Do you want a McBook with your Happy Meal?
Okay, it's not quite that bad, but on Wednesday, McDonalds announced that they were giving away free books with their Happy Meals. Which on the surface seems great. Instead of a plastic toy, the children get something more cerebral. But when you look beyond the hyperbole, it's not quite that straightforward.
The books aren't actually free and the children do not get them with their meal. Instead they are given a voucher which they can only redeem at WH Smith, where they can purchase the book for the discounted price of £1.
All of the media are reporting this as McDonalds giving away 9 million Michael Morpurgo books for free when this is clearly not the case.
It will be interesting to see how many of these vouchers are actually traded in for a book. McDonalds will only reimburse WH Smith for the discount on RRP for the books that they actually shift, so there is little risk for them.
They will have done their figures. They cannot afford to lose £18 million which would be the £2 discount they are offering multiplied by the 9 million books available. They must be confident that the children will eat their meals and lose their voucher.
But what do you think? Are you comfortable with the books being associated with fast food? Should McDonalds be applauded for bringing literature to the one in three children that don't own a book? Should the National Literary Trustr even be involved in such a venture? And what's in it for HarperCollins? Oh, a film has been made of War Horse by Michael Morpurgo and this will generate interest and perhaps sell a few more copies of his book. Cynical?
Lots of questions, and I feel lots to discuss. What do you think?
They should create a cultural project with no profit.
My daughter was invited to a McDonalds party this week and as a result is now the owner of a Michael Morpurgo book titled AND PIGS MIGHT FLY which comes with a piglet finger puppet. We didn't redeem any voucher although I didn't see the box so I can't say if there was a discount voucher on it. (husband had thrown it away before they got home)
As freebies go it isn't bad and I do prefer it to the usual plastic toy that doesnt do anything but hurt your foot when they leave it on the floor!
I will say though that it isn't a book I would pay for. It is flimsy and the pages are dull with very small print. It makes it very tricky for a five year old to touch it without damaging it's pages.
I say thumbs up for the idea but not sure about the end product.
Although I applaud (half-heartedly) McDonalds in their attempt to encourage children to read books, I don't however, approve of the way they are going about it. The books should be available in the restaurant, not given as a £1 discounted voucher to go and get it from somewhere else. Where I live, the only WH Smiths is in the centre of the city, so unless the parents are heading that way, the voucher will end up disgarded.