDonald’s mums panel.
