Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food
restaurant chain. In television commercials, the clown inhabits a fantasy world called
McDonaldland, and has adventures with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace,
Birdie the Early Bird, and The Fry Kids. In recent years, McDonaldland has been largely
phased out, and Ronald is instead shown interacting with normal children in their everyday lives.
Many people work full-time making appearances in the Ronald McDonald costume, visiting children
in hospitals, and attending regular events. There are also Ronald McDonald Houses, where
parents can stay overnight when visiting sick children in nearby chronic care facilities.
History Willard Scott
The origin of Ronald McDonald involves Willard Scott, who performed using the moniker "Ronald
McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown" in 1963 on three separate television spots. These
were the first three television ads featuring the character.
Scott, who went on to become NBC-TV's Today Show weatherman, claims to have "created Ronald
McDonald" according to the following excerpt from his book Joy of Living:
At the time, Bozo was the hottest children's show on the air. You could probably have sent
Pluto the Dog or Dumbo the Elephant over and it would have been equally as successful.
But I was there, and I was Bozo ... There was something about the combination of hamburgers
and Bozo that was irresistible to kids ... That's why when Bozo went off the air a few
years later, the local McDonald's people asked me to come up with a new character to take
Bozo's place. So, I sat down and created Ronald McDonald.
McDonald's version
McDonald's does not mention Voorhis or claim that Willard Scott created Ronald in their
statement: On March 28, 2000, Henry Gonzalez, McDonald's
Northeast Division President, thanked Scott for creating Ronald McDonald, during a taped
tribute to Scott on the Today Show. In 1965, Roy Burgold assigned Aye Jaye as
Boss Clown worldwide in charge of hiring, writing, creating shows, media handling, training,
and major events such as The White House appearances, Macy Days, etc., and finally opening Ronald
worldwide for 35 years. Aye Jaye was responsible for the hiring of hundreds of past field Ronalds.
Circus performer Coco the Clown was hired in 1966 to revamp Ronald's image, and it was
he who created the now familiar costume and make-up.
In 2010, the Corporate Accountability International in Boston, Massachusetts suggested Ronald
McDonald should retire due to childhood obesity, however McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner said there
are no plans to retire Ronald McDonald. In April 2011, McDonald's announced that Ronald
McDonald will re-appear in their commercials. However, Ace Metrix says Ronald McDonald ads
are no longer effective. On May 18, 2011, Corporate Accountability International renewed
their call to retire Ronald McDonald, by running ads in major newspapers and launching several
web pages dedicated to the retirement of the character. However McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner
defended Ronald McDonald by saying that he is an ambassador for good and "it's all about
choice". Shortly after McDonald's Website News Statements announced that Ronald McDonald
is here to stay. In April 2014, McDonald's announced that Ronald McDonald will have a
whole new look and new outfits. They also announced that he will be back in their new
commercials as well as on social media sites like Twitter. As part of Ronald's makeover,
his jumpsuit has been dropped in favor of yellow cargo pants, a vest and a red-and-white
striped rugby shirt. His classic clown shoes remain part of the official uniform.
Actors
At any given time, there are dozens to hundreds of actors retained by McDonald's to appear
as Ronald McDonald in restaurants and events. It is assumed, however, that the company uses
only one actor at a time to play the character in national television commercials. Following
is a list of such primary Ronald actors. Willard Scott
Bev Bergeron George Voorhis
Ray Rayner King Moody
Squire Fridell Jack Doepke
Joe Maggard Brad Lennon
Various forms of the name "Ronald McDonald" as well as costume clown face persona, etc.
are registered trademarks of McDonald's. McDonald's trains performers to portray Ronald using
identical mannerisms and costume, to contribute to the illusion that they are one character.
McDonald's marketing designers and stylists changed elements of the Ronald McDonald character,
persona, style, costume and clown face when they adopted the clown as a trademark.
Licensed works Charlton Comics obtained the license to publish
four issues of a Ronald comic sold on newsstands in 1970–1971. Also, over the years several
giveaway comics have been produced starring the character.
Ronald appears in the 1984 Little Golden Book Ronald McDonald and the Tale of the Talking
Plant, written by John Albano and drawn by John Costanza.
He appears for a few seconds in Mac and Me, during a birthday scene set at a McDonald's.
Animated video series
The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald was a series of retail animated direct-to-video
features produced by the ka-chew! division of Klasky-Csupo for the McDonald's fast-food
restaurant chain. A total of six 40-minute tapes were produced, released at various times
between 1998 and 2003. Ronald McDonald is also the subject of a video
game developed by Sega, and released in Japan in 1994.
International localization
In Thailand, Ronald McDonald greets people in the traditional Thai "wai" greeting gesture
of both hands pressed together. The Thai version of the company mascot was created in 2002
by the local Thai franchise, McThai, as part of a "McThai in the Thai Spirit" campaign.
The figure has also been exported to India and other countries where a similar gesture
is used. In Japan, Ronald McDonald is called Donald McDonald due to a lack of a clear "r"
sound in Japanese. A pair of McDonald's advertisements for the Tomato McGrand in Japan feature either
a "sexy" male and female, both dressed in modern clothing with the Ronald McDonald color
scheme. References
Further reading Schlosser, E. Chew on this: everything you
don’t want to know about fast food. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.
External links Ronald.com — the official website