McGough, who famously helped write The Beatles’ hit movie Yellow Submarine and has sold over a million books worldwide, was commissioned by the frozen food giant to pen seven short stories, one teatime tale for each day of the week.
The Story on a Plate initiative will see Birds Eye give away more than 250,000 plates for free through Sainsbury’s and Morrisons stores nationwide over the next three months.
The appointment of McGough follows a study of over 2,000 British mums that found half (50%) consider teatime to be the most stressful part of their day. A further 40% of mums admit that they struggle to get their children to the dinner table, and a staggering 86% concede that their child rarely finishes the food on their plate.
According to the findings, almost one in three (29%) said their child will only eat off their favourite or personal plate and three-quarters of children (75%) lose interest during teatime.
Written to entertain kids as they eat, McGough’s teatime tales follow the adventures and culinary discoveries of Birds Eye mascot Clarence the Polar Bear – the talking puppet voiced by actor Willem Dafoe – from his home in the Arctic to the UK, where he currently resides. The book has also been made into a cartoon, voiced by Roger McGough …
.
“I was delighted to take up the challenge offered by Birds Eye,” said McGough, “as it afforded an opportunity to take poetry out of the library, the classroom and the bookshop, and via the supermarket reach a wide audience of youngsters who may not read books. Meal times needn’t be fractious, nor poetry boring. Poetry on plates? Eat up and read on.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024