Released on = June 25, 2007, 3:06 pm

Press Release Author = Yves Lang

Industry = Consumer Services

Press Release Summary = McDonald's and ENLASO Corporation, a provider of translation
and localization solutions, have released a ground breaking case study on how icons,
designed to represent nutritional information, were culturally evaluated for
worldwide use.

Press Release Body = BOULDER, CO - June 20, 2007 McDonald's decided to take its
Nutritional Initiative to all of its markets by visually representing nutritional
information on food packaging globally. The main challenge was developing icons or
images that would work with or without language, in over 109 locales. This case
study covers how ENLASO's linguistic iconographers determined which images would
work in all regions without offending local cultural sensitivities. McDonald's is
making the final nutritional icons freely available to the food and restaurant
industries worldwide, hoping to help set a standard for visually conveying
nutritional information.

"We have essentially created a new visual language of nutrition," commented Bridget
Coffing, Vice President of Corporate Communications for McDonald's. "At the
beginning of the project we discovered that there were no 'language free' nutrient
visuals that could be copied or modified." Achieving self-evident images was also a
critical goal. "Some countries served by McDonald's encompass up to ten languages,"
she continues, "so it was essential that the images work with or without text."
McDonald's had to determine whether an international audience could understand the
images without accompanying text.

After an extensive search for a linguistic partner, McDonald's chose ENLASO. "This
project was virtually without precedent due to its scope and 'language-free'
nature," states Yves Lang, ENLASO's Chief Sales Officer and Vice President of Sales
and Marketing. "The case study reveals McDonald's intense commitment to reaching all
of their consumers worldwide; even Fiji, Malta and Slovakia were tested." Over a
dozen icons were evaluated against eight criteria in 109 locales, and over 13,000
comments had to be evaluated. The image-dependent, highly subjective feedback from
iconographers required the data to be manually distilled. The case study covers
these project management challenges and their solutions.

Feedback from iconographers was often surprising and sometimes even amusing. An
image of a bone to represent calcium was rejected due to its regional association
with dogs, while a simple abstract image of a four-leaved plant, symbolizing fiber,
was interpreted as everything from a Christmas tree to Marijuana!

Case study author, Maxwell Hoffmann, was impressed by the synergy between McDonald's
and ENLASO. "All of the McDonald's and ENLASO staff I interviewed were
enthusiastically committed to a single goal: to educate customers globally on
nutrition in a totally visual way." The nutritional icons will prove their worth on
a broad playing field: McDonald's serves over 50 million people a day worldwide.

McDonald's began rolling out the new icons on packaging in several worldwide markets
last year, including the USA. The next time you order a Big Mac, take a look at the
bottom of the carton and notice the new icons for Calories, Protein, Fat,
Carbohydrates and Sodium. This free case study, with rejected and accepted versions
of the icons, can be downloaded from ENLASO's Web site, www.translate.com.

About McDonald's (http://www.mcdonalds.com)
McDonald\'s is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local
restaurants in more than 100 countries. More than 70% of McDonald\'s restaurants
worldwide are owned and operated by independent local men and women. Please visit
www.mcdonalds.com to learn more about the Company.

About ENLASO (http://www.translate.com)
ENLASO Corporation, an ISO 9001 company with three decades of experience, provides
clients with enterprise language solutions. ENLASO delivers multilingual solutions
to a broad range of industries and services including software localization, Web
sites, marketing communications, technical documentation, localization testing, and
cultural consulting.

For additional information, contact: Yves Lang, ENLASO Corporation, at (303)
516-0857 x102 or by e-mail at pr@translate.com


Web Site = http://www.translate.com

Contact Details = 4888 Pearl EastCircle
Suite 300E
Boulder, CO 80301
303-516-0857 ext 102
303-516-1701