McDonald's Just Ended Its Olympics Sponsorship

OAK BROOK, IL — After a partnership that began more than four decades ago, McDonald's has ended its famous sponsorship of the Olympics. McDonald's was scheduled to remain an Olympics sponsor through 2020, but has ended its TOP (The Olympic Partner Programme) partnership and will only provide limited sponsorship for the PyeongChang, South Korea, 2018 Winter Games.

It's been a year of unexpected changes for McDonald's, which rolled out futuristic uniforms, McDelivery and a fork made out of french fries, but this move is the most attention-grabbing to date. In a statement, McDonald's Corp. Global Chief Marketing Officer Silvia Lagnado said the mutual decision is part of the company's worldwide growth plan. Lagnado added, "We are reconsidering all aspects of our business and have made this decision in cooperation with the IOC to focus on different priorities."

Of the decades-long partnership, which began in 1976, Lagnado said, "We have been proud to support the Olympic Movement, and we thank our customers and staff, the spectators, athletes and officials, as well as the IOC and local Olympics Games organizing committees, for all of their support over the years."

In a statement on behalf of the International Olympic Committee, Timo Lumme, managing director of IOC television and marketing services, said, "In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, we understand that McDonald’s is looking to focus on different business priorities. For these reasons, we have mutually agreed with McDonald’s to part ways. I would like to thank our friends at McDonald’s on behalf of the IOC for the commitment the company has shown to the Olympic Movement over many decades.”

The IOC reportedly has no immediate plans to find a replacement sponsor.

Image credit: By Phil Richards from London, UK (06.09.12 Olympic Park, McDonald's) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons