Sep 17 2008
McDonald’s and Microsoft announce new Zune Happy Meal
(Redmond, WA) As inventory of the Zune devices continues to back-up in warehouses, Microsoft Corporation has announced a new partnership to hopefully unload the excess inventory. In the new partnership McDonald’s Corporation will begin packaging a Zune portable media player in Happy Meal’s available in select McDonald’s restaurants. “While previous toys included with Happy Meals have been movie merchandising tie-ins, this new offer should expand the reach of our popular happy meals into the hot tweens demographic,” shared Mary Dillon, McDonald’s Global Chief Marketing Officer.
According to Robert Schaltenbrand, brand manager for Zune at Microsoft, “This is the perfect partnership for Microsoft and Zune. Unfortunately we have millions (well make that tens of millions) of units in storage and we need a way to unload them quickly. The Zune Happy Meal seems like the right offer at the right time.” The new Zune Happy Meal will coincide with the roll-out of the the newly released and, to some, much anticipated free software update that will bring new features to every Zune portable media player. The new software will allow Zune users to wirelessly stream and download music from the Zune Marketplace store on the go; tag and purchase songs directly from the built-in FM radio; and tap into new, personalized music recommendations and programming.
“To hopefully get something exciting happening for the Zune product line, we are now working with high-speed Internet access provider Wayport Inc. to deliver Zune users free, wireless access to the Zune Marketplace from more than 9,800 participating McDonald’s restaurants across the US,” added Schaltenbrand.
