Saturday morning TV will certainly be different in the future if a group called Corporate Accountability International has its way. They’ve asked McDonald’s Corporation to retire Ronald McDonald as the company’s pitchman. I, for one, hope that McDonald’s doesn’t cave in to this pressure.
I don’t defend Ronald McDonald as a corporate mascot no more than I’d defend the Gecko as a mascot of GEICO Insurance. But Ronald McDonald is no Joe Camel and that, to me, is a huge difference. Joe Camel was a R.J. Reynolds’ tobacco company marketing campaign which was, despite the company’s denials, aimed at showing kids how cool it was to smoke. Joe Camel was retired in 1997 because of the work Corporate Accountability 
International did. I applaud them for that, but Ronald McDonald is not the right target for them.
Ronald McDonald was created to market hamburgers to kids. There is no denying that. He has been a part of the American culture for almost 50 years. And over that fifty year period, the marketing has changed. Initially the focus was on a goofy clown who protected McDonaldland from the likes of the Hamburglar. Now active kids interacting with a smiling and athletic Ronald is the current commercial’s focus. The meal the kids eat in the commercials are a chicken snack wrap, apples and chocolate milk. On the whole that would seem to be a relative healthy meal.
But Ronald McDonald is not responsible for obese children as Corporate Accountability International alleges. Can someone overeat at McDonald’s? Sure they can. You can over eat at the finest steak house, too. Parent’s are responsible for determining what their children eat and for setting them up with good lifetime eating habits. A McDonald’s Happy Meal can be part of a child’s good diet in appropriate moderation. Ronald McDonald shows both the child and the parent that McDonald’s is a child friendly place. But it is up to the parent to set the menu for their children, not McDonald’s or their mascot. And forcing Ronald McDonald out will not change the obesity problems facing the next generation.
So, hang in there Ronald. I’m pulling for you. It’s not your fault. Read additional background on this story here.