Disney is terminating its long-standing marketing agreement with McDonald's after a 10-year association that saw the fast food chain promote 11 of the studio's flms every year.

In what is certainly a significant blow to McDonald's, Disney said that its agreement with the US firm will end after the release of two movies this summer - Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

It is understood that McDonald's has paid Disney over $100m in royalties in the past decade for the exclusive contract, while it has been rumoured that the cross-promotional tie-in was worth up $1bn to Disney, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Executives at the studio are believed to have wanted to weaken ties with McDonald's as consumers grow more concerned about child obesity. Tie-ins were often used to sell the fast-food retailer's Happy Meals.

Steve Jobs (below), Disney's single biggest shareholder since the company acquired his Pixar studio, said last year that while there was value to be being tied in with fast-food, "there are also some concerns, as our society becomes more conscious of some of the implications of fast food".

Disney said that while the deal with McDonald's will cease at the end of this year, it will continue to work with the chain on a non-exclusive, case-bycase basis.

Last week McDonald's, which has 31,000 restaurants worldwide, inked a deal with the Build-A-Bear Workshop that will see mini stuffed animals being given away with its Happy Meal and Mighty Kids Meal products.

LASSITER'S GLOBAL MESSAGE TO IRISH FIRMS

Globalisation is offering Irish entrepreneurs increasing marketing opportunities, according to the professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, Joe Lassiter. Speaking to the Sunday Tribune last week prior to a giving a speech as part of the Mayes and Curran-sponsored lecture series at DCU, Lassiter warned, however, that there are a number of fundamental errors companies can make moving into new markets.

"One of the mistakes companies make is holding on to the past rather than reaching to the future, " he said, "while they often don't offer something compellingly new for their customers."

Lassiter has visited a number of countries over the past few years to see how globalisation has affected various companies. "You have to know how you're going to keep someone else from duplicating exactly what you have, " he said.

"What every entrepreneur really wants, of course, is a patented product, protected by government that has huge "nancial reserves and is addictive, " said Lassiter.

"Unfortunately, they don't have one.

So what they want is a volatile environment where they can move and change. When the environment is volatile, entrepreneurs do very well."