Fast-food retailing giant McDonald's India has cancelled its plans for a co-branding tie-up with Rakesh Roshan Productions for its forthcoming movie Krrish.

Instead, the company is partnering with Cadbury's India for co-branded products and joint research on ice cream-cum- chocolate products. McDonald's was earlier planning for a cross-promotional tie-up with Rakesh Roshan Productions, and to stock Krrish merchandise at various outlets to woo kids this summer. Kids would then be able to avail of Krrish merchandise on the purchase of a 'Happy Meal' (a McDonald's brand).

However, with the release of the movie being postponed to another season, McDonald's decided not to pursue the tie-up. "It does not make sense for us to go ahead with the tie-up now," a senior McDonald's official told FE.

McDonald's and Cadbury's will now work on jointly launching a new brand `McFlurry', a blend of soft serve with Cadbury's Gems. The product will be available at all McDonald's restaurants by October. Currently, McDonalds sells `McSwirl' ice cream sourced from Mumbai-based Morde, which is one of its suppliers.

The technology for McSwirl is sourced from McDonald's Brazil. McDonald's has 86 restaurants in India with an estimated footfall of 3,000 every day per restaurant.

Apart from this, in a joint partnership with Cadbury's India, McDonald's is all set to launch a promotional campaign targeted at kids called 'Perk Up Your Happy Meal'. In this scheme, the purchase of a 'Happy Meal' , will get the customer a Cadbury's Perk (the popular chocolate brand of Cadbury's) for free.

McDonald's India also plans to start ‘Foos Ball Tournament’ from May 29, a new fun game in association with the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and market Snoopy Worldcup collectible toys, a company official said.

(www.financialexpress.com)