McDonald's

By ochiba
  • McDonald's System, Inc is created

    Created by Ray Kroc, who was trying to promote his multimixer producing company
  • The first McDonald's is opened

    Located in Des Plaines, Illinois. Serves milkshakes, fries, and fifteen cent burgers.
  • Period: to

    First year in business

    Eighteen restaurants were opened during this time, many of them in California.
  • Period: to

    500 Locations Added

  • Fifth Anniversary

    Two hundred franchises in a dozen states
    Total annual sales around thirty-seven million dollars
  • Ray Krock Buys Out McDonalds Bothers

    • date approximate
    He paid two point seven million to the two, with some help of lenders
  • One Billionth Hamburger Sold

    *date approximate They also opened their 500th restaurant.
  • First National Ad

    *date approximate One page, published in Reader's Digest. First two TV ads put out around the same time.
  • Birth of Ronald McDonald

    *date approximate Originally played by Willard Scott on some commercials. Now one of the most recognizeable (to children) iconic figure in the world.
  • Internal Marketing Department Set Up

    *date approximate
  • Filet-O-Fish Introduced

    *date approximate Inspired the Hulaburger (which contained pineapple and cheese only), which was a huge flop.
  • McDonald's Becomes a Publicly Owned Company

    IPO of twenty two dollars a share. It was extremely successful.
  • Three Minute Ad During Macy's Parade

    Sonneborn (CEO) paid $75,000 for the ad. Flllowing the parade, sales increased eight percent nationwide. Very successful.
  • Ads Aired During First Super Bowl

    Describes as one of the best marketing moves McDonald's ever made. One ad, on CBS, was purchased for $170,000 and the other was purchased for $75,000 on NBC. 41 percent of American households watched, one of the highest rates in history. The jump in sales over the next year was around twenty percent.
  • Internation Restaurants Open

    *date approximate itish Columbia, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The international market would prove very profitable.
  • Sonneborn (CEO) Resigns

    *date approximate Resign was 'requested' by Ray Kroc. They had been debating over how best to run the company-Sonneborn was for slowing the rate of growth. He was replaced by Mr. Fred Turner.
  • Big Mac Introduced

    *date approximate Invented by Jim Delligatti of Pittsburgh, whom owned several restaurants in the area. It cost forty-five cents, a thirty cent increase from the regular burger. It was a huge success. It was available at all restaurants by 1968. "This wasn't like discovering the lightbulb. The bulb was already there. All I did was screw it in the socket." -Delligatti.
  • 1000th Location

    *date approximate
  • Five Billionth Burger Sold

    *date approximate Around this time, McDonald's were officially open in all fifty states.
  • Annual Sales Top One Billion

    *date approximate
  • Egg McMuffin Introduced

    *date approximate
  • Period: to

    515 New Locations Opened

    A total of 3,000 across the country.
  • First Drive through Window

    *date approximate Opened in Sierra Vista, Arizona
  • Annual Sales Top Three Billion

    *date approximate (Total of more than 4000 restuarants in more than twenty countries)
  • Happy Meals Introduced

    *date approximate Originally promotional, impacted sales enough to become year-round product.
  • Michael Quinlan Succeeds Turner

    *date approximate Opened 600 restaurants in his first year
    Had McDonald's in 106 countries within a decade
    Doubled Sales
  • Chicken Nuggets Introduced

    *date approximate Suggested my CEO Fred Turner to embrace America's newfound love of poultry.
  • Owner Ray Kroc's Death

    He was 82.
  • Nuggets Account for $700 Million of Sales

    *date approximate
  • Salads Introduced

    *date approximate
  • 10,000 Locations

    Sales:Over 10 Billion
    Burgers Sold; 50 billion
    Countries: 36
  • First McDonald's Opens in Moscow

    *date approximate 30,000 people attended the first day
  • Commitment Made to Spend Millions on Recycling

    *date approximate 90% percent reductions in packaging waste as they switch from styrofoam to paper.
  • Opening in Bejing

    *date approximate 40,000 customers the first day.
  • Period: to

    1,130 Domestic Restaurants Opened

  • Period: to

    400 New Locations

    Sales were falling in America.
  • McDonald's Becomes Most Recognizeable Brand in the World

    *date approximate 22,000 restaurants worldwide
  • Micheal Quinlan resigns

    (date approximate) Replaced by Jack Greenberg. He stayed on the board.
  • First Job Cuts

    *date approximate A month after Greenberg took over, more than five hundred jobs were cut at central headquarters, the first time in history they had cut jobs. Net worth also lowered for the first time, by 640 million.
  • Two Teens Sue McDonald's

    *date approximate They said that it was McDonald's faulyt that they were obese because they didn't make it apparent that the food was bad for you. They ultimatly lost the lawsuit.
  • More Job Cuts

    *date approximate
  • Jim Cantalupo Takes Over

    *date approximate Improvement begins again.
  • Jim Cantalupo's Death

    Replaced by Jim Skinner.
  • Super Size Me is Released

    Supersizing is no longer done. Consumers are panicking over fat and sugar content.
  • 50th Anniversary

    *date approximate Things are looking good. Sales are up, profits are plenty and growth is still positive.
  • Period: to

    2011

    o 2011 U.S. sales: $34.2 billion