Fast-food toys becoming more educational
Isabella Manis, 5, smiles with glee as she fiddles with her new kids meal toy while lunching with her dad at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Decatur. But the toy is no movie-inspired figurine or stuffed animal.
Instead, it¡¯s a game based on the PBS kids show ¡°Between the Lions.¡± Kids are encouraged to ¡°make up a funny story¡± using three cards from a perforated sheet of simple words such as ¡°pickle¡± and ¡°girl.¡±
¡°They have great toys. The toys are really educational,¡± said Isabella¡¯s father, Ricky Manis, 41.
Increasingly, fast-food chains such as Chick-fil-A are revamping their kids meal schedule with educationally themed toys. The toys ¡ª called ¡°premiums¡± in industry jargon ¡ª aren¡¯t just fun, but also aim to teach something.
¡°People are requesting kids premiums that are more socially responsible,¡± said Joe Tindall, chief executive and co-owner of Kid Stuff Marketing, a restaurant marketing company based in Kansas. ¡°Parents want variety, healthy options and a fun toy to occupy kids¡¯ time.¡±
Fast-food chains are trying to improve their image after years of criticism for contributing to the nation¡¯s health problems and high obesity rate, Tindall said.
¡°Fast-food restaurants want to put on a ¡®better face¡¯ in the community,¡± said Tindall, who added that many chains are also requesting eco-friendly toys and packaging.
The restaurants have a strong incentive to keep customers happy ¡ª protecting the bottom line. The industry expects revenues of $156.8 billion this year, a 4.4 percent increase over 2007 sales, according to the National Restaurant Association¡¯s 2008 Restaurant Industry Forecast.
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A has been marketing its educational toys since 1998. Unable to compete with giants Burger King and McDonald¡¯s for first-tier movie tie-ins, the company decided to market educationally themed toys that incorporate the motto ¡°growing kids inside and out.¡±
¡°We thought we could appeal to the moms,¡± said Steve Nedvidek, a Chick-fil-A marketing senior manager. Nedvidek is a freelance cartoonist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In one Chick-fil-A promotion, which the chain offers several times a year, instead of a toy kids get a miniature book, such as one of the children¡¯s series Little Golden Books.
¡°When they do a book series, that¡¯s my favorite,¡± said Alana Booker, a mom who frequents Chick-fil-A with her young children.
Fast-food giants also are part of the trend. Burger King features the Awesome Inch-A-Meter, a Crayola-themed toy that children can roll along a surface to measure lengths. Another example: Flash cards that help children solve math problems.
Wendy¡¯s, the Ohio-based chain being purchased by Atlanta-based Triarc Cos., offers four audiobooks in collaboration with Random House¡¯s popular Magic Tree House series.
The changes do not mean that the fast-food giants will abandon cross-promotional movie-themed premiums, which fetch millions in revenue, Angel Morales, managing director of kids marketing agency C3i, said in an e-mail. C3i is based in Overland Park, Kan.
Although the numbers vary widely from company to company, and edu-toys continue to grow in popularity, they still represent only about two of every 10 toys in a company¡¯s promotion schedule, Morales said.
Some aren¡¯t convinced that the edu-toys are doing either children or parents a service.
¡°We don¡¯t think that any type of toy should be used to lure kids into fast-food restaurants, even if they call it educational,¡± said Josh Golin, associate director at the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
