UK arm of fast food chain McDonald's will collaborate with publishers and retailers in the country to hand out 15 million books to young readers in the country by the end of 2014.
The Happy Readers initiative will include partners such as the National Literacy Trust, Dorling Kindersley and WH Smith, launching a five-week national campaign wherein Happy Meal customers will receive a series of non-fiction books.
McDonald's initiative is part of the company's aim to address the anomaly pointed by the National Literacy Trust that at least one in three children in UK don't own a book while half of the young ones don't fancy reading.
Elaborating on the campaign McDonald's UK vice president of marketing Alistair Macrow remarked that the company was keen to exploit its scale and partnerships to make reading fun for the children.
Primary objective of the campaign is to encourage families to have fun reading together and is an extension of a similar pilot run by the company in 2012.
Nine out of ten parents had sought greater book promotions during the course of the 2012 program, said McDonald's
"Our restaurants are designed to be colorful, exciting places that children and their parents come to for a treat and we're looking forward to books becoming a part of that family experience." added Macrow.
The Happy Readers promotion will run through 9 January - 12 February 2013 and appear on every Happy Meals box alongside a voucher to buy another book for £1 at WH Smiths.
