Warren Buffett
ATLANTA, GA – The Coca Cola Company and McDonald’s Corp. announced today a joint venture to offer any American teacher with valid ID a free Coca Cola fountain product of any size to celebrate National Teacher Week, which takes place this year on May 4 to May 8.
On May 6-7, any teacher at any grade level, including pre-school, can bring an appropriate ID to any participating McDonald’s for a free Coke fountain drink at no cost. No additional purchase will be necessary.
According to the announcement, the idea was the brainstorm of Coca Cola board member Warren Buffett, the well-known American investor and entrepreneur who attributes a great deal of his success to the high quality education he received from America’s teachers at every phase of his life.
“Looking back from age 79, I see that I had a fine line of teachers and educators paving the way to the modest success that I have been fortunate enough to enjoy,” said Buffett, who every year battles it out with Microsoft founder Bill Gates for the No. 1 spot on the annual Forbes listing of the wealthiest Americans. “It wasn’t hard to convince the leadership at Coca Cola and McDonald's to find a way to help the nation honor the massive and irreplaceable contribution made by America’s teachers to our democratic society.”
During an aside to the announcement, Buffett joked that “even a college drop-out like my good friend Bill Gates” has to acknowledge the contributions of the teachers that paved his way to success.
During National Teachers Week, thousands of communities take time to honor their local educators and acknowledge the crucial role teachers play in making sure every student receives a quality education.
The Coca-Cola Company recently announced a 'refreshed' line up of fountain and bottle beverages added to McDonald's U.S. restaurants. This effort -- part of a larger beverage strategy -- provides McDonald's customers even more beverage choices and meet customers' changing taste preferences and desire for more portable, convenient beverage options.
"We've worked with our partners at Coca-Cola to bring our customers the exciting new beverages they desire, while continuing to provide them the brands they have enjoyed at our restaurants for more than half a century," said Karen Wells, vice president, Strategy and Menu, McDonald's USA. "Our relationship with Coca-Cola has never been stronger, and I'm optimistic about the future of beverage innovation at McDonald's. While bottled beverages provide additional benefits of portability and convenience, Coca-Cola fountain beverages remain the foundation for our beverages offerings."
"We have an unrivaled commitment to provide the best beverages, customer strategies, equipment platforms, operations, service and quality to improve and enhance the customer experience,"
Tthe core fountain line-up at McDonald's 14,000 U.S. restaurants now includes brand Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Hi-C Orange. Coca-Cola's Dasani will remain a national core bottle beverage, and now Powerade Mountain Blast and vitaminwater XXX (Triple X), will be made available as regional bottle options.
Coca-Cola brands including Powerade, Sprite Zero, Fanta Grape, Fanta Strawberry, Caffeine Free Diet Coke, Barq's Root Beer, Minute Maid Lemonade and Minute Maid Lemonade Light, will be made available as regional fountain options at McDonald's restaurants across the U.S. Coke Zero, due to its explosive growth and success, will also be offered in a number of restaurants as part of McDonald's ongoing beverage development.
"We're pleased to implement this phase of the beverage strategy with McDonald's USA," said Goizueta. "As a world leader in beverage innovation, Coca-Cola continues to work with McDonald's on beverage development across a wide array of beverage categories, including teas and juices."
About McDonald’s:
About The Coca-Cola Company: The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with nearly 500 sparkling and still brands. Along with Coca-Cola®, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company's portfolio includes 12 other billion dollar brands, including Diet Coke®, Fanta®, Sprite®, Coca-Cola Zero®, vitaminwater, POWERADE®, Minute Maid® and Georgia® Coffee. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate of nearly 1.6 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that protect the environment, conserve resources and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. For more information about our Company, please visit our Web site at www.thecoca-
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