Quiere bytes con eso?

• Author: Dulude, Julie
• Position: Mercadeo de McDonald's - TT: Want Bytes with That? - TA: McDonald's marketing

McDonald's new meal deal: fast food, free Internet.

Would you like some Internet time with your Super Combo? That's what McDonald's cashiers in the San Jose suburb of Heredia are asking patrons following the opening of the first Internet burger joint world-wide to bear the Golden Arches logo.

The MiMac Café, as it is called, came out of a brainstorming session held by the local McDonald's franchisee--which is feeling heat from a Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken that opened on the same strip this past month. The 10 iMac computers come on loan from the local Apple distributor and the Internet hookup from a local provider. Customers who purchase certain meals will get flee access to surf the Internet. Buying computer time alone is not an option.

Depending on how MiMac is received, the new cyber combo may become a menu staple at McDonald's all over the world. "McDonald's is very excited about this," says Giselle Ulate, marketing manager for McDonald's Costa Rica. "I think it will probably export the idea to other countries." Apple Costa Rica hopes to import more of the computers that have rocketed the company back into relevance.

The MiMac decor has not been done in the traditional red and yellow, but in soft pastels. Lining two of the restaurant's glass walls are the new computer terminals--elegant pedestals, each topped with beveled glass and a colorful new iMac.

Rules for using the computers...