McDonald’s Commitment to Families
2010
The Marketing Store
So here we are in Chicago, again, investigating behind the scenes at McDonald’s! On this trip to Chicago we visited The Marketing Store. We got to see the process of creating ideas for toys and bringing them to life! As always, it is a tiring task but always well worth it.
The extent to which these companies go to in order to ensure toy safety and quality always impresses me. A concept comes from someone’s mind onto paper, onto a computer and then even more creativity sets in. The team is comprised of amazing people with educational backgrounds from child physiology to engineering and graphic arts! They have this awesome little room called the “Thinking Hut” where all of the creativity comes in. They think of ideas, some presented from movies for example and run with it. They get to know the characters. They even sometimes become the characters. The current project in the room was of course Shrek, and everything was green and was filled with brainstorming ideas. It continues to amaze me the amount of people involved in the whole process. There is so much more to all of this than just standing in line, ordering, paying and walking away. The time and effort these teams of people put in to ensure safety and quality on our behalf is outstanding - bravo!
They have a computer program that actually creates the image in 3-D and then it can actually be printed in a 3-D printer into an actual 3-D form which is truly amazing!
I’m continually impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of all of the people involved with McDonald’s. They are passionate about their work, whatever it may be. From a marketing perspective they work hard to create interesting, safe and fun things for children to play and interact with. A lot of planning and work goes into the ideas presented before they are approved and brought to the stores.
DreamWorks Animation Studio
We were up bright and early in the beautiful California sunshine to travel to the DreamWorks Studio in Glendale. This is the amazing place that makes all the magic happen! They create amazing movies here. The animation side of things is what we focused on as Shrek is being released in theatres and McDonald’s is creating a Shrek-themed Happy Meal toy.
Once again I was highly impressed with the flawless partnership between McDonald’s and DreamWorks. They work together to bring smiles to children’s faces. We were able to go to the motion animation room where they use tools and gadgets to interact directly with the animated characters on screen. It is an amazing virtual task that helps them relate to the character and control them and the actors in real time. We also had the chance to explore animation 101. Seeing the whole process from start to finish, from the concept to the movie itself was unbelievable! The whole process takes about 3-5 years to complete! They did share some up and coming secrets with us but we can’t tell. One thing I can tell you is you’re going to love it and your kids are going to love it too!
The entire campus is made up of several Italian style villas with running water streams, ponds, fountains and waterfalls. The whole concept is to provide an environment for the animators where they can have solitude and be able to relate to nature around them. It was like a high-end resort. It was welcoming, relaxing and friendly.
Everyone involved with McDonald’s has been nothing short of fantastic! Their working relationships, family values and passion they have for their work continues strongly throughout all the companies involved or affiliated with McDonald’s.
For me this is a continuous journey of learning and educating myself and to help inform other parents, who are interested in giving themselves the tools and knowledge to make good choices for themselves and their families.
