LeCanadian

Top Menu

  • Login
  • Archives
  • Les Actualités
  • Advertising
  • Sexy Pages
  • Contact Us

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Foodie
  • Headline
  • Health
  • Editorials
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • UFO · Exopolitics
  • City
  • Sexuality
  • Dating
  • Login
  • Archives
  • Les Actualités
  • Advertising
  • Sexy Pages
  • Contact Us

logo

Header Banner

LeCanadian

  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Foodie
  • Headline
  • Health
  • Editorials
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • UFO · Exopolitics
  • City
  • Sexuality
  • Dating
  • Comment gérer un retard de vol ?

  • 5 ways sudoku boosts brain health

  • 10 tips to successfully market your law firm

  • 7 Amazing Gifts for Kids Who Like to Cook

  • Make Mortgage Overpayments Work for You

Business
Home›Business›Ronald McDonald’s Low Profile Predates Creepy Clown Incidents

Ronald McDonald’s Low Profile Predates Creepy Clown Incidents

By admin
October 18, 2016
1792
0
Share:

CHICAGO —Ronald. Paging Ronald. Are you there, Ronald?

McDonald’s said Tuesday that its trusty clown mascot Ronald McDonald is taking a hiatus in response to a rash of creepy clown sightings across the U.S. and even across the pond. But he was keeping a low profile long before that.

Ronald McDonald has his own Twitter account, but he hasn’t had anything to say, and his role in the chain’s advertisements has been diminished in recent years. The last time Ronald McDonald made news in a big way was in 2014, when he underwent his first makeover in nearly a decade.

The red-haired ambassador has been working less in recent years as a growing cacophony of parents and educators resists the idea of a happy clown marketing burgers, chicken nuggets and french fries to kids.

Several organizations, including frequent critic Corporate Accountability International, have urged the company to push Ronald into permanent retirement. The Boston-based watchdog has been aggressively targeting McDonald’s and its marketing to kids since 2010. Representatives of the organization have appeared at McDonald’s annual shareholder meetings every year since, urging the corporation to stop using Ronald McDonald, calling him the “Joe Camel” of fast food.

Sriram Madhusoodanan a director at Corporate Accountability International, agrees that for the past few years, Ronald McDonald has been in the back seat.

“While they’ll publicly defend him on the stage of shareholder meetings, there’s clearly been a quiet pulling back of Ronald,” Madhusoodanan said.

The world’s largest burger chain, meanwhile, has ignored the group’s calls to retire Ronald McDonald and insists it is not engaging in so-called “predatory marketing” to children. In past years, former CEO Don Thompson responded to angry parents, health professionals and activists at McDonald’s annual meetings by noting that Ronald primarily serves as a charity ambassador and by appearing —not eating —at children’s birthday parties.

“You don’t see Ronald McDonald eating food,” Thompson said in May 2014, adding that Ronald McDonald is rarely in schools or restaurants. Weeks earlier, the company, headquartered in suburban Chicago, introduced a new, more modern Ronald McDonald —his first makeover in almost a decade. That year, he bid adieu to his baggy jumpsuit and replaced it with slim cargo pants and a vest, with a red blazer and bow tie for special occasions. The makeover was announced in the midst of a months-long sales slump that would continue for months after and eventually lead to Thompson’s ouster.

It was also in 2014 that Ronald took his big leap into social media, with the hashtag #RonaldMcDonald. There is a Twitter account secured for him, but it is inactive. And he hasn’t taken a larger role in marketing campaigns as was promised at the time. Ronald does seem to be a fan of Instagram, though, posting about 260 pictures of his adventures over the past two years.

When questioned at this year’s annual meeting, current CEO Steve Easterbrook reiterated his predecessor’s stance:

“Ronald’s here to stay,” he said.

And on Wednesday, McDonald’s said Ronald’s public schedule —outside of the recent creepy clown concerns —hasn’t been scaled back.

“Nothing has changed in regards to his public appearances over recent years except for his actual appearance,” spokeswoman Terri Hickey said in a statement. “As he has for decades, Ronald McDonald continues to be an active ambassador for McDonald’s, representing the fun and happiness of our brand. He appears at our restaurants and other community events when invited to spread messages on important topics such as safety, literacy, anti-bullying and the importance of physical activity.”

Madhusoodanan suggested that the clown controversy may be an opportunity for Ronald to pull back further without much notice.

“It just seems like this is the time for McDonald’s to heed the call to have Ronald hang up its clown shoes once and for all,” he said.

Read More..

Post Views: 1,886
Previous Article

Philippine Airlines to buy Bombardier’s Q400

Next Article

Toronto City Council Takes First Step Towards ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Business

    Senate Republican Leader Urges Trump to Back Keystone XL Pipeline

    November 13, 2016
    By admin
  • Business

    IMF Lowers Canadian Economic Growth Outlook as U.S. Recovery Misses Expectations

    October 5, 2016
    By admin
  • Business

    More than a third of Quebec construction workers quit within five years: report

    March 30, 2021
    By admin
  • Business

    Will Disney-branded Produce Convince Kids to Eat Vegetables?

    October 19, 2016
    By admin
  • Business

    Jolly Green Giant Returns with Cinematic ad Campaign

    December 5, 2016
    By admin
  • Business

    Understanding the Latest Trends in Mobile Application Development

    November 18, 2017
    By admin

Featured Petition

  • Bell Baker’s John Summers – Stop a Crime Against Humanity – What would his Mother think?
  • John E Summers: Ottawa Lawyer Attacks Motherhood and Civil Rights – Support His Disbarment
  • Stop Ottawa Lawyer John Summers’, Marcella Carby-Samuels’ & David Tenenbaum’s Ab
  • Week
  • Month

Week

Sorry. No data so far.

Month

Sorry. No data so far.

Popular on The Le Canadian

  1. AgoraCosmopolitan
  2. Agora Publishing Consortium
  3. Le Journal Canadien
  4. Dominion: Food News
  5. LeCanadian.com
  6. The Ottawa Star
  7. Capitalistocracy.com
  8. Agora Books Author House
  9. First Nations Press
  10. The Etiquette Show
  11. Ontario People's Front





Mark's



Recent Posts

  • Comment gérer un retard de vol ?
  • 5 ways sudoku boosts brain health
  • 10 tips to successfully market your law firm
  • 7 Amazing Gifts for Kids Who Like to Cook
  • Make Mortgage Overpayments Work for You
  • Son shares warning for immunocompromised after fully-vaccinated Tampa Bay dad dies from COVID-19
  • Catching Covid-19 after being vaccinated isn’t a myth. It happened to me
  • My COVID Story: “I got COVID after being fully vaccinated”
  • Albertans fully vaccinated for COVID-19 urged to stay cautious during pandemic’s 4th wave
  • I got the vaccine – and then I got Covid: Readers share their stories

Most Viewed Posts

No Posts found

Visitors

  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Foodie
  • Headline
  • Health
  • Editorials
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • UFO · Exopolitics
  • City
  • Sexuality
  • Dating