Friday, March 04, 2011

To Everything There Is A Season

Ronald McDonald, who became the clown mascot of McDonald's restaurants when I was a toddler, is no more:

It seems as though McDonald’s has closed the coffin on the clown. Ronald McDonald — the chain’s goofy, red-headed mascot of 48 years — has outworn his welcome under the golden arches in a corporate effort to create a more chic and sophisticated image of Mickey D’s. After increased competition from chains like Starbucks, the fast-food giant is more focused on selling profitable coffee drinks and trendy salads than Big Macs and McFlurrys...

Consumers link the Ronald McDonald character to the old, high-fat foods that are decreasing in popularity among an increasingly health conscious America, the Daily Finance reports.

And a racial dig?

Well, whether McDonald’s wants to be known for cheap late-night food or “high class” coffee, their advertising plan remains the same: Black culture will be exploited either way (see the rapping dollar menu girl and the poetry spitting McCafe guy).

I wonder if Ronald McDonald Charities, and the Ronald McDonald Houses, will change their names.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

no more Hamburglar, no more Mayor McCheese. Now goodbye Ronald

neko said...

It was only a matter of time before the Progressives outlawed him anyway.

neko said...

Actually, according to the article that your linked article linked to:

McDonald's isn't putting Ronald out to pasture all together. His name, after all, does grace the company's charitable arm, Ronald McDonald House Charities. Ronald still plays an ambassador role, a company spokeswoman told Bloomberg. He just isn't tied to the menu.

It doesn't look like he is completely gone.

DADvocate said...

They might want to be careful with their rebranding. This sort of thing has backfired more than once. I wonder how good their research is that led them to minimize Ronald's presence.

How many coffee drinks and salads are they selling compared to burgers? Who wants a chic and sophisticated McDonald's? Not I.

Mike Thiac said...

Come one DADvocate...rebranding works great...remember how well New Coke worked! :<)