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McDonald’s Canada to give away books in Happy Meals

McDonald’s Canada to give away books in Happy Meals

Over the next two weeks McDonald’s will be giving away 1.5 million books in Happy Meals across Canada.

“We’ve tied it into Valentine’s day, a time where kids have a lot of fun, so each of the books has fun little Valentine’s cards and stickers,” says Michelle McIlmoyle senior national marketing manager at McDonald’s and part of the team that is spearheading the Happy Meals book program. “It just adds to the overall experience that reading is fun.”

The four books include the classic “Paddington” story by Michael Bond and three other heart day-themed stories – “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse!” by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond; “Clark the Shark Takes Heart” by Bruce Hale; and “Pete the Cat Valentine’s Day is Cool” by Kimberly and James Dean.

The books will replace the toys in Happy Meals from Feb. 2 to 15.

The selection mirrors the U.S. market, which will distribute 17 million books. Quebec will get the titles in French. McDonald’s will also distribute books during that time period in other markets globally, including the UK.

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“We started in 2013 we’re happy we have it back – historically in the last three years we’ve done close to five million book,” says McIlmoyle.

The aim of the program is to promote reading and bolster literacy by getting children started at a young age. According to the Canadian Literacy and Learning Network, 42 per cent of Canadian adults between the ages of 16 and 65 have low literacy skills.

“We’re pretty excited about it, we know that reading supports children’s overall well-being – it definitely builds their self worth and more importantly triggers imagination,” she says. “We feel that these books are a great opportunity to bring out some of those things that sometimes kids aren’t doing so much of.”

The campaign will be supported with a television campaign across English speaking Canada and digital media.

“(Social media) is a great opportunity to talk more to mums and parents about the opportunities,” she says. But the main focus is the physicality of books.

“We want parents to have those shared moments that sometimes technology doesn’t allow but a book sure can bring back to life,” says McIlmoyle. “Books are in decline in general terms from a consumption perspective and we think making it affordable and fun for kids across Canada is a great opportunity – it makes it accessible.”

Despite efforts to rebrand itself as more of a café and less of a fast food join, McDonald’s has faced some flak in the past for the nutritional value of Happy Meals. To help revamp that image, the brand took to exclusively advertising the kid-centric meal with milk and apple slices, though only one per cent of Happy meals in Canada are ordered with milk and four per cent choose apple slices.

In 2015, total revenue fell seven per cent to $25.4 billion, a hit likely driven by unfavourable currency exchange. Profits fell 5 per cent to $4.53 billion.