Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 230 Ascension!

"Wow~Wow~Wow? McDonald's wants to cooperate with us?"

When Ethan knocked on the door of the chairman's office and pushed the documents in front of his sister, the gold color that came into view made Evelin put down the book in her hand.

After quickly flipping through the documents, she saw the cooperation intention sent by McDonald's.

"Yes." Ethan nodded and said, "McDonald's wants to cooperate with us. They want to obtain authorization from us, authorization related to "Alien" and "Starfield"..."

To be honest, when Ethan returned to Palo Alto and calmed down to deal with the company's long-pile of affairs, what caught his eye were the endless cooperation documents, including purchase orders for electronic arcade machines from North American theaters and major North American merchants, and introduction plans for Johnson home consoles from major stores in the United States. All of these were actually within his acceptable range.

Because these collaborations are all related to their main business.

So Ethan is very adept at handling these tasks.

But when he saw the cooperation intention from McDonald's, he was stunned.

At that time, he just felt that his brain was a little out of control. He couldn't understand why McDonald's, the American fast food giant, would be interested in their products? Could it be that they wanted to open a sales counter in their own store and fill it with home consoles of the Destiny game?
Ethan admitted that their products might be far ahead, but no matter how far ahead they were, he couldn't allow a catering giant to start a store business, right?
But when he opened the cooperation documents sent by McDonald's, he realized that what McDonald's wanted to obtain was the authorization of the characters in "Alien" and "Starfield".

McDonald's wants to make toys with characters that may be popular and highly watched in the "Alien" movie and "Starfield" game, bundle them with their fast food, and sell them to the public.

"Uh-what is this Happy Meal?"

After briefly looking through the cooperation plan, Evelin pointed at a phrase created by McDonald's and asked in confusion, "Is this one of their... sets?"

The girl who doesn't like McDonald's and refuses high-carb and high-sugar foods in her daily life frowned and asked, "Do you want to talk to me about this project?"

"Or is it that this project is causing you trouble?"

"Uh - Ethan, with all due respect, I don't know much about McDonald's, so..."

"I may be more confused than you."

"Oh - Evelyn - you really are -" Ethan was a little amused by his sister's honesty.

Although he was indeed a little confused at the moment, what he wanted to show Evelin was not a Happy Meal! However, since his sister asked, he still had to explain.

"Happy Meals are actually McDonald's food and toys packaged together for sale. It stimulates users, or children, to buy them."

If Evelyn lived another few decades, she would definitely not be unfamiliar with Happy Meals, because McDonald's Happy Meals and the various linkages with V50 are well-known products. They can even be called classic success cases in corporate marketing.

But for Americans today, McDonald's Happy Meal is still something unfamiliar, because so far, McDonald's has never officially launched this marketing project.

"I asked Steve Ballmer to help me look up the information. The plan originated from McDonald's restaurants in Guatemala, where McDonald's franchisees designed a separate menu specifically for children, offering small-portion burgers, fries and sundaes," said Eason.

"This approach can provide a better dining experience for families with children because children's tastes are different from those of adults, and their appetites are also different."

"As soon as this meal came out, it caused a sensation in Guatemala. The attentive service led to a surge in revenue for McDonald's restaurants there. When the news reached McDonald's headquarters, McDonald's sent people to Guatemala to investigate, and then they decided to introduce this idea."

Ethan rolled his eyes and said as he sorted out his memories, "Since last year, they have gathered a team to develop this product and decided to make it into a set meal, which includes a hamburger, a small serving of French fries, and a pack of cookies. In order to attract more children, they also prepared some small gifts in it, which are illustrations by some nationally renowned children's painters."

“After everything was ready, they started promoting it in Kansas last October.”

"Perhaps because this product captures the consumer psychology and meets the consumer needs, it was warmly welcomed by the public soon after it was launched. After the product sold out, McDonald's decided to officially roll out this meal set across the country next year. In order to promote this meal set to more people, they decided to cooperate with a children's company that can attract children's attention."

"Then……"

At this point, Ethan paused.

He smiled, shrugged, and spread his hands.

That almost explicit look made Evelin open her mouth wide, "It thinks we are a children's company?"

"..."

These words immediately silenced Ethan.

He curled his lips and tilted his head, looking helpless.

And Evelin understood Ethan's meaning in an instant, and shouted, "No!"

“McDonald’s recognizes the value of our game, right?”

“They feel our game already has a brand premium!”

"And this price is even the highest in the whole country!"

The girl stared at Ethan with wide eyes!

There was joy sparkling in those bright eyes!

