Despite McDonald’s dominance in the fast food industry, Ronald McDonald is barely visible anymore.
Because of how conspicuous the clown’s disappearance was, McDonald’s main rival, Burger King, launched a marketing campaign called #LonelyNoMore. Then, where did Ronald McDonald go?
While Ronald McDonald and other McDonald’s characters including Grimace and the Hamburglar may have been household names at one time, they are now largely forgotten.
Ronald McDonald is mostly remembered as a nostalgic part of childhood and adulthood, but Burger King has recently embraced its (also frightening) image. What occurred to Ron McDonald, and why did he lose his position as the mascot for the world’s largest fast food chain?
How Ronald Mcdonald Got His Start?
Ronald McDonald was invented by McDonald’s in the 1960s to promote the company’s hamburgers, while his actual creation date is up for debate. Ronald briefly owned a comic book series published by Charlton Comics in the early 1970s.
He was quickly joined in TV commercials by early iterations of other recognisable figures like Mayor McCheese.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, these McDonaldland figures were instantly recognisable anywhere you saw a McDonald’s. In fact, they were in a couple animated shows that were promoted and sold at McDonald’s.
On the other hand, McDonaldland closed its doors for good in 2003. As with the “I’m lovin’ it” ad, McDonald’s marketing targeted adults rather than kids. While Ronald McDonald has been around for decades after this event, the McDonaldland characters have only made rare appearances afterwards.
Ronald McDonald may have been spared in the McDonaldland purge, but he didn’t escape without some baggage. For starters, he’s a clown, and society’s view of them hasn’t exactly changed over the years.
With the decline of the travelling carnival and circus, the clown became more of a standard in the horror genre.
Children have a greater tendency to be scared of Ronald rather than delighted by him because of the prevalence of monsters like the Joker and Pennywise from IT, with and who he shares a more than passing similarity.
Furthermore, Ronald’s use as a child-targeted commercial mascot was fraught with issues. By the beginning of the 2010s, the connection between food service and obesity rates had become common knowledge, and it was impossible to argue that Ronald McDonald had no intention of appealing to youngsters with his marketing.
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Mcdonald’s Axed Ronald Because…?
Ronald rapidly surpassed Joe Camel as the most divisive mascot in advertising history. The Camels Cigarettes mascot, a cartoon depiction of the brand’s namesake camel, first appeared in 1974 and was an instant hit when it was introduced to the US public the following year.
Even though it wasn’t the target audience, kids really liked Joe Camel. It’s no secret that smoking is bad for your health, yet a recent study found that a cigarette brand’s ad campaign centred around a beloved children’s cartoon character successfully wooed a large number of new, young customers.
In 1997, after receiving several complaints and facing pressure from public interest groups and even Congress, tobacco company R.J. Reynolds decided to stop using the figure in its marketing.
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Ronald McDonald, unlike Joe Camel, never hid the fact that he was aiming at kids; he became the symbol for advertising unhealthy fast food.
McDonald’s is removing Ronald from advertising after receiving complaints from organisations like Corporate Accountability International. The announcement of his official retirement, however, did not change things very much.
Following a spate of “creepy clown sightings” across the U.s in 2016, McDonald’s made the decision to officially retire Ronald. As the stories progressed from seemingly innocuous sightings to those of individuals armed with guns, it became a terrible moment to be a clown.
McDonald’s decided to temporarily lock Ronald up after the public outcry, despite the fact that numerous of the sightings are hard to confirm.
However, of course, no such mascot ever really dies. The possibility of a Ronald McDonald revival remains open.
At present, Ronald’s most visible contribution is that he’s the name of the Ronald McDonald House Charities, which offers temporary accommodation for families whose children are getting medical care at neighbouring hospitals.
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There Was Pushback Against Ronald Because Of His Marketing To Children
The popularity of Ronald McDonald, McDonald’s major mascot ever since 1960s, was waning long before the horrifying clown appearances of 2016. For years, watchdog organisations have complained about Ronald’s promotion of junk food to children.
The people working for Corporate Accountability International compared him to Joe Camel, but for fast food. Ouch.
When asked in 2014 about Ronald’s diet, former CEO Don Thomson responded, “You just can not see Ronald McDonald consuming anything.”
The gist of the joke appears to indicate that Ron doesn’t actually consume the product he promotes. Similarly unsuccessful was that year’s attempt to recast Ronald McDonald as a hipper, more adult-oriented character.
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Conclusion
In other words, Ronald McDonald is still a part of the McDonald’s brand in some capacity. Not in any reasonable time frame. Ronald McDonald is still the face of McDonald’s at least once a year. The holiday of Thanksgiving and his participation in the Macy’s Remembrance Day Parade are the topic at hand.
