McDonald's spent a good portion of last year in the U.K. promoting exercise for kids with tie-ins to the 2012 London Olympics. It also introduced a fruit-juice-based drink called Fruitizz as part of its Happy Meal revamp.
Now, McDonald's U.K. is pivoting to feed kids' minds as well. It has launched a new campaigncalled Happy Readers to put millions of kids' books into the hands of families and to help make reading fun.
By the end of 2014, the chain plans to have handed out at least 15 million and non-fiction books to famliies across the country. And we're not just talking about reprising the Harry Potter series here — the company will partner with publishers, retailers and other literacy organizations including Britain's National Literacy Trust and bookseller W.H. Smith, the company said in a statement.
"Our restaurants are designed to be colorful, exciting places that children and their parents come to for a treat and we're looking forward to books becoming a part of that family experience," said Alistair Macrow, CMO for McDonald's U.K.
McDonald's said the plan was created after a successful pilot last year, following which nine out of 10 parents said they'd like to see more book promotions from McDonald's. The Happy Readers campaign will launch with a five-week nationwide promotion featuring a series of non-fiction titles from publisher DK's Amazing World series. Each Happy Meal will include one of the books — whose topics include stars and planets, big cats and oceans — and related puzzles and stickers.
Naturally, U.K. literacy advocates are "happy" for the boost from wherever they can get it. "Our research tells us that there is a very clear link between book ownership and children's future success in life, so it is very concerngin that one in three children in the U.K. doesn't own a book, and half of kids don't realy enjoy reading," Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, told the Telegraph.
No word on whether e-books will become part of Happy Reading, or if it will spur more Happy (Meal) Eating. It might be just as well that British kids will have to turn to a real tome made of paper than be able to access McDonald's giveaway through their iPads.
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