Ethan nodded and said with a smile: "Yeah~"

"We are now an intellectual property company recognized by McDonald's."

That's right!

Ethan never expected that a live broadcast by everyone could produce such an effect!
Initially, when he decided to do the full-length live broadcast, all he could think about was killing Warner Communications! Killing Philips! Killing Superman! Killing Disney games! He wanted to expose all those who dared to bully him!

As for the rest?
Then all that’s left is to attract public opinion and sell products like crazy!

Apart from these two points, he didn't think about anything else.

Of course, he didn't have time to think about it.

But now?

After a live broadcast, he not only calmed down his peers, but also easily established a sales channel for home consoles! Not only did he make Ms. Pac-Man a new history, he also attracted the attention of McDonald's, making his game have the added value that everyone envied!
This is simply an unexpected surprise!
You know, before, when Ethan entered Hollywood, his goal was to get more attention for his game by making movies based on game characters.

He wanted to be like Disney, firmly grasp product development while allowing his company to leap into a higher level and develop the intellectual property rights of popular products from multiple angles.

To this end, he took out "Contra" and "Alien", and was even willing to bear the cost of copying the games himself, preferring to make less money on a single game cartridge.

Ethan originally thought that he would not be able to see the market feedback and the final result until next summer at the earliest, when "Alien" was released and "Starfield" was released.

But McDonald's suddenly appeared.

This situation really surprised him!
He was extremely excited by the sight of fruits being borne before flowers bloomed!
Although everything now is still far from the Disney he wanted, it doesn’t matter, because even Walt Disney has spent his entire life on the road of intellectual property development!
"To be honest, I really didn't expect McDonald's to suddenly appear!"

When Ethan found out that his sister had understood what he meant, he stopped being shy and laughed loudly, "Their cooperation plan really surprised me! It makes me so happy! Really - if it wasn't for the wrong time and place, I would probably have let out a loud shout right now!"

"Oh - Ethan -" Evelyn stretched out her voice.

After staring at the document in her hand for a few more times and making sure that she was not mistaken, the girl could no longer suppress her excitement and laughed, "I want to shout too!"

"This kind of accident——"

“It’s really a pleasant surprise!”

"Hahaha--"

Although the development of intellectual property has not formed a systematic discipline in this era, and Walt Disney is just an inconspicuous production company and has not become the future Darth Mickey, Evelyn was the one who drew the cartoon characters for "Pac-Man" and "Snake" two years ago.

So of course she could understand Ethan's happiness.

After she finished laughing, she touched the file with emotion, trying to imprint this accidental happiness in her brain and hide it in her memory. As she continued to browse the file, she suddenly discovered a problem -

"Ethan, wait a minute." The girl put away her smile and said, "McDonald's only wants our "Starry Sky" and "Alien"? They... don't seem to be suitable for children, right?"

If Evelyn remembered correctly, Ethan said that Alien was a horror movie.

When the project was launched, Spielberg and others even said that "Alien" was the space version of "Jaws".

When making the game, she also used a lot of horror elements and pieced together a bunch of strange creatures.

When project investors, filmmakers, and game producers all understand that "Alien" and "Starfield" are meant to scare people...

McDonald's wants to introduce something like this and sell it to children?

Is this...

“It’s a bit inappropriate?” Evelyn, who had calmed down, looked at Ethan with a serious expression.

“You can’t sell this kind of thing to children, right?”

"If parents bring their children into the theater after seeing the promotion, they will be frightened and angry about the film's presentation, and then..."

"We're going to be in trouble."

Evelin didn't care about administration because she didn't want to waste time on trivial matters, not because she had no brains and was unfamiliar with the ways of the world.

She understood what the consequences would be if she sold some horror elements to children, or...

"We can't face the same boycott by parents as happened with cartoons decades ago."

She emphasized the word parent.

Although the girl poured a basin of cold water on Ethan, he didn't care.

"Oh—my dear sister—I know what you mean—"

He raised his eyebrows and said, "Of course I know who the audiences of "Starry Sky" and "Alien" are, so I will take care of this matter."

"For example?" The girl was puzzled.

"For example, will you accompany me to Chicago?"

Ethan extended an invitation, "How about it? You have nothing to do now anyway." After Ethan had introduced the home console of the Destiny game and the game "Starfield" to all the people in America through live broadcast, Evelyn was officially liberated.

Since there was no need to keep the home console project confidential anymore and the editing of Starfield was handed over to the company's R&D department, she asked R&D director Damio Dean to continue to improve it according to the ideas she had written.

