• Ad Age, Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:42 AM

McDonald's is putting a healthy dollop of marketing and ad support behind its third "Voice of McDonald's" competition, an "American Idol"-style karaoke contest in which servers are vying to be one of 12 semifinalists who make it to the company's biennial global conference next April, Emily Bryson York reports. The winner will take home $25,000.

"I've always felt that our employees are our biggest assets," says Dean Barrett, McDonald's svp-global marketing. "So to allow our employees to have the fun and excitement and to have talent come through in a unique and different way has been a lot of fun for me and McDonald's."

The 2008 contest allowed consumers to vote on semifinalists; 46,000 did so. Since then, McDonald's has increased its presence on Facebook and Twitter, among other sites, and consumer participation is expected to skyrocket. The semifinalists will be announced later this week.

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