• Chicago Tribune, Motley Fool, Wall Street Journal, Ad Age , Tuesday, December 9, 2008 10:50 AM

There was so much news out of Chicago yesterday that McDonald's encouraging results were almost an afterthought in the Chicago Tribune. The biggest news, of course, was the bankruptcy filing of the newspaper empire itself. Then there was Christie Hefner declaring at it was time for her to do good with some non-profits after three decades of toil at papa's Playboy. Even a sit-it of 240 workers at Republic Windows & Doors on Goose Island got bigger play on the Trib's online edition.

"McDonald's same-store sales up 7.7% in November" and five measly paragraphs right out of the press release was all the no-doubt-harried business editor could muster for Mickey D's. That hed is not even in the same Wrigley Field (at least until the Cubs are sold) as The Motley Fool's "McDonald's Amazes Again." Alyce Lomax points out that McDonald's "is one of the poster children for what you might call the 'trade-down nation' trend, although that's about the extent of her marketing analysis. In fact, Ad Age may have nailed it with a subhed: "Multipronged Strategy Pays Off Amid General Economic Gloom."

The Wall Street Journal points out that McDonald's isn't the only joint in town offering low-priced meals, but the opposition's results are stale French fries by comparison.

"At McDonald's, the key to success has been its six-year-old 'Plan to Win' strategy crafted around improving results at existing locations, after the chain pulled back sharply on opening new stores," Janet Adamy writes. That and the fact that it's the epitome of globalism, has extended hours to pull in more customers, has a head start over competitors in the breakfast business and keeps its eye on the bottom line .

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