And herself?

Now she stays in the office every day, reading some of her favorite books, watching some of her favorite TV shows, listening to some of her favorite music, and enjoying a free life.

Because of this, when Ethan smiled and extended his hand to her, she accepted it without hesitation. After the two of them chartered a plane to Illinois, they were greeted by Fred Turner, the current chairman of McDonald's, Bob Bernstein, the developer of Happy Meals, and -

"Oh, Mr. Klock, I didn't expect to see you here." When Ethan, who had just got off the plane, saw an old man with gray hair and a hunched back, he quickly stepped forward and extended his hand to greet him.

"Oh, Mr. Jones! Hello!" The old man did not extend his hand, but threw away his crutches and opened his arms.

This situation made Ethan hug him gently.

Then, the power coming from his back made him feel the old man's joy.

"Very surprised?"

After they separated, the old man asked with a smile: "Do you think I shouldn't be here?"

"Oh, yes." The old man's straightforwardness made Ethan nod, "I thought you were in San Diego."

“Haha—” The old man liked Ethan’s answer very much and shook his head and said, “Although I have retired from McDonald’s, my soul will always stay here.”

That’s right, the third person to greet Ethan was the soul of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc.

His appearance also made the negotiations between the two sides very quick and straightforward.

When the group arrived at McDonald's headquarters and listened to Ethan's brief introductions to the projects of "Alien" and "Starfield", everyone present understood that they could not become toys in McDonald's Happy Meals. As Evelyn said, things with horror elements cannot be pushed to children.

Just when they were feeling regretful, Ethan's new plan caught their attention in an instant.

"My new plan is actually very simple. That is to replace the two works "Alien" and "Starfield" with "Snake" and "Pac-Man". I can license their images to you, and you can make them into toys and sell them in Happy Meals."

While speaking, Ethan also took out the cartoon characters that Evelyn had drawn earlier and printed on postcards to give to Barbara's colleagues.

Although the pattern of the green snake eating beans is a bit childish, and the four ghosts' running behavior seems a bit childish, these things are just right for children.

After seeing these pictures, the three people present nodded at the same time. The chairman of McDonald's pondered for a while and said, "Mr. Jones, to be honest, your works do meet the requirements of our McDonald's Happy Meal project, but..."

He glanced at Bob Bernstein, the developer of Happy Meals, and after seeing him nod, he said, "But Snake and Pac-Man are not popular enough in America."

McDonald's chairman Fred Turner said seriously: "Happy Meal is the most important project for McDonald's next year, no doubt about it. So, in order to ensure that the project can be implemented smoothly and reach our expected level, we must be careful in the selection of toys."

"We chose Starsky and Alien because they have received extremely high attention in North America, which even overshadowed Warner Communications' Superman and made Disney speechless."

“That’s the point we want to make.”

"And your Snake and Pac-Man are also excellent, but they have not caused an overwhelming blow to other equally excellent competitors in the past few years."

"Your sequel to Snake, which was released this summer, did attract a lot of attention, but MGM's Tom and Jerry also gained a lot of market space."

"You guys did get a lot of people excited about Ms. Pac-Man this month, but honestly, I think Disney and Warner would still be able to make a lot of money without Star."

McDonald's chairman Fred Turner gave Ethan a regretful look.

Although there was some disparagement in his words, Ethan was not angry. We are all smart people and can naturally see how Ms. Pac-Man won.

Taking advantage of others' momentum can indeed help Ms. Pac-Man sell better, but at the same time, the act of "taking advantage of others' momentum" will also conceal the true strength of Ms. Pac-Man and make merchants doubt its ability to make money.

but--

It does not matter.

"Okay, I understand what you mean." Ethan smiled and said, "I understand that you are worried about the influence of these two images."

"But what I want to say is that since I took them out, it means they must be able to make money."

"Our next Destiny game will be related to them. I will combine the characters of these two games. If you are interested, we can continue to talk."

Now that Starfield has been completed and Ms. Pac-Man has been released, the next step is to have Mr. Pac-Man bravely break into Snake Castle to rescue Ms. Pac-Man.

It's not that Ethan wants to take advantage of the situation, but game production is like cutting leeks, one batch after another. When the fans' wallets are bulging, eh, they have to be slimmed down.

Otherwise, what game should he use to meet the public's expectations for the future?
Cough cough--

Stop talking.

Ethan wants to make a Pac-Man version of Mario, and what he wants most is peace of mind.

