McDonald's launching 'Avatar' promotions, game

McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant company, is planning more promotions around interactive online experiences tied to films, the company's marketing chief said.

"We want our customers to understand that we know what's important to them," Chief Marketing Officer Mary Dillon said in a telephone interview today. "It's really about advancing the commitment to the brand in different ways."

McDonald's today announced promotions tied to director James Cameron's movie Avatar, scheduled for release in the U.S. on Dec. 18. The hamburger seller has created Internet-based games and a sweepstakes that includes a private screening of the film among the prizes, along with in-store displays featuring life-size images of the movie characters, Dillon said.

"They're realizing that the demographic they're targeting isn't using traditional media as much as they used to," said Jeff Farmer, an analyst with Jefferies & Co. in Boston. He recommends holding the stock, saying the strategy is "cutting edge."

The Avatar promotion was developed over the past 18 months and is the company's largest digital platform, Dillon said. McDonald's unveiled a similar interactive game, the Lost Ring, ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing last year.

McDonald's rose 45 cents to $61.05 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. It has lost 1.8 percent this year.