The latest demon of the healthcare world is the fresh face of corporate clown Ronald McDonald, condemned by a 550 person strong mob recently. A wider marketing strategy that covets children’s pocket money has been regularly criticised. This draws significant and disturbing parallels with tobacco advertising. But is it really fair to find parallels between Joe Camel and the smiling face of Ronald McDonald?
The man behind the big M at this moment, Chief Exec Jim Skinner, has been with the company since 1971. He’s the one calling the shots, and forty years of loyalty tell him that Ronald McDonald isn’t going anywhere soon. If we’re honest, happy meals are still a little better for you than take away croydon in practice. But this isn’t to say it’s good for them, is it Jim? The standard happy meal (milk, fries, cheesburger) has blushworthy nutritional information: 26 grams of fat and 640 calories. You’ll also find a whopping 1,040 miligrams of sodium in there. (And hey, the toy probably doesn’t do you kid much good when they start chewing on that).
To be fair to McDonalds, Burger King don’t fare much better. But they’re not quite so actively marketing towards children. Children’s advertising is even something that McDonalds have been retreating from in recent years. One wonders where the extended stable of mascots has got to? Was Mayor McCheese involved in some high profile scandal? Was Grimace beaten to within an inch of his life for looking at someone the wrong way? But Ronald is still there, smiling at us in the advertising. And as much as adults have grown up with the character, he’s a clown, and therefore a children’s symbol. And nobody is trying to push plastic toys on your kids with fattening alternatives like chinese takeaway enfield.
However, as Time opines, phasing out Ronald McDonald won’t have much of an effect. Quite how effective he is as a mascot is open for debate. Even if kids didn’t fear clowns, the 70s values that Ronald represents aren’t effective. And the last thing we want is McDonalds to get wise to this. Ronald McDonald is one of the last truly disingenious things about the McDonalds brand. For the sake of kids everywhere, he should be kept as a warning sign. But there’s still the quality of the food, to defend our children. Given the choice we prefer delivery ealing when it comes to it.
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