Media release

23 March 2008

Golden Arches to send strong message for Earth Hour

This Saturday at 8.30pm, McDonald’s iconic golden arches will be switched off nationwide for one hour as part of the company’s support for New Zealand’s first national Earth Hour.

McDonald’s 143 New Zealand restaurants will join thousands of businesses and millions of people across New Zealand and the world taking part in the climate change initiative, which Managing Director Mark Hawthorne says the company is proud to be involved in.

“The McDonald’s golden arches are a very recognisable symbol of our restaurants and because of this, we feel that turning them off is a strong way to show that we support the collective actions of New Zealanders taking part in New Zealand’s first nationwide Earth Hour,” says Mr Hawthorne.

“The majority of our restaurants will still be serving customers during Earth Hour so there are some things we can’t turn off for health and safety reasons, however we will be turning off whatever we can, including the arches. Customers will definitely notice a change in ambience and we hope we’ll help inspire people to think about what each little action can add up to for energy conservation.

“We have also been using an Earth Hour traymat in our restaurant, and advertising on TV for the last few weeks which we hope helps encourage our customers to join us in turning off the lights for Earth Hour at 8.30pm this Saturday, 28 March,” says Mr Hawthorne.

Earth Hour is a WWF (World Wildlife Fund) initiative that aims to show how small actions can make a big difference. It takes place on Saturday, 28 March 2009 between 8.30pm and 9.30pm. For more information on Earth Hour 2009 visit www.earthhour.org/newzealand

ENDS