McDonald's has made a surprise entry into the textbooks of a primary school in Fuzhou, sparking controversy over possible product placement.
The textbook in question mentioned the name of the fast food giant several times in an article entitled "Scattered Paper Money" (散落的钞票), and was picked up by observant student Fang Qiu. The article features a line where a hungry character has an urge to eat McDonalds's, stating that "after deciding to eat McDonald's, he felt much happier."
Concerned Fang Qiu later got in touch with the book's publisher, Beijing Normal University Press, and explained his discovery and concern regarding indirect advertising. After receiving a response from an editor in the company, Fang Qiu was assured that the textbooks were being revised with any reference to brand names to be omitted from the texts.
There are reportedly over 1,660 McDonald's restaurants in China, with the figure set to hit 2,000 by the end of the 2013.
Source: Xinhua News
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Keywords: Fuzhou school textbook Fuzhou primary school McDonald’s product placement
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No one must be too observant in this country as this incident shouldn't be surprising since all flash card and video resources used for kindergarten and primary school show obvious references to KFC. All french fries pictures blatantly say KFC and all "hamburgers" (i.e. chicken sandwiches)are also clearly KFC food. McDonald's is only catching up! This is hardly a scandal.
Jan 19, 2013 11:28 Report Abuse
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