High Public Approval for Ronald Retiring
Today, Ronald is as recognizable to children as Santa Claus.The honor owes to the corporation’s getting in on the ground floor of the craze to market to children, children’s marketing budgets that dwarf the competition, and the clever insertion of the clown into every aspect of childhood.
That adds up to a cross-generational familiarity like no other and translates, generally speaking, into a favorable opinion of the “hamburger-happy” clown. According to a 2010 poll by Corporate Accountability International, conducted by Lake Research Partners:
- Roughly two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans have a favorable impression of the clown (25 percent very favorable, 39 percent somewhat favorable, 14 percent unfavorable).∗
- 65 percent of Americans also have a favorable opinion of the corporation (22 percent unfavorable). Not surprisingly, given the close and deliberate link between Ronald and the McDonald’s brand at large.
- Interestingly, only 17 percent have a “very favorable” opinion of McDonald’s at large, while 48 percent have a “somewhat favorable” opinion of the burger giant.
These findings appear to confirm the value of having a clown entitled “Chief Happiness Officer” as the corporation’s spokesperson: it softens and personalizes the image of a burger chain founded on the principles of the assembly line and 20th century mass production.
But even the corporation’s principle salesperson has difficulty translating the totality of his appeal into the chain he promotes:
Though the clown is well-liked, 52 percent of Americans “favor stopping corporations from using cartoons and other children’s characters to sell harmful products to children.” And even among those with a favorable impression of Ronald, about half (46 percent) actually support retiring him. And among parents with children under 18 who have a favorable impression of Ronald or the McDonald’s Corporation, fully half (50 percent) support Ronald’s exit to the nearest retirement home.
As public consciousness about the links between fast food marketing and the epidemic of diet-related disease continues to mount, the numbers supporting Ronald’s retirement promises only to climb.