New Ty Teenie Beanie Babies Coming Soon to a McDonald's Near You; Proceeds From a Special McHappy Day Teenie Beanie Baby To Benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Business Editors

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 2000

A Teenie Beanie Babies "beananza" is headed to McDonald's Restaurants of Central Indiana, marking the return of the most popular Happy Meal promotion in McDonald's history. And for the first time ever, the McDonald's Ty(R) Teenie Beanie Babies(TM) promotion coincides with McHappy Day -- a one-day event marked by the sale of a special Teenie Beanie Baby(TM) only available on June 13 in extremely limited quantities with proceeds to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities(R).

"This year's Teenie Beanie Babies collection is really spectacular -- we'll be offering teenie versions of the most rare, hard-to-find Beanie Babies(R)," said Eric Moore, Central Indiana McDonald's owner/operator. "Most of the designs in this year's Teenie Beanie Baby collection are teenie versions of the retired Beanie Babies. The thrill of the hunt is back as McDonald's gives its customers one last chance to collect teenie versions of their favorite Beanie Babies."

McDonald's beananza will feature a total of 29 Ty Teenie Beanies available in two different series. The McDonald's Happy Meal Teenie Beanie Babies are included free with the purchase of a Happy Meal, or sold separately with the purchase of another regular menu item. The Superstar Teenie Beanie Babies collection, representing some of the most exclusive and difficult to find full-sized Beanie Babies, are specially packaged and available with the purchase of a regularly priced menu item.

McHappy Day Launches Teenie Beanie Babies

McDonald's Restaurants of Central Indiana will launch the Teenie Beanie Babies program on June 13 with the celebration of McHappy Day, a special event to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities. For this day only, a special Teenie Beanie Baby will be sold for $2.49 in extremely limited quantities, only one per customer while supplies last. Proceeds from the sale of this Teenie Beanie Baby (identity to be announced June 9) will benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities. McDonald's and Ty Inc. expect to raise $4 million for the charity.

"We're very excited about partnering with Ty to help raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities," said Gerry Stieglitz, McDonald's Owner/Operator and Central Indiana RMHC board president. "It's a great way to help kids and families who benefit from Ronald McDonald Houses and the many charities supported by the foundation. We expect the McHappy Day Teenie Beanie Baby will sell-out very quickly."

Happy Meal Teenie Beanie Babies

The Happy Meal Teenie Beanie Babies, which also arrive at Central Indiana McDonald's on June 13, will be grouped into four families and introduced in turn on various days throughout the four-week promotion, or while supplies last. The families include:

-- Pet Pals -- At the Zoo

-- Garden Bunch -- Under the Sea

And . . .

On June 28, two Teenie Beanie Babies based on Ty Beanie Babies' recent year 2000 introductions will be added to the Happy Meal Teenie Beanie Babies mix. The identities of these two designs will be announced when they become available in stores.

Teenie Beanie Babies Superstars

Beginning Tuesday, June 13, the Superstars Teenie Beanie Babies will be available for $2.49 with the purchase of a regularly priced menu item. Each Tuesday of the four weeks of the promotion, new Superstars will be available for purchase. Superstars are grouped into the following collections:

-- Dinosaurs  -- International Bears 2000

-- Classics -- The End

For more information on the promotion, consumers can log onto www.mcdonalds.com over the June 10 - 11 weekend for details on each of the toy designs. For information about Ronald McDonald House Charities, call 317/ 684-7711 or write Ronald McDonald House Charities, c/o Bandy-Carroll-Hellige Advertising, 111 Monument Circle, Suite 882, Indianapolis, IN, 46204.

Ty Inc. (www.ty.com) is the largest manufacturer and marketer of plush toys worldwide. Ty products include Ty Classic plush, Attic Treasurers(TM), Beanie Kids(TM), Beanie Buddies(TM), as well as the collectible Beanie Babies(R), which were reintroduced in February 2000. Ty products are sold in finer retail stores and are easily recognizable by the world-famous Ty heart logo.

McDonald's is the largest foodservice retailer, with more than 217,000 restaurants serving over 43 million people each day in 119 countries. Approximately 85 percent of McDonald's U.S. restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees.

McDonald's Restaurants of Central Indiana . . . We Feed the Community in More Ways Than One

Note to Editors: The hyphens in "Bandy-Carroll-Hellige" mentioned in this release should be bullets. The bullets were changed to hyphens for transmission purposes.