The world's biggest fast-food chain is gearing up for this summer's mammoth promotion tied to Walt Disney Pictures' May 19 release of ``Dinosaur.''

On May 12, McDonald's will host the ``World's Hugest Fossil Egg Hunt'' at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles where 50 kids will search a giant sand box filled with simulated dinosaurs and prize-filled dinosaur eggs (one is stuffed with a 2-carat diamond).

Beginning May 18, dinosaurs will invade McDonald's restaurants with a ``Hatch, Match & Win'' sweepstakes promotion featuring two $1 million prizes, a set of eight talking Happy Meal toys and dinosaur-themed packaging and in-store decorations.

McDonald's, with more than 27,000 restaurants in 119 countries, wouldn't release figures, but trade magazine Advertising Age said the company is spending an estimated $75 million on the effort, or roughly half of the $150 million that will be spent promoting the Disney movie.

The film's release coincides with next week's unveiling of Sue -- the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil found to date.

McDonald's and Disney helped the Chicago Field Museum with the purchase of the dinosaur. Next month, McDonald's will take a replica of the enormous fossil on a road trip across America, with the first stop scheduled for Boston on June 23.

``The whole timing of the Dinosaur movie from Disney and the timing of Sue was a fortunate coincidence,'' R.J. Milano, vice president, McDonald's U.S. marketing, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

``From McDonald's standpoint, we've done our best to make one compliment the other,'' he said, calling the movie promotion the ``cornerstone'' of the company's summer lineup.

For adults, McDonald's has sweetened the sweepstakes pot, offering, among other things, two $1 million prizes, a $25,000 diamond, a Ford Excursion, a Winnebago Adventurer, a Hawaiian vacation for four, and, for its younger customers, a Britney Spears VIP concert trip. Game stamps are affixed to Chicken McGrill and Crispy Chicken sandwich packaging, McSalad Shaker salads, French fry boxes, large and SuperSize drink cups and hash brown bags.

For the Happy Meal set, McDonald's has created an eight-toy collection of dinosaur hand puppets and talking figurines.

All will be supported by a Dinosaur-themed advertising campaign beginning May 16. Commercials feature footage from the Disney film.

``What we've tried to do is put together a campaign that embraces the totality of the event,'' Milano said.

Jack Trout, president of Trout & Partners, a marketing strategy firm based in Greenwich, Conn., said the focus on dinosaurs fits with McDonald's family-friendly positioning.

``Any big promotion that locks little kids into the place is certainly valuable to them. It's a continuation of their basic core business, which is kids,'' he said. ``Whether this is good enough to suck in the adults, I don't know. I think their promotions are much more effective with kids.''

[Posted 5/12/2000]