ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240079
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
Big Mickey Mac Mouse in marketing merger
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO - Fast-food outlets have been hawking movie merchandise for years, luring kids and their weary parents with an endless supply of promotional cups, action figures and other plastic merchandise to complement the cheeseburger and fries.
But that cross-marketing was taken to a new level Thursday when McDonald's Corp., the world's largest fast-food chain, and Walt Disney Co., arguably the world's most-recognized name in filmed entertainment, announced a 10-year agreement that commits them to promoting each other's products around the world.
Marketing alliances don't get much bigger than this. McDonald's, which has 18,700 restaurants in more than 90 countries, reported $9.8 billion in revenues last year. When sales at all its company-owned, franchised and affiliated restaurants worldwide are tallied, the total was nearly $30 billion.
``It will be interesting to see what kinds of crossovers occur - will Mayor McCheese meet Donald Duck in a Disney movie?''said Christopher Geist, chairman of the pop culture department at Bowling Green State University.
First Union Rail makes acquisition
First Union Rail Corp. of Chicago, the freight-car leasing subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C.-based First Union Corp., said Thursday it has agreed to purchase the assets of USL Capital's Rail Services business unit, for about $900 million.
With the acquisition, First Union Rail will become the second-largest general freight car operating lease company in North America owning a fleet of more than 44,000 railcars serving about 300 clients nationwide.
When the deal closes, First Union will increase its leasing to Norfolk Southern Corp. from 150 cars to more than 500 cars. Its leasing to CSX will increase from 500 to 600 cars.
- Staff report
Markets to close for Memorial Day
U.S. stock and financial markets will be closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. The federal Treasury Department's weekly auction of short-term bills will be postponed until Tuesday. The Roanoke Times will publish business news Tuesday and will resume financial tables and report results of the Treasury bill auction in Wednesday's editions.
- Staff report
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB