McDonalds buys up Asterix

A MCDONALD'S advertising campaign featuring iconic French comic book character Asterix has caused uproar among fans.

Creator Albert Uderzo had "sacrificed a comic book monument to the Roman hordes", according to one fan online.

"What next? Tintin at Subway?" asked another. The adverts show the Gaul’s classic final banquet held inside a McDonald’s, with their raucous bard Cacafonix, as usual, tied up and gagged outside.

McDonald’s France vice-president Xavier Royaux said they had Uderzo’s permission and had done it in a spirit of "deep respect for one of France's favourite characters".

A spokeswoman for publishers Editions Albert-René, which keeps a tight control on use of the Asterix image, said it felt the advert’s slogan "Come as you are", which McDonald’s has been using on posters for two years, was a suitable for the characters.

"The Gauls are as they are," she said. She added that McDonald’s asked to use the characters because they wanted something emblematic of France