Shanghai - McDonald's distributed 1,000 free Egg McMuffin in five and a half hours at almost 120 restaurants in Shanghai on March 18, 2013, accomplishing an "impossible mission" in the eyes of many consumers. More than 1,300 McDonald's restaurants nationwide participated in National Breakfast Day activity, handing out 1.3 million free Egg McMuffinTM.

Kenneth Chan, CEO of McDonald's China hands over a bag of Egg McMuffin to a customer in a McDonald restaurant in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province on March 18, 2013, the date of National Breakfast Day. Provided to chinadaily.com.cn

Consumers learned about National Breakfast Day through advertisements and the Internet. Wang, who was one of them, said: "I didn't believe it at first. I decided to go to McDonald's this morning because more and more people were talking about it."

His thoughts represented those of most customers, who had a hard time believing that McDonald's would give away free breakfasts or that McDonald's would go beyond just handing out samples.

"We sincerely hope that more consumers will go to McDonald's for breakfast as a result of this activity. McDonald's has healthy and delicious products as well as high-quality service and a wonderful dining environment. We believe our customers agree that McDonald's offers outstanding breakfast options and the start to a happy day," said Wu Hui, General Manager of Shanghai McDonald's.

All participating McDonald's restaurants were completely ready for this unprecedented breakfast extravaganza, which not all brands have the capability to execute. It required an operation team with the strong ability to execute, forward-looking planning, comprehensive preparation and the full support of McDonald's supply chain. Restaurant employees were in high spirits with warm smiles despite working at full capacity.

Cai, Manager of the Ciro's Plaza restaurant, explained his confidence at the end of the day: "We made preparations from 4:00 am. Although we had never executed such a large-scale activity before, we were not nervous because our staff had received training and assessments. In addition, they had often participated in regional and national competitions. The only thing we needed to remember was to maintain our high standards. We knew that there would be no problems as long as we strictly followed our regular operating procedures."

Wonderful Mondays will continue

The National Breakfast Day activity is the world's biggest ever breakfast offer in McDonald's history, in over 30 markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, almost 5,000 McDonald's restaurants provides customers the opportunity to experience the goodness of McDonald's Breakfast as the most enjoyable breakfast destination to start their day.

Consumers will naturally think about and look forward to similar activities in the future. McDonald's confirmed that it will carry out various breakfast activities every Monday over the next six months.

"McDonald's will regularly provide a breakfast experience that offers unmatched value for money," noted Wu Hui, General Manager of Shanghai McDonald's. He advised consumers to pay attention to McDonald's official account on Sina Weibo, which includes "timely, useful information."

On National Breakfast Day, consumers were reminded not to ignore the importance of a balanced and delicious breakfast for providing energy and a good mood for the entire day.

About McDonald's

McDonald's has more than 33,000 local restaurants serving nearly 67.8 million people in 119 countries and regions each day. More than 80 percent of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are operated and managed by licensees. Since the opening of its first restaurant in Shenzhen in 1990, McDonald's has opened about 1,700 restaurants in Chinese mainland, and has more than 90,000 employees.