McDonald's forges Irn link. (Barr's Irn Bru, soft drink) (Drinks) (The Marketing Story)

McDonald's forges Irn link

Fast food multinational McDonald's has abandoned its UK "no alien brands" policy and let AG Barr's Irn Bru get a foot-hold where Coca-Cola and Pepsi have failed.

The Irn Bru brand is this week on sale in McDonald's outlets across the country, ending years of opposition to outside brands which might steal its own thunder.

McDonald's vice-president and chief of marketing Michael Hayden this week moved fast to play down the link. Irn Bru is being tested in just one southern outlet, he says, after a separate trial in Scotland. "It's on a trial basis - that's all I will say."

But McDonald's central UK distributor told Marketing …