McDonald's to Give Away Nutritional Books With Happy Meals Instead of Toys

In an effort to end fun, McDonald's will start giving away books with Happy Meals instead of toys on November 1. While some might call an end to Happy Meal toys "the worst thing that they have ever done," don't panic: this experiment in fostering book worm nerdery will only last for two weeks, until November 14. The four books are written to promote healthy eating, for example, Deana's Big Dreams "shows how Deana, the world's smallest dinosaur, grew tall by eating well."

AdWeek reports that this foray into publishing will briefly make McDonald's the biggest publisher in the US. The fast food chain plans to print 20 million books; AdWeek compares that to the sales of monster best-seller young adult novel The Hunger Games, which in 2012 sold 15 million print copies. McDonald's tried a similar experiment in the UK last year, although the books released were less focused on healthy eating and more focused on youth literacy.

· Brain Food: McDonald's to Push Kids' Books in Happy Meals [AdAge]
· All Happy Meal Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All McDonald's Coverage on Eater [-E-]