"That'll Be a Shake, Some Fries, and 'Crime and Punishment'"

Eric Seymour of In the Agora linked to an article about the special way McDonald's Restaurants in the Washington, D.C.-area are celebrating Black History Month. They're giving away copies of the play, A Raisin in the Sun.

Eric suggests that the chain shouldn't stop at that and says they should consider giving away copies of MacBeth. (That's funny enough to make me wish I'd thought of it first.)

Seriously though, for the past several years, McDonald's has been dealing with declining revenues. The underlying reason apparently is that Ronald McDonald and the playgrounds featured at many locations have been such great marketing tools that McDonald's is seen as a "kid's place." Teens and adults without families are not frequenting the franchise giant as they once did.

But what if, along with some of their more health-conscious menu items, McDonald's made a concerted effort to bring adults back to their restaurants? (I mean other than the lame commercials I see during televised sporting events and hear on sports radio.)

One part of that effort might include book give-aways or books at dramatically discounted prices. They could even ask local college English professors to come into their dining rooms on slow nights (Mondays come to mind) to preside over monhtly book discussion groups. The books identified as the 100 best of all time by the philosopher and encyclopedist Mortimer Adler and the Great Books movement could provide the reading list.

With this strategy, McDonald's could have a positive effect on their communities, make new friends, sell lots of food, and out-Starbuck's Starbuck's.

I think it would be cool.

By the way, I really do applaud McDonald's for what they're doing this February and for their corporate commitment to literacy.