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?
Lily, you're obviously too young to have had such finer feelings trampled by life in general. Don't apologise for naivete; hang onto them as long as you can.
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And as an added thought there is always the hope that the people on top are not always going to rip everyone off, but they may actually be trying to help. However niave and childish that may sound I think it is nice to have a little bit of faith hidden in there.
I was saying something similar about half an hour ago. Small world is it not?
It is a difficult question to answer as McDonalds is one of the establishments that children enter the most, while they are not going there to gain a book they may be drawn to the books as they are associated with a place that they go into often.
I think children need to turn their attentions to books. The statistic that four-million children in Britain do not own a book is quite sad, because they don't know what they are missing.
As a teenager myself I know how many kids my age think that reading is a waste of time. I think that this should be combated in children younger than myself so that it doesn't happen again. Associating books with food is maybe a way to draw attention to start.
I was interested by the comment on the vouchers and my answer to that is I honestly don't know.
This and the above are all just guesses. Who knows what is going through peoples minds when they come up with ideas, people on the outside can not police it or come to precise conclusions.
I think that this has both pros and cons. There are good points such as the attention being drawn to books and then there are cons such as being conned.
And if Morpurgo does make a name for himself it will be because someone has noticed his book and enjoyed his writings.