Sony and McDonald's

[MacRumors]

CNet confirms previous reports that Sony and McDonald's are teaming up to offer free music downloads through Sony's new music service.

McDonald's was originally rumored to go with Apple's iTunes service in a similar deal, but reportedly switched plans at the last minute.

[Calvinatir]

Jumpin on the bandwagon!

[virividox]

grrr mcdonalds sucks!!!
hehe

anyway apple probably woudlnt wanna be associate with them after that documentary supersize me.

i doubt sony connect will make a big splash, lets hope apple teams up with someone else tho before its too late

[JoeMacDaddy]

This may not get as much traction as they plan but then again, their other promotions with Disney, etc. do well. Sony songs in your adult happy meal.

[realityisterror]

i don't go to mcdonalds anyway! (blows raspberry) so there!!!

now if apple would team up with burger king... i could get some free songs!

reality

[macridah]

There is no one Sony could partner up with to make their connect music download service become a success. There must be VP in Sony that slept with another VP in Mcdonald's to make this deal happen.

I just can't imagine anyone saying "Yeah, this sony partnership is gold ...it's win win ... i'm lovin' it"

[Dahl]

Originally Posted by realityisterror

i don't go to mcdonalds anyway! (blows raspberry) so there!!!

now if apple would team up with burger king... i could get some free songs!

reality

Burger King is worse...
Anyways... Let them all rot.

Hail iTunes...

[jwhitnah]

I think Sony is on the wrong end of the mp3 'wave.' Their music store layout is not well done, and they are very late to market with a quality mp3 device. People who have already bought players won't be able to use their store. They do have access to some music. They are doomed and should just give it up now.

[Rocketman]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

CNet confirms previous reports that Sony and McDonald's are teaming up to offer free music downloads through Sony's new music service.

McDonald's was originally rumored to go with Apple's iTunes service in a similar deal, but reportedly switched plans at the last minute.

That has to be a Steve Jobs pisser. I wonder if all their competitors will be getting mindshare in upcominig Pixar movies.

And jokes about standing in line at the arches while waiting for EVERY guy in front of you to get their entire order fulfillled, not merely taken before you can even order

Hi Steve!

Rocketman

Eat at BK and Carl's.

[applemacdude]

Damn Sony is gonna gain some marketshare cuz of this...

[Kid Red]

K, so because the deal is off for some time now, how is this related to Apple and or Apple rumors?

[nifty]

Oh yeah, that documentary where the Morgan Spurlock deliberty overate using McDonalds food, and then blamed McDonalds for his (unsurprising) dramatic weight gain.

Maria Bartiromo interviewed that hack and informed him that there were no combinations of McDonald's food available on their menu that would result in the 5000+ calories that he was injesting each day, and that he must have been seriously padding his diet with amounts of food that no human would eat normally.

Some "documentary."

I think I'll wait for Soso Wiley's documentary to come out. She went on a McDonalds-only diet (with normal, 3-meals-a-day caloric intake) and *lost* 10 pounts.

Eat sensibly and exercise, and you can even lose weight as a die-hard McDonnalds fan.

Originally Posted by virividox

grrr mcdonalds sucks!!!
hehe

anyway apple probably woudlnt wanna be associate with them after that documentary supersize me.

i doubt sony connect will make a big splash, lets hope apple teams up with someone else tho before its too late

McDonalds McDonalds McDonalds

[aethier]

I am 16 and work at mcdonalds. as employes we have already been told about the promotion which starts on june the 8th. what surprises me, is that i am in canada, and sony isn't just doing it in the US, which is nice, because pepsi/itunes was US only. anyways, i can also tell that the songs are only with BigMacs, it comes on the box (we were advised not to steal bigmac boxes as they cost 1 dollar now, instead of 10 cents.) i believe it ends middle of august. I'm think i will use it though, it is availuble in canada, so thats good enough for me (and as an employe we alwasy get new products for free).. anyways there ends my insider info

aethier

[weev]

Apple should seek business alliances with ethical corporations. Falling out with maccas is good, really.

We don't want a modern and innovative technology company associated with the appalling products Macdonalds produce.

Btw, Suzersize Me is a good movie!

One day there will be NO more Macdonalds and the worlds will be better for it.

Now, about Pepsi......

[codycartoon]

phew! I really hoped that mac wouldn't get involved with Mcdonalds.

I know as a company that you want to generate as many sales as possible, but would the typical Mcdonalds customer base really be interested in Apple Computers?

Why would Apple want an association with a company who makes cheap, poor grade, mass produced food?

I am very pleased that this deal didn't go through.

-cody

[weev]

Originally Posted by nifty

I think I'll wait for Soso Wiley's documentary to come out. She went on a McDonalds-only diet (with normal, 3-meals-a-day caloric intake) and *lost* 10 pounts.

Eat sensibly and exercise, and you can even lose weight as a die-hard McDonnalds fan.

McDonalds McDonalds McDonalds

Heh, what's the name of that documentary? I'd like to see it. So perhaps all those fat kids aren't really fat, and that bloated and sick feeling I have after eating Macdonald's high-sugar and fat junk food is really just in my head.

Thank you.

[Freg3000]

Originally Posted by weev

Apple should seek business alliances with ethical corporations. Falling out with maccas is good, really.

Originally Posted by codycartoon

phew! I really hoped that mac wouldn't get involved with Mcdonalds.

God forbid a few years down the road, the iTMS fails due to a lack of marketshare, or for some reason the iPod loses it #1 spot atop the mp3 player market, I will look back on these type of statements and think about what could have been.

For the first time in a very long time, Apple is the dominant player in a market. For now, because of their dominance, they can have the iTMS play nice only with the iPod, and the iPod only play nice with the iTMS.

