On TV
During the nationwide Where’s Ronald search people spied the clown during Saturday morning cartoons and other prime-time viewing hours for children, making an activity that should be harmless and fun for children another realm for parents to police.
In addition to getting the McDonald’s brand in front of kids during these times, a bulk of the corporation’s advertising aims to entice children to visit restaurants with the cross-over appeal of the movies, games, music and toys kids like and want most…or simply have the greatest familiarity with – familiarity that generally results from supersized expenditures on marketing.
Recent promotions surrounding animated films "Shrek Forever After," "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" are but a sampling of the film releases and merchandising McDonald’s capitalized on to further incentivize children to frequent its franchises. In 2009, McDonald’s also celebrated 30 years of Happy Meals with its fifth Beanie Babies promotion.
And lest you think Ronald only partners with fictional characters in his television promotions, there are also marketing campaigns involving pop icons that are geared for a slightly older crowd, namely ‘tweens.’ Of the celebrity spokespeople, Justin Timberlake may be the most notable, because he also sold his 2003 single “I’m lovin’ it” to McDonald’s to use in its advertising campaign of the same name.
Unfortunately, the inundation of cross-promotional images, products, and celebrity endorsements leaves children with more than just stars in their eyes. The marketing can have a profound impact on children’s brand preferences and inclination to eat unhealthy food – issues we explore further in the section Putting Ronald on Kid’s Brains, Past Parents.
There’s a reason why McDonald’s and other junk food purveyors dedicate so much of their ad budget to television advertising. It reaches a vast audience and it’s effective.
Today the average American child views 40,000 commercials in a year, half of which are for junk food. Parents could just turn the TV off, but that wouldn’t prevent Ronald from reaching children through other mediums…like the internet.