It’s nothing compared to the importance of all-day breakfast, but the insane popularity of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) at the Rio Olympics is a nice little marketing coup for MCD stock.
After all, if the fittest people on Earth are chowing down on Mickey D’s, how bad could it be?
Okay, so its offerings aren’t known for their healthful benefits. But free MCD food for athletes and coaches — and a lack of options — has created football-field-length lines at the Olympic Village outlet day and night, The Washington Post reported recently.
The dining experience in the big tent cafeteria sounds terrible, with bad food and chaotic crowds. As the only fast food place in the Village — technically it’s a McCafe — MCD has become a global godsend. From the Post:
“The orders can get prodigious. You see weightlifters grasping multiple bags in each mitt and pixie gymnasts balancing armfuls of cardboard soda holders. Israelis line up with Iranians. Mongolians mix with Bahamians. Australian basketball player Andrew Bogut, who plays in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, reportedly ate at the village McDonald’s.”
MCD Fuels World Record Performances
Indeed, the McCafe is so popular it had to institute a limit of 20 items per customer per order. And did we mention it’s free?
Lest you think this represents decadence on the part of the world’s finest athletes, MCD has long been popular with Olympians, the Post reports:
“Some athletes have always flouted the tenets of healthy living. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte ate nearly every meal at McDonald’s and won four medals … Jamaican sprinter [Usain Bolt] reportedly ate 100 chicken nuggets a day during the Beijing Olympics. Four years later, before he won gold in the 100-meter sprint in London, he admitted to having ‘a few nuggets.'”
As much as MCD shareholders would love it if a Big Mac combo really was the key to Olympic glory, it’s immaterial for the bottom line or MCD stock. The costs to operate the McCafe are just part of the marketing budget.
This is not going to convince regular customers that McDonald’s is the new Little Chocolate Donuts.
But it’s not bad publicity.
As of this writing, Dan Burrows did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
