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Where's Ronald? Photo:
permanently scatterbrained, Flickr.
Corporate Accountability International, a watchdog organization based in Boston, claims that through television commercials and by appearing at schools, libraries, hospitals and McDonald's restaurants, Ronald is marketing directly to impressionable children. The result they say contributes to diet-related diseases like obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
As part of a larger initiative to fight fast-food marketing aimed at kids, the organization has started the "Where's Ronald" initiative, a Ronald McDonald scavenger hunt in which activists track down the clown by photographing or videotaping him at public appearances.
"We need your help to expose the near ubiquity of the clown and the ways it is used to hook our kids on food that makes them sick," CAI says. The grand prize? A gift certificate to a "sustainable, healthy restaurant near the winning participant's home."
"Ronald McDonald is not used to directly promote our food, neither in advertising or personal appearances," McDonald's said in a statement to Slashfood. "We have a special relationship with children and the quality and great taste of our food play a major role in why families choose McDonald's."
McDonald's did not respond directly to questions about the Where's Ronald campaign, which the CAI hopes will shame the fast-food giant into curtailing, or someday eliminating, the clown's role in selling burgers and fries to kids.
"Outside of Santa Claus, Ronald McDonald is the most recognizable character in the world for children," says T.J. Faircloth, the group's research director. "He's very important to their business of building brand loyalty for unhealthy products. We wanted to raise awareness in a creative way and put pressure on McDonald's to change their marketing practices."
The organization provides the anti-Ronald activists with a "Where's Ronald" action guide, a seven-page manifesto that suggests they "recruit and train between one and five volunteers to help scout and document Ronald sightings." (Sightings can include internet screen-grabs and television commercials.)
The "Where's Ronald" hunt will last at least several months and the participant who documents the most Ronald sightings will win the gift certificate and other still-to-be determined prizes (though Big Macs are definitely out), Faircloth says.
CAI employees documented a recent appearance by Ronald at a McDonald's in Middletown, Mass., where the seemingly benign clown was greeting children and giving them stickers and puzzles or "Ronald paraphernalia" as Faircloth calls it. They were told that he was in town for several appearances at local schools as part of an anti-bullying program. And four years ago, McDonald's declared Ronald a 'health ambassador" to promote school fitness in elementary schools.
Libraries throughout the country frequently invite Ronald McDonald to make appearances because he generates such strong interest in childhood reading. After an appearance last August at the Harris County Library in San Jacinto, Texas, Circulation Assistant Hugo Ortega wrote on the library blog, "The children smiled and laughed as he performed one goofy act after another. The parents attending ... joined their children in their amusement of the beloved mascot."
And Ronald McDonald House offers sick and injured children and their families free lodging and social services while they're being treated at out-of town hospitals. Faircloth calls Ronald's promotion of reading and fitness part of McDonald's "nutriwash" of its unhealthy image.
"Ronald is literally everywhere," Faircloth says. "They say he's not actively promoting fast food. But he represents a brand that's inherently unhealthy. Is it time to retire Ronald? That's certainly the direction our members are pushing us."
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11-18-2009 @7:59PM Lisa said... Bahahah! My son has no idea who Ronald McDonald is. We eat at McDonald's weekly. We have tea, apple dippers, breakfast burritos, cheeseburgers, and chicken nuggets. It has nothing to do with lazy, but we like to go out for treats. We also play a lot, and I go to the gym. When we're not eating out, we're eating oatmeal and fruit, whole grain sandwiches, and made from scratch meals that include veggies and lean meats. We rarely have junk food in our house. People need to stop playing the blame game and take responsibility for their own actions.
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11-18-2009 @8:00PM kathi parlier said... If parents would cook once in a while instead of taking the kids to Mcdonalds then we would not have all these fat people trying to sue mcdonalds for makin them fat... Parents need to only take kids to MCds for special treats. same as cooking at home. make healtly meeals a few times a week. Us parents are the ones who buy this junk for the kids. Just limit their junk food intake and leave ronald out of it. same applies for all fast food places...Enjoy now and then and fix more meals at home. and enjoy family time togather...
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11-18-2009 @8:01PM Emania81 said... Got to hand it to the idiots at the CAI for demonizing a clown mascot for a popular fast food place. As for their reasons for not being down with that clown, another favorite clown of mine, & you probably know him as the Joker. Both him & I have this to say about their pathetic clown hunt: LOEL (laughing out extremely loud).
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11-18-2009 @8:39PM WILL said... WHAT A BUNCH OF FAR LEFT LOONS
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11-18-2009 @9:27PM Leila said... It's about time someone started to work on this issue. I know so many sensible parents who try to steer their kids away from fast food, but it's absolutely impossible! McDonald's markets to children so skillfully that already, by the age of 2, kids are obsessed with the idea of the clown's Happy Meals instead of mom and dad's nice home cooked meals. Why has this happened? Well, for one, fast food chains have strategically located themselves near schools. For two, as this "Where's Ronald" campaign shows, the clown is marketing everywhere kids go! It's outrageous. I think it is high time we retire the clown.
