McDonald's has partnered with Kobo in the United Kingdom to give away free children's e-books with every Happy Meal purchase
McDonald's, one of the largest fast-food restaurant chains across the world, is diving deeper into the world of digitalization with its new promotional offer. The burger giant has partnered with Canada-based e-reader and e-book company, Kobo, to give away free e-books with the purchase of every Happy Meal. The promotion is a part of its annual "Happy Readers" program in the United Kingdom, which started Wednesday, April 30, and runs through June 3, 2014.
The limited period offer can be appealing to young children fond of Enid Blyton's Secret Seven Society series of children's tales. McDonald's will be offering a code for a free e-book and an additional £1 voucher alongside a Happy Meal box. Children can choose from six Secret Seven short stories including, "The Secret of the Old Mill", "Hurry, Secret Seven, Hurry" (available 30th April - 6th May and 21st May - 2nd June), "The Humbug Adventure", "An Afternoon with the Secret Seven" (available 7th May - 13th May and 21st May - 2nd June), "Where are the Secret Seven", "Adventure on the Way Home" (available 14th May - 2nd June). For the first time, all stories will feature color illustrations.
"We're delighted to be partnering with McDonald's in the UK to help expand its Happy Readers program and offer books digitally for the first time," Kobo president and chief content officer Michael Tamblyn, said in aKobo press release, Wednesday. "Since 2010 we've seen sales of Kobo e-books for kids grow ten-fold as more parents and children have come to appreciate the convenient and approachable nature of digital reading content."
During the five-week promotion, McDonald's is expected to sell 15 million Happy Meals across all its outlets in the United Kingdom, which will place the massive restaurant chain on top of the children's book distributor list in the country this year.
In order to take advantage of the new offer, parents or children must have a smartphone or an e-book reader for the digital content. Apps are available on all major platforms including Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows 8. If you are already in the market looking for an e-book reader, Kobo offers the mini e-book reader starting at $59.99 among other tablets.
