McDonald’s Supports Local Veterans
Highlights
600+
homeless or at-risk veterans supported
650
meals provided
13
earned media placements
6
interviews secured
Opportunity
To support the local communities and to align with issues most important to McDonald’s customers, like homelessness and veteran affairs, NST facilitated a partnership between McDonald’s owner-operators and Veterans Village of San Diego for its annual Stand Down for Vets event.
Approach
By tapping into existing owner-operator interests and aligning them with top issues facing the San Diego region, NST strategically reinvigorated a relationship between a local McDonald’s franchisee, who is also a Vietnam veteran, and new leadership at Veterans Village of San Diego. NST coordinated the restaurant's support via a food donation and developed a cohesive media relations strategy to raise awareness for the charity’s annual Stand Down for Vets event. The three-day event provides meals, clothing and shoes, employment information, social services, housing information, haircuts, pet care and other essential services to more than 600 homeless or at-risk veterans within the San Diego community.
With strict quality control guidelines for food, NST coordinated with the McDonald’s event team to ensure all meals and beverages were properly stored and transported in time increments to ensure quality and freshness. NST also worked to garner media coverage by highlighting the additional resources available during the three-day event.
NST collaborated with charity leaders and McDonald’s partners to develop media materials, including targeted pitches and media alerts to drive local news outlets to cover the event. The team pitched and staffed interviews with the McDonald’s spokesperson about his Vietnam service and why McDonald’s feels so strongly about supporting its neighbors. NST worked with approved spokespeople to refine talking points and key messages, and conduct media training sessions, complete with mock interview practice. NST also staffed interviews on-site to ensure the charity and the McDonald’s franchisee were supported.
Outcome
Through this effort, NST strengthened the relationship between San Diego McDonald’s and prominent local organization, Veterans Village of San Diego, as well as local veterans in the region by providing meals and essential services.
The media relations campaign resulted in attendance from all major San Diego television news stations. NST secured 13 media placements, including six interviews with the San Diego McDonald’s owner-operator.
Services Provided
Media Training, Event Coordination and Media Outreach