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 kids 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. Since August 2003, McDonald has been officially styled as the "Chief Happiness Officer" of the McDonald's Corporation.
Willard Scott The origin of Ronald McDonald involves Willard Scott (at the time, a local radio personality who also played Bozo the Clown on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. from 1959 until 1962), 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.
George Voorhis/Terry Teene George Voorhis was a late 20th-century American performer who performed under various monikers as a clown. He claims to have been the original Ronald McDonald. A 1963 newspaper clipping from the Valley News (a San Fernando Valley newspaper) identifies George Voorhis as Ronald McDonald at a "local McDonald's restaurant". According to George Voorhis and Terry Teene, in the early part of 1963, the pair created the original character and design of American advertising icon Ronald McDonald, including costume (featuring "French-fry bag pockets") and facial design, for a hired performance at a local Los Angeles, California area McDonald's restaurant.
McDonald's version McDonald's does not mention Voorhis or claim that Willard Scott created Ronald in their statement: "The smile known around the world," Ronald McDonald is second only to Santa Claus in terms of recognition. (According to one survey, 96% of all school kids in the United States of America recognize Ronald (stunning-stuff.com)). In his first TV appearance in 1963, the happy clown was portrayed by none other than Willard Scott. 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 (real name Michael Polakovs) 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.
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