摘要：
麦当劳公司27日宣布，他们已与好莱坞著名电影工作室梦工厂动画签订了一份为期两年的“非独家”性合作协议，快餐连锁店将为梦工厂进行动画电影产品的宣传工作，该合约将于2007年随着动画大片《怪物史莱克3》的发布而启动。
McDonald‘s Corp. said Wednesday it has signed a two-year, non-exclusive deal to promote DreamWorks Animation SKG films beginning with the release of "Shrek 3" in 2007.
麦当劳公司27日宣布，他们已与好莱坞著名电影工作室梦工厂动画签订了一份为期两年的“非独家”性合作协议，快餐连锁店将为梦工厂进行动画电影产品的宣传工作，该合约将于2007年随着动画大片《怪物史莱克3》的发布而启动。这也标志着麦当劳这一国际快餐业传奇企业将从米老鼠的怀抱转投到史莱克的世界中。
据法新社7月27日报道，麦当劳一直与动画帝国迪斯尼公司保持着独家合作关系，两公司之间为期10年的合作协议将于明年到期。在此之前，麦当劳曾经表示过将寻求新的合作伙伴，此次的梦工厂动画就是他们的选择。
“10年是一段很长的时间”，麦当劳全球首席营销官拉里·莱特表示，“不过如今的世界正在飞速发展，所以再次签署一份为期10年的合约几乎是不可能的事情了”。实际上，麦当劳选择离开的决定早就在迪斯尼公司的意料之中，不过目前动画帝国迪斯尼还没有透露他们的下一个快餐连锁合作伙伴。
在10年的合作历程中，麦当劳和迪斯尼携手创造了一次又一次的成功，例如著名的动画电影《101只斑点狗》、《海底总动员》等。当然两家公司也并不是战无不胜，在推广《亚特兰迪斯：失落的帝国》和《财宝地球》的过程中，他们也尝到了失败的滋味。
根据合作协议，麦当劳将在自己的开心套餐中推广梦工厂电影的玩偶玩具，以此来进行动画电影的市场宣传。不过不同于以往常规的玩偶市场推广策略，麦当劳有史以来第一次同意与“非麦当劳”形象分享麦当劳的“首席快乐官”头衔。
另一方面，麦当劳此项合作协议的非独家性也预示了未来的变数。公司透露，目前正与包括迪斯尼在内的多家动画制造商进行合作市场推广计划的商谈。对于麦当劳的“不够忠诚”，梦工厂动画则表现出了惊人的大度。公司首席执行官杰弗里·卡森伯格表示，梦工厂动画不会担心麦当劳携手竞争对手将会为自己带来的影响，相反梦工厂还会鼓励麦当劳的这种行为，“和其他合作伙伴的共同发展将会推广麦当劳的品牌，而麦当劳的品牌效应越强烈对于梦工厂越有好处”。
目前，外界分析家对麦当劳和梦工厂之间两年的短期合作协议表示赞同，他们认为这种做法更加符合当前灵活多变的市场特征。
McDonald‘s Corp. said Wednesday it has signed a two-year, non-exclusive deal to promote DreamWorks Animation SKG films beginning with the release of "Shrek 3" in 2007.
McDonald‘s previously said it wanted to try a new approach to marketing partnerships when its exclusive 10-year deal with The Walt Disney Co. expires next year.
"Ten years is a very long time," said Larry Light, global chief marketing officer at McDonald‘s, the world‘s largest fast food chain. "The world changes more than once in 10 years. I don‘t anticipate that we‘ll be making 10-year deals in the future with anybody."
The announcement was expected by Disney, which has yet to say which fast food promotional partner it might work with in the future.
After the deal with McDonald‘s expires, "both companies will then have the flexibility to develop projects on a non-exclusive basis," Disney said in a prepared statement.
Financial terms of the new agreement were not released. It also ends DreamWorks‘ promotional arrangement with Burger King.
The relationship between McDonald‘s and Disney has been marked by several notable successes, including "101 Dalmatians" and "Finding Nemo." But there were also disappointments tied to Disney flops such as "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" and "Treasure Planet."
The results were inconsistent in part because promotions must be planned at least a year in advance — long before it‘s known whether a film will succeed or fail.
The agreement will include promoting DreamWorks films with toys in Happy Meals. But it will go beyond typical marketing efforts to include pairing pitchman Ronald McDonald with Shrek and other DreamWorks characters in ads.
It will be the first time McDonald‘s iconic "chief happiness officer" has shared the spotlight with non-McDonald‘s characters.
McDonald‘s said it was talking to Disney and other firms about other possible marketing relationships but did not say if it expects to promote Disney films after next year.
DreamWorks chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said he was not worried about McDonald‘s possibly working with one of his competitors.
"We encourage them to," Katzenberg said. "The stronger the brand is, the stronger their relationship is with their consumer. It‘s good for both of us."
Analysts said the two-year deal makes better sense for both parties than a longer-term agreement.
"You never know what market forces may be at work on either the restaurant side or the film production side," said David Miller, an analyst with Sander Morris Harris.
Miller said promotional deals with fast food companies can help build advance awareness of movies, but no amount of promotion can save a flop.
"The best publicity for movies is word of mouth," he said. "It doesn‘t matter what kind of little figurines you get in a Happy Meal. Ultimately the film has to work."
