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Iconic mascot is redeployed to tout fit lifestyle to youth, but is it an 'overcorrection'?
IN HIS 42 YEARS, Ronald McDonald has played many roles from burger pitchman to parade grand marshal to child role model. He's been the walking, talking embodiment of youthful play and fun for Brand McDonald's.
But playtime is over. As McDonald's Corp. faces increasing scrutiny over child obesity, it has done what it's always done: send in the clowns, albeit this time more physically fit ones.
The brand mascot that began as the "newest, silliest and hamburger-eatingest clown" was remade last month as the "global ambassador of fun, fitness and children's well-being."
Admittedly, this isn't the first time Ronald has evolved with the market. For years, McDonald's has wanted to tap the power of Ronald's equity and broaden his appeal. Yet this current transition that has Ronald touting health instead of hamburgers to youth of all ages morphs AdvertisingAge's second-greatest ad icon of the 20th century from kid entertainer to a corporate mouthpiece for the societal issue du jour.
And many Ronald watchers feel the clown has been seriously miscast.
"Ronald was created as McDonald's symbol to children, and everything good that was built up around Ronald was for kids. Once you start making a character for adults [in addition to children], kids by definition won't like him as much," warns Roy Bergold, the former McDonald's VP-chief creative officer who supervised the Ronald program for 30 years. He adds: "Trying to take a character firmly ingrained with 0-to-7-year-olds and make him appeal to the 11-year-old or the 22-year-old is nuts."
Mr. Bergold admits he hasn't read the...