Burrell Communications

San Francisco’s DJ Risk One Scratches Way to the Top as McDonald’s 2012 Flavor Battle National DJ Champion

Celebrity DJs Crown Flavor Battle Champion and Award $10,000 Grand Prize

Oak Brook, Ill. (February 10, 2012) – A panel of celebrity DJ judges last night crowned San Francisco-based DJ Risk One as the 2012 Flavor Battle Champion. The 2012 McDonald’s Flavor Battle DJ competition finale event took place at the Miami Beach nightclub Cameo, where three DJs each representing a McDonald’s burger took to the turntables in a battle of burgers and beats to win the $10,000 grand prize and championship. DJ Risk One represented the Big Mac and beat out first runner-up DJ E-V from Cleveland, Ohio and DJ Alizay from Washington, D.C. to claim the McDonald’s 2012 Flavor Battle championship title.

Judged on crowd appeal, mixing skills, technique and performance flow, each finalist demonstrated their mix-master skills in a free-style battle to prove who had the most musical flavor and talent. McDonald’s and Complex Media kicked off the 2012 Flavor Battle competition last November with a total of 24 DJs representing three regions of the U.S. and three of McDonald’s burgers — the Angus Third Pounder, Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Big Mac.

Hosted by the legendary “human beat boxer” Doug E. Fresh, this year’s Flavor Battle finale was judged by veteran celebrity DJs Spinderella, Miami’s own DJ Irie, DJ Skribble and the reigning 2011 Flavor Battle Champion, DJ JayCeeOh. Rapper/singer/actress Teyana Taylor was on hand providing live Twitter updates and interviews with celebrity guests.

“Once again, McDonald’s is proving that we can deliver tasty burgers and hot beats to our customers,” said Rob Jackson, director of U.S. marketing, McDonald’s USA. “Flavor Battle gets more exciting each year as we recognize the most talented of mix masters throughout the country.”

Flavor Battle was conducted with Complex Media, the men’s style and lifestyle network dedicated to young men 18-34.

To learn more about McDonald’s Flavor Battle, please visit www.flavorbattle.com.

McDonald’s launched Flavor Battle in 2009 as an extension of McDonald’s 365Black initiative. McDonald’s 365Black platform was created to celebrate the pride, heritage and achievements of African Americans year round.

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About Burrell

Burrell Communications is a full-service marketing communications company with offices in Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles. In business for more than 40 years, Burrell is a leader in understanding and motivating consumer behavior in the African-American and Yurban® markets. The agency’s client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, Toyota, McDonald’s, General Mills, Comcast, Walt Disney World Resorts, SuperValu, Lilly, Illinois Lottery and American Airlines. For more information, visit www.burrell.com.

About McDonald’s

McDonald’s USA, LLC, is the leading foodservice provider in the United States serving a variety of wholesome foods made from quality ingredients to more than 26 million customers every day. Nearly 90 percent of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by local business men and women. Customers can now log online for free at any of the 11,500 participating Wi-Fi enabled McDonald’s U.S. restaurants. For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com, or follow us on Twitter (@McDonalds) and Facebook (Facebook.com/McDonalds) for updates on our business, promotions and products.

© 2012 McDonald’s

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Robert Compitello

Burrell Communications

(312) 297-9808 (office)

(312) 771-5429 (mobile)

rcompitello@burrell.com