I say, if they want to do this (and not open up to other players or stores) they must work proactively to get their products as the de facto standard. You may think they already are, but they are not there yet.

Just think, Pepsi - iTunes saw 5 million redemptions; McDonald's is offering 1 billion. With a simple extrapolation, they will see 50 million redeemed. Adjust for the fact that McDonalds has a lot more exposure than Pepsi, add a a bunch more songs onto that. What do you get....?

Close to 70 million maybe? Sound familiar?

I want the iTMS to be an overwhelming success. I want the iPod to be the best music player for the rest of eternity. It is not going to happen if Apple does not promote their product, and then we, as the Mac community, sit back and go, "Gee, I don't like McDonalds anyway, I am glad the deal didn't go through," or "McDonalds inhumanely slaughters thousands of cows for their hamburgers, and Apple should not associate with them."

And then to hear some people assert that partnering with a company like McDonalds may hurt sales because it would reflect negatively on Apple??? Are you kidding me?!?!?!?

This is Business! I would bet my life that the overwhelming majority of people don't give a hoot about the "negative image" of these mega-coporations, and even if they did, most of them are not going to refrain from getting free music because of it.

It is nice to be supportive of companies that share similar values, but that is not my primary concern, nor should it be for Apple. In 5 years from now, if we are all sitting around with hundreds of Protected AAC files and no where but the iPod to play them, and with a Microsoft music store engulfing all the competition, I will look back to statements like I originally quoted and remember the contributing factors to how we got there.

If you disagree, please respond respectfully and with dignity. I am sure many will not agree with my position, but do so in a way so that this does not because a screaming match.

[ifjake]

yeah the pepsi iTunes promotion didn't go as well as expected. i remember when the deal was first announced by Jobs i was saying i was going to be buying a lot more pepsis. but i just... didn't. i don't know why. wonder if that had anything to do with McDonald's last minute switch. but i think Sony and their store won't be anywhere near a threat until they come out with the PSP. but that's going to be at least a year. we'll see.

[dermeister]

Exactly what i was thinking. Something like this could banalize everything Apple has acheived in months... The exposure on this is HUGE. I think the problem might have been that McDonalds only carried Coca-Cola products, and they were with Pepsi... Problem is, letting Sony catch this is a horrendous mistake, nevermind people saying "Ohh, I'm glad Apple is not associating with such filth"... Freg3000 sum it up well: you may be happy, but letting this go was a horibble BUSINESS DECISION by Apple. With market dominance in a future multi-billion dollar industry, Apple shouldn't play picky. Oh well, maybe the Sony promo won't do well... But thats more optimistic than it is safe.

[nuckinfutz]

Perception is reality

Teaming up with MacDonalds right now is the worst thing Apple could have done. Supersizeme might not be %100 factual but it's close enough to make people leary about stuffing big macs down their face to get music.

Besides with Apples free downloads every week I'm feeling quite daft about sucking up so much pepsi and sierra mist in the first place.

[swajames]

Freg3000 summed this up perfectly. It's all about mindshare and marketshare and the only way Apple is going to maintain the current momentum is by partnering up with businesses that spend a LOT more on marketing and promotion and are better at it than Apple. Whatever your views on McDonalds, they market and promote the hell out of things and this partnership would have made a significant impact on iTMS sales numbers. And, as I understand it, McDonalds and not Apple pulled the plug on this one...... I can only see this as a negative.

[jouster]

Originally Posted by nifty

Oh yeah, that documentary where the Morgan Spurlock deliberty overate using McDonalds food, and then blamed McDonalds for his (unsurprising) dramatic weight gain.

[....]

Some "documentary."
nsibly and exercise, and you can even lose weight as a die-hard McDonnalds fan.

I just saw "Supersize Me" - it's hilarious and frightening at the same time.

Since you seem to be a McD defender, to what would you ascribe the epidemic of obesity currently sweeping the US and Europe? Too much salad? Too many fresh vegetables?

[Maxx Power]

You get what you paid for. Back in the day people thought it was a big bargain to pay 100 dollars to go to an Elton John concert for serious entertainment. Today, at little or no cost, good artists have no where to survive, we're never gonna find the next Bob Dylan or Mozart. At these cheap cheap prices, the only artists are going to be the popular music artists who thrive off the corporate marketing funds and produce crap. Cheaper music literally means cheaper music. After all, we can download them for free from a dozen avaliable services provided you have internet, who needs to pay 18.98 for an album featuring some guy put together some rhythms on a computer and adding a few non-sensical or rebellious in a conformist kind of way lyrics when you can do this yourself on GarageBand or Cakewalk with a midi controller or any music production software and recording device ?

Records by the likes of Miles Davis, Elton John, Glenn Gould, and compositions by classical legends produced by well known pianists or orchestras like Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Brahms, etc have high retail prices, infact they do not ever come down in price because record companies know that people will pay good money for something insatiable. But on the other hand, for money incentive driven music, musicians don't care about improving the music, but rather focuses on how to market themselves or present themselves to sell more of the same thing.

True art includes some music, but not every thing, especially not what you hear on the radio, not even close. Corporate approved musicians and radio stations are the lowest common denominators. The music industry is losing sales because their strategy to maximize profit driven by capitalistic greed pushes the true talents away from the public, they don't want anything provoking, anything that gets you to think, they don't want the next Picasso or Donatello, they want the next Br*tney Spea*rs, everyone to be normalized to mind-numbing music.

You will not find true art under the bottle cap of some pepsi, nor at McDonalds, true art will remain where they have always been, in the minds and hands of truly artistic, creative, and altruistic people, far far away from this corporate land of ours.

[heyriddle]

Would you like a crappy Windows Media File to go with your crappy burger?

[0 and A ai]

I work at a magazine where mcdonalds advertises already seen the print ads for the promo two weeks ago