Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald’s fast-food restaurant chain. In television commercials, the clown inhabited a fantasy world called McDonaldland, in which he had adventures with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and The Fry Kids. By 2003, the McDonaldland world had been dropped from McDonald’s advertising, but Ronald himself continued to appear.
Unfortunately, the Ronald McDonald mascot has been fading little by little because of several reasons. The absence of Ronald McDonald is bound to split people into two groups. There are those who will view Ronald’s firing from the McDonald’s of today as yet another piece of their childhood gone forever. On the opposite side of the coin, are those with more of a ‘good riddance’ attitude about it. These are the reasons why they got rid of Ronald McDonald.
1) Creepy Clown Sightings Were Bad PR For Ronald
Despite the friendly and fun good nature of Ronald McDonald, 2016 bought some bad press to clowns everywhere that not even the almighty machine of McDonald’s wanted to try and fix. The clowns were chasing motorists with knives, lurking around schools, and otherwise just being real creeps. McDonald’s and franchisees in the local markets are mindful of the current climate around clown sightings in communities and as such are being thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald’s participation in community events for the time being. It was pretty clear that the creepy clowns were more trouble than McDonald’s wanted to deal with and it was time for Ronald McDonald to take an extended leave of absence.
2) Didn’t Fit In With The Hip Makeover Of McDonald’s
McDonald’s has been going through a makeover to make its restaurants more appealing to adults and less like kiddie burger joints for years. The company started this makeover in 2012, and they’re still in the process of updating its 5,000-plus locations. This means self-order kiosks, refreshed exteriors, and what CNBC described as modernized dining rooms that feel like ‘barista-style cafes’. McDonald’s now wants to be part of the cool crowd and Ronald’s goofy look just doesn’t fit with the restaurant’s new earth tones and dining room bar stools. Long story short, Ronald’s whole appearance is stuck in the past and Mickey D’s is trying to grow up.
3) Ronald Was Facing Backlash On His Marketing To Kids
Ronald McDonald may have been McDonald’s main mascot since the 1960s, but his presence was wearing thin before those terrifying clown sightings of 2016. Various watchdog groups had been criticizing Ronald’s marketing of unhealthy fast food to impressionable kids for years. A rebranding of a cooler Ronald McDonald that year that would vibe more with the adult image McDonald’s was shooting for was also a flop.
4) Ronald McDonald Lives On At Least One Day A Year
McDonald’s could always bring Ronald McDonald back whenever it likes, but these days, if you look through its Facebook or Instagram accounts you’ll see that they’re totally Ronald-free. This doesn’t mean that Ronald McDonald has been 100 percent erased from the brand. Not yet, anyway. You can still see Ronald McDonald representing the Golden Arches at least one day out of the year. McDonald’s has been flying a giant Ronald McDonald balloon in the parade for years and it continued to do so at the 2019 parade. Ronald’s parade appearance wasn’t exactly smooth sailing, though. Poor Ronald suffered a gash in his leg after being blown into a tree branch. The deflation got so bad that NBC cut away to pre-recorded footage from an old parade to save Ronald the embarrassment. He’ll reportedly be repaired and fly again but for how long is anybody’s guess.
Sources: mashed.