After opening its Zero Carbon restaurants in Beijing and Guangzhou, both certified by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), McDonald’s finally unveiled its first LEED Four Zeros restaurant in China at the Meisha Vanke, Shenzhen. Four Zeros means the restaurant is certified in all four categories from LEED: LEED Zero Carbon, LEED Zero Energy, LEED Zero Water and LEED Zero Waste.
The restaurant opened its doors on 15 October. For the launch, McDonald’s teamed up with the viral Baby Shark IP from South Korea’s children’s education brand Pinkfong to release a song called “McDonald’s Green Restaurant” and its promotional video, based on the IP’s children’s song “Baby Shark Dance”. For the new restaurant opening, McDonald’s launched a themed prized draw to win merch, free Filet-O-Fish burgers and a calendar, as well as weekly reports on its app and Mini-Program.
With the help of Baby Shark, McDonald’s created an educational post discussing the innovation applied to the new Shenzhen restaurant. From using solar power, recycling waste and water, as well as collecting rainwater, the fast-food giant uses comic strips to illustrate the process. If you reply to its WeChat and Weibo posts with your wishes for the new green restaurant, you also have a chance of winning 1 of 8 pin badges exclusive to the opening.
McDonald’s has been focusing on its ESG in China, especially the sustainability side since it started to introduce LEED certification to the country. On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, the topic “McDonald’s green restaurants” (#麦当劳绿色餐厅#) has accumulated 97.81 million views. With FSC-certified paper packaging and straw-less drinks, McDonald’s is pushing its green restaurant concept across the globe. The first Two Zero McDonald’s restaurant in Asia-Pacific opened in Beijing as a drive-thru in 2022 before the Guangzhou Zero Carbon restaurant that combines solar power generation and storage opened in March this year. China is now at the forefront among global branches in terms of environmental innovations. The endeavours of the fast-food chain show the possibilities of future restaurants.
