McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) ended its longtime partnership with the International Olympic Committee as the fast-food chain joins a growing list of U.S. companies pulling advertising from the games, AdAge reported.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABV) , Citigroup (C) , Hilton (HLT) , TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and AT&T (T) have all pulled out of the Olympic games in the last year.
Industry experts speculate that some U.S. advertisers have left because of the dramatic time change for the next few games – PyeongChang in 2018, Tokyo in 2020 and Beijing in 2022.
McDonald’s said the decision is part of a global growth plan that has the company reconsidering all parts of the business.
McDonald’s, which has advertised at the games since 1976, signed a contract in 2012 to continue advertising at the Olympics until 2020. The 2018 Winter Games will be their last appearance.
The fast-food giant’s shares rose 0.5% to $151.99 at Friday’s close.
