Restaurant targets teens for charity drive
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The world's largest fast-food chain McDonald's is targeting teenagers in its latest fund-raising program to help the growing number of undernourished and undereducated children in the country.
Launched on Tuesday, the program, called "Dream with a Big Mac", offers anyone ordering the burger the chance to buy a limited-edition CD consisting of computer games and pop songs for Rp 12,273 (US$1.28). While middle class teens can play the games and enjoy the songs, part of the money from each disc sold will go to the restaurants World Children's Day (WCD) program.
The CD sales campaign will be in full force on July and August at the restaurant's 108 outlets across the country.
McDonald's has also launched a month-long quiz via phone text- messaging with a grand prize of a trip to see a concert of American trio Destiny's Child in Canada on Sept. 10 and a cellular phone for each of the two winners.
Each SMS costs Rp 1,000, part of which will also be donated to the program.
"The program is about making dreams come true ... Music lovers could live their dream to see Destiny's Child on stage, while at the same time fulfill the dreams of poor children to get good health and education," marketing and communication director Dian Supolo said on Tuesday.
"Last year, we raised more than Rp 400 million, some of which was distributed to help Acehnese children who became victims of the tsunami. This year we are targeting Rp 1 billion."
This year, most of the funds would be used to provide school books for poor children, she said.
The WCD is a worldwide fund-raising program at all of McDonald's branches in 119 countries. Last year, the program raised a total of $20 million, some of which channeled to help children through the Ronald McDonald House charities and other social foundations across the world.
This year the WCD plans to raise $50 million through programs organized by each of its country branches, including McDonald's Indonesia which is offering the "Helping Hand" stickers and planning to give a 2.5 percent of its revenue from selling French fries during October and November to the program.
McDonald's has hired ADAmobile, a company that provides mobile messaging services, to handle its quiz.
ADAmobile managing director Deddy Avianto said his company was a new player in the mobile content-provider business and he was excited about working with the fast-food chain. He also liked the idea of helping people fulfill their dreams.
"Dreams are universal because everyone has one. We love being involved in the program," he said.