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11-18-2009 @9:56PM Christina said... The members of CAI are morons. They could kill McDonald's with this. I use to work for McD's. I even went with Ronald and helped him at one of his events. He does soooooooo much for the community-as this has stated. Ronald doesn't promote unhealthy living or lifestyles-it's parents. I hate when groups like CAI come along and try saying stuff like that. It always comes down to parenting. So what if the kids are impressionable- who buys their kids meals? That's right, the parents. So it's on them if they can't tell their kids "No" or if they're too lazy to cook them a real meal. Oh, and also, hasn't McDonald's made efforts to make their kids meals healthier? Better chicken, apples, milk, juice, etc. have all been added to their menu and have been there a while. So I really don't see why this group is going to get on their case when there are sooooooooo many other worse places for kids and other consumers.
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11-19-2009 @9:58AM Harris said... Yes, parents play a role, but it's hard to blame them when their kids are targeted by millions of ads each year; TV, video games, websites, even text messages. How can we place the blame of unhealthy eating- which does lead to nasty diet related diseases which are shortening the lives of our children- on parents when kids are exposed to this type of exploitative marketing that bypasses any kind of parental control.
Couple that with another insidious McDonald's marketing practice of siting restaurants near schools, and the parents don't even have a chance. McDonald's has purposely placed restaurants so kids will have to walk past them on their way to school, often skipping lunch and saving their money to buy the aforementioned "better chicken" which when placed on a salad has more calories than a greasy big mac!
So you see, it's not just the fault of "lazy parents." It's time that these peddler's of diabetes and heart disease take some responsibility.
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11-19-2009 @10:01AM Adi said... Thank you for posting this article. While I do agree with many responders that personal and parental responsibility are major contributors to the diabetes and obesity epidemics in our country, we shouldn't let corporate citizens off the hook either.
I remember growing up at a time when there was a backlash against the Marlboro Man and Joe Camel. I realized then that tobacco companies were trying to hook me - to get me to recognize and associate with their brand. What I think is getting lost in this discussion is that McDonald's isn't necessarily trying to take the money from kids, but instead are cultivating customers for life. If a person trusts and turns to McDonald's when he/she is 2, 5, or 11, they are much more likely to do the same in their teens, 20s and beyond. That's the plan that McDonald's begins with their child-directed marketing, and that's how they are hooking people on dangerously unhealthy food for life.
Kudos to CAI for taking on this threat to the health of our kids and our future!
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11-19-2009 @10:57AM Beth said... I am so glad to see that finally someone is taking on McDonalds' commercial enterprise. Yes, personal choice and parental responsibility are key factors in preventing a child's consumption of unhealthy food, but Ronald deserves a majority of the blame. How can a parent compete with the billions of dollars McDonald's spends on marketing each year? Especially when most of that marketing occurs outside the purview of parental control (in schools, for example)?
Furthermore, in many low-income communities, fast food restaurants are more readily available than grocery stores. What is a parent to do then? McDonalds has been a primary contributor in the degradation of our food system, the cheapening of unhealthy "foods" such as high fructose corn syrup, and is one of the top buyers of factory-farmed meat in the country. Hardly the "friendly" clown children meet in hospitals, at the zoo, or in their schools. Children should not be raised thinking that McDonalds is in any way wholesome, healthy, or fun.
It is high time that McDonalds takes responsibility for turning kids into life-long junk food addicts, and for promoting a food system that is utterly unsustainable. Thanks for taking on a pernicious industry giant, Corporate Accountability International!
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11-20-2009 @5:14PM Ginger said... OMFG, go get laid and eat a burger or something. From your article:
And Ronald McDonald House offers sick and injured children and their families free lodging and social services while they're being treated at out-of town hospitals.
OH, THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't imagine anything more dangerous to American kids. Sounds pretty evil to me. OMFG, do the rest of us who have lives a favor and go get laid and eat a burger or something.
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11-30-2009 @11:36AM Lydia said... I think I have enjoyed reading these comments about Ronald more than the article about him.
I find it fascinating how upset have become over the prospect of taking away Ronald McDonald. He is not a real person. The only thing he is, is a marketing ploy to hook consumers at a very young age into purchasing a harmful product. This sounds much like another character that was taken down: Joe the Camel.
Ronald has not made McDonalds any healthier. The apple dippers people keep mentioning are served with caramel, the milk I'm sure has BGH and the chicken nuggets are made from low quality meat.
I feel just fine about taking down the clown.
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