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28 March 2024

Crowds throng McDonald's Gulf outlets as fast food giant celebrates free breakfast festival

Published
By V M Sathish

McDonald’s outlets serving free breakfast on Monday witnessed hundreds of visitors who waited in long queues, lured by a massive media campaign and special promotion agents positioned in various locations, especially in petrol stations and convenience stores, across the UAE.

In other GCC countries and some Asian countries too, McDonald’s outlets saw unusually large crowds who waited in long queues during the morning rush hours to grab one or two free breakfast kits.

‘The National Breakfast Day’ promotion in the UAE is part the fast food giant’s programmes in other markets in the Asia Pacific Region, Middle East and Africa.

However, McDonald’s postponed its free breakfast festival in Malaysia due to the ongoing crisis related to the missing Malaysian Airline plane with 239 passengers.

Today’s ‘Wake up Happy to a Good Breakfast’ campaign was celebrated as the National Breakfast Day in the UAE by the leading fast food chain which promised to distribute 1000 free egg McMuffin sandwiches from 6am to 10am. This is the second time that the fast food chain is taking part in what is claimed to be the world’s largest national breakfast event, after it did the same in March 2013.

Reports from Saudi Arabia, Oman and other Gulf countries said crowds were seen in front of McDonald’s outlets to avail of the free breakfast offer.

“We already distributed 500 free breakfast kits by 9am on Monday morning and our target is 1,000 free meals which will be distributed to anyone visiting the outlets. Our representatives are distributing a free promotional coupon which when presented at the sales counter are served a free egg breakfast.

“Normally we sell less than 100 breakfasts on regular days but today we had many visitors that included students in groups from schools and colleges. Workers and executives are also dropping in after being informed by our promotional girls in petrol stations,” said the branch manager of a McDonald’s outlet in Dubai. “Our staff has been busy from the morning to meet the 1,000 target by 10am when the campaign ends,” he added.

A group of students from a college in the Dubai Academic City said: “We have come as a group of 20 students after learning about the promotion in newspapers. We have already finished eating and it was a fun get together.”

“I have an offer for a free breakfast but I don’t eat eggs and so I am skipping it,” added another visitor.

Many of the 18 McDonald’s outlets in Enoc/Eppco petrol stations saw relatively good crowds who availed of the promotion. “Our outlet was thronged by people other than our regular customers because of the free breakfast offer. The Facebook pages, Twitter and Instagram accounts are also flooded with messages and photos of customers queuing in different outlets across the GCC, with some complaints about non-availability of the offer in some outlets,” a manager said.

Last year, the food chain promised to deliver more than 20,0000 free breakfast kits through its more than 300 restaurants in the Middle East.

“Compared to last year, the response is much better now. We have been busy since morning,” said another branch manager of McDonald’s.

Andrew Hipsley, chief executive brand officer of McDonald’s for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, said earlier in a media statement, “We were so encouraged by our customers’ resounding response in the region last year that we are bringing back National Breakfast Day to remind people about waking up to better mornings with breakfast.”

“Breakfast is a significant business for McDonald’s. And we know the convenience of a hot McMuffin on-the-go makes breakfast so much accessible for people who are often caught up in the morning rush,” Hipsley added.

Reports said McDonald’s outlets in the Philippines and Singapore saw crowds wanting to avail of the second free breakfast day in which the fast food chain promised to deliver 320,000 free Mc Muffins through its 300 plus outlets in the Philippines and 100,000 free egg Mcffins in Singapore.