No

by Carolyn Teasley

Created on: June 04, 2011

Ronald McDonald has been a beloved mascot for McDonald's since 1963.  This colorful clown has been loved by millions of children throughout the years.  Willard Scott, a Today Show alumni weatherman was said to have created him to replace the character "Bozo the Clown" on a television show that was being retired.  Ronald McDonald has always had a positive image with children.  He is as familiar to them as the big red "K" has been for Kmart.

At the annual shareholders meeting, McDonald's CEO, Jim Skinner, said no to the idea of retiring the Ronald McDonald mascot, when pushed by the Corporate Accountability Internationals negative ads.  Nick Guroff, CAI spokesman, had the group run ads associating the mascot with teaching children bad eating habits.  But Mr. Skinner stated it is by choice of the parents what their children are allowed to eat. (www.forbes.com)

People dress up working full time as Ronald McDonald to make special appearances to children in hospitals.  This is another positive reason not to retire the Ronald McDonald mascot.

Ronald McDonald does not just represent food choices at McDonald's.  Starting back in 1974 the first Ronald McDonald House was built with the help of donations collected by McDonald restaurants.  These houses help families with severely ill children have a place to stay near their children while they are in hospitals for treatment, who would not otherwise be able to affordto stay close by.  From that one house there are now more than three hundred Ronald McDonald Houses nationwide.

McDonalds is not  the only restaurant chain to have a mascot and happy meals with toys.  Some others are Chucky Cheese, Chick-fila, Wendy's and Burger King.  A few years ago Burger King had a big Pokemon kids meal promotion.  The motive of this was to get repeat customers every Friday where the children could socialize and trade different Pokemon characters for ones they needed.  It was a big hit for a short time. So why just pick on Ronald McDonald?

Another positive aspect abount the Ronald McDonald mascot is the web site McDonalds has created online, Ronald.comUSA.  This web site helps children ages 3 to 7 with learning activities.  Playing online helps the children develop their fine motor skills and acclimate themselves to using the computer keyboard and mouse.

In conclusion, it can easily be seen that the Ronald McDonald mascot has a more positive influence on children than negative.  I vote no to the retirement of tne Ronald McDonald mascot. 

References:

http://www.forbes.co m/feedslap/2011/05/1 9/business-specializ ed-consumer-services -us-mcdonaldapos-ann ual-meeting_8475242. html

http://www.ronald.co m.usa 

Learn more about this author, Carolyn Teasley.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.