Fully booked – McDonald’s new Happy Meal strategy

Jan. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- McDonald’s has teamed up with War Horse author and former children’s laureate Michael Mopurgo and publishers HarperCollins to give away children’s books as part of a new campaign to improve child literacy.

Jumping on the back of the world-renowned stage production and new film directed by Stephen Spielberg, the initiative, backed by the National Literacy Trust (NTL) and Booktrust, will see nine million Morpurgo books replacing the toy component of Happy Meals from 11th January – 7th February, a move that will see McDonald’s become the UK’s leading children’s book retailer – if only for a short period.

The titles, all from the popular Mudpuddle Farm series, will include Goose Queen and Jigger’s Day Off, and will include a corresponding finger puppet.

It was recently revealed in research by the NLT that almost one in three children do not own a book, and after the success of a similar marketing campaign by McDonald’s in Sweden, it is hoped the new promotion will improve this figure.

The campaign will be fronted by a television advertisement which is expected to launch in February, and backed by in-store promotions, with books being sold separately outside of Happy Meals in McDonald’s restaurants. This move comes as part of a continued process of attempting to improve the brand’s appeal – organic milk and fruit bags have already been introduced as options for Happy Meals in an attempt to shake off the fast-food brand’s unhealthy connotations.

Despite its backing by literary trusts and Morpurgo himself, who tours schools in an attempt to improve child reading, McDonald’s new marketing campaign has been met with some criticism. Campaigns Director of the Children’s Food Campaign has called the strategy “inappropriate” due to record levels of childhood obesity, and claims the brand appears to be trying to make fast food more appealing to children.

HarperCollins Children’s Books spokesperson Ann-Janine Murtagh rebutted this, saying the publishing brand is “delighted” to offer books as part of customers’ visits to McDonald’s and hopes it will spark renewed interest in reading from families.

Brand Recruitment is the only specialist PR and Marketing recruitment agency in the Eastern Region. With the widest variety of marketing jobs in the area, we work with clients ranging from boutique marketing agencies to global FMCG giants.

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Brand are the only specialist PR and Marketing recruitment firm in the Eastern Region. With the widest variety of marketing jobs in the area, we work with clients ranging from boutique marketing agencies to global FMCG giants.