French comic book icon goes to McDonald's

A new McDonald's ad campaign featuring French comic book icon Astérix and his merry band of warriors feasting inside one of the fast food giant's restaurants has raised the ire of French bloggers.

AFP

A commentator on the website Veilleurs, calling himself Georges Abitbol, called the ad "an electric shock".

He questioned how the authors of the successful comic series could have allowed such use of Astérix.

"Well done, Albert Uderzo, for sacrificing a comic book monument to the Roman hordes," he wrote, referring to the illustrator who created the characters along with the late writer René Goscinny over 50 years ago.

Since then, the Gallic warrior's exploits leading his village to resist Roman occupation has been a symbol of independence and pride.

The comic book adventures have sold 325 million copies, including 200 million abroad, and has been translated into 107 languages and dialects.

The series has also been adapted into several books, 11 films, a number of games and the Parc Astérix theme park near Paris.