After all, in the past few years, he has been squeezed out by his competitors. When things like wasting time trying to get a head start, creating trouble and secretly hindering development happen one after another, the short-term success can no longer make Ethan sleep peacefully. Only by running all the time can he feel at ease.

So, if he made a Pac-Man version of Mario, even if it was not sold, he would feel much better. And since he was going to make this thing, McDonald's Happy Meal would naturally go well with it! When children have a lot of Pac-Man and Snake toys at home, they will definitely cry and make a fuss to ask their parents for a game, right?
Of course, he doesn't care whether this kind of thing succeeds or not.

Because when McDonald's took the initiative to invite him to cooperate, he knew that he had found the right trend of the times. The next step was to learn from Walt Disney and hold on to it tightly.

With his departure, a heated debate broke out in the chairman's office at McDonald's headquarters between McDonald's current chairman Fred Turner and Happy Meal developer Bob Bernstein.

Bob Bernstein insisted on not using Pac-Man and Snake, but Fred Turner was impressed by Ethan's idea and wanted to hear his thoughts.

When they argued for a long time without any result, they immediately turned their attention to the father of McDonald's.

"Mr. Kroc, what do you think of this cooperation?" Fred Turner asked.

Ray Kroc did not answer immediately, but asked: "Fred, Bob, what kind of qualities do you think a person should have if he wants to be successful?"

"Smart brain?"

Bob Bernstein, who makes a living from marketing, said: "Wisdom is wealth."

"It's hard work and luck."

Fred Turner, who has been with Ray Kroc since 1956, said: "Boss, when I first came to McDonald's to apply for a job, I was offered a position as a store cook."

"I worked very hard to set the standard for the production of burgers and fries, and then I gained your trust and confidence. You promoted me to president of operations, then president of the company, then CEO, and now chairman of the board."

"I am grateful to you."

“Hehehe…” The believer-like speech made the old man laugh continuously. He waved his hand and said, “Let’s not talk about what happened decades ago. I just gave you what you deserved.”

The next second, he changed the subject and said, "However, you are right about one thing. After you set the standard for the production of hamburgers and French fries, I have high hopes for you and I trust you."

"And this is actually the secret to your success, or my success, or maybe someone else's."

“You will only have a chance of success if you firmly believe that something will succeed.”

“If you hesitate to do something, you will never succeed.”

"Of course, there are people in this world who succeed easily, but even if God favors these people, they will lose the wealth given by God with their own abilities."

“So, if you want to succeed, you must first be confident.”

"If you want to be at the top of an industry, you have to be doubly confident."

"It could be arrogance, it could be paranoia, it could be madness."

Ray Kroc looked at the child he raised with a smile.

Then he picked up his cane and stood up.

"I'm retired now, the company is yours."

"Since I have chosen you, I will trust you."

"I support whatever decision you make."

"But there is one thing I want to state in advance."

“There are few people in this world who dare to negotiate with Lawrence Rockefeller and his people.”

“It’s not that people lack courage.”

“It’s not like they don’t have background.”

“It’s that they don’t have confidence.”

“Only those who truly believe that their products or projects can succeed, can be number one in the industry, and can bring endless wealth and power will do everything they can to keep the fruits of their victory.”

As the words fell, a crisp clicking sound was heard.

The old man stomped his cane with a smile, turned around and left the office that once belonged to him.

With the clanging sound, the tightly closed door also made McDonald's Chairman Fred Turner turn his head again. When he focused his eyes on Bob Bernstein...

This time, he didn't give the other party a chance to speak.

"Look for him again after the New Year."

"Okay."

Note: ① McDonald's Happy Meal officially appeared for the first time on June 1979, 6. In order to promote Happy Meal, McDonald's and Star Trek linked up and launched a series of toys. ② Ray Kroc has lived in San Diego since his retirement. He likes baseball and is the owner of the San Diego Padres. ③ Fred Turner, the second chairman and CEO of McDonald's, is really a representative of hard work. He worked his way up from an apprentice who grilled meat patties to the chairman. ④ Although Bob Bernstein is the developer of McDonald's Happy Meal, he is not actually a McDonald's employee. He is the owner of an advertising company that specializes in helping companies with marketing and image building. His most amazing operation is not to come up with Happy Meal, but to help Sam Walton establish a good corporate image for Walmart. As mentioned earlier, Walmart did not have a good reputation before 1 and was synonymous with low prices. But after Bob Bernstein took over, Walmart launched the patriotic marketing of "Buy American Products" (I won't write here about the pressure from the United States in the s), which directly pulled Walmart back from being synonymous with cheapness. This guy is very powerful.

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(End of this chapter)