McDonald's is again offering free coffee to customers beginning Tuesday Sept. 16 till Sept. 29, in an effort to boost its declining sales.

The fast food giant announced its second free-coffee promo on Tuesday, where participating McDonald's restaurant across the U.S. will be giving a free cup of coffee to breakfast customers.

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The company returned the program in hopes of edging other restaurants and coffee shops, such as Taco Bell, which recently announced the addition of breakfast meals on its menu.

Besides Taco Bell, Tim Hortons, which was acquired by Burger King in August, is also a top competitor in the breakfast market.

Dunkin Donuts, which recently opened its store in California, is another competition when it comes to breakfast coffee and meals.

According to spokeswoman Leslie Holbrook of the Dayton area McDonald's restaurant, no purchase is necessary to avail of the promotion.

During breakfast hours, customers will have a free cup of small McCafe in participating restaurants throughout the Miami Valley.

A similar promotion was run by the company last March, where millions of free cups of coffee wee given away within a two-week period.  

In a statement, Jeremy Hamilton, president of the Miami Valley McDonald's restaurant, said the second run of the company's free coffee program aims to encourage people to try the unique blend of the McCafe coffee.

In addition, Hamilton said that the program seeks to reward its loyal customers with the free coffee to go along with their favorite McDonald's breakfast meals.

McDonald's first introduced its McCafe product in the U.S. in 2009. The line started with regular coffee and later on started making frappes, smoothies and lattes.

In the company's second quarter report, it showed that the company's sales declined by 1.5 percent, while the net income was lower than the same period last year.

TagsMcdonalds, McCafe, free coffee, coffee