Skip to main content

The History of a Clown


No other fast food mascot comes to mind quicker or is more recognizable than Ronald McDonald. Other than Santa Claus, no other character is more recognized around the world than the hamburger loving spokesman for the McDonalds Corporation.

Ronald McDonald was actually an altered version of Bozo the Clown created by an ad executive and a clown from the Ringling Brothers Circus. One of the early actors to portray Ronald was a part time Bozo performer and NBC Today Show weatherman, Willard Scott. Not only did he give the clown a name, Ronald, he also took a stab at creating the look of Ronald by creating a costume out of a paper cup for a nose and a cardboard tray as a hat. Pathetic? Yes..... yes it was.


Bozo the Clown (R.I.P)

Willard and his recycled Costume



However, although crude, he was responsible for giving the character a personality and help promote the local franchises. Willard was dumped in 1966 when the corporation took Ronald national citing the reason for dumping Willard as he was "too fat"for the roll and didn't give the proper corporate image. Ironic isn't it? McDonalds wasn't really synonymous with health food at the time (or now) so I'm sure Willard had a chuckle over that one.



Renaissance Ronald

The company went back to Ringling Brothers where one of their clowns worked to give Ronald his new look including the now famous white-face, put him in a canary-yellow jumpsuit which he found on a mannequin in a women's clothing store, plus a fire-engine red wig. The new Ronald was introduced to the world on November
25 1966, at the Chicago Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Ronald circa 1971

Ronald circa 1985
By 1971, Ronald had his own kingdom, McDonaldland, and was joined by more odd-ball, burger-headed characters such as Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Sheriff Big Mac and Grimace, a purple milkshake that could talk.

Ronald McDonald has always followed a strict set of secret guidelines that govern how the fast-food icon looks, talks, moves and where and what he can do. To date there have been about nine actors to officially play Ronald on television with many more trained by the company to ensure consistency in mannerisms during local promotions.

Rejected Ronald Update

In 1998, McDonald’s ad agency, Leo Burnett, hired LA stylists to refashion Ronald’s hair again and spent months studying whether to increase the width of the red stripes on his socks. If only they spent that time working on their pizza and McLean Supreme sandwiches, I think we’d have been better off!


Labels:

Comments

Oliver Jones said…

Greetings from Los angeles! I'm bored at work so I decided to browse your site on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the info you provide here and can't wait to take a look when I get home. I'm shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I'm not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, awesome blog! capitalone.com login
October 25, 2017 at 4:06 PM
Unknown said…

I seriously love your blog.. Pleasant colors & theme. Did you build this web site yourself? Please reply back as I'm wanting to create my very own site and would like to learn where you got this from or just what the theme is named. Thanks! yahoo login
May 3, 2018 at 7:16 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Retro '80s Fashion Trends

When you think back to the '80s you will no doubt look back on many things with fond memories and in some ways yearn back to those simpler times. Nothing really defined the '80s as much as the fashion. Some was really good, some - not so much. Here now is a look at some trends you may have forgotten about but likely were into back in the day. Big Hair When I say big, I mean large. Perm, fluff, spray - repeat. Not sure who to thank for this look but most videos from the '80s by female artists were well represented by massive hair. This was a particularly dangerous look if you were a smoker. Rubber Bracelets If you owned a rubber gasket company in the '80s you suddenly had a new demographic besides mechanics and plumbers. Suddenly teenagers everywhere were wearing little black rubber rings as bracelets (thanks Madonna!) and were asking for funky colors besides black (cue the neon again). The more you wore the cooler you looked (and the longer it took you to get ready in t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Retro Arcade Game of the Day - Asteroids

One of the first games to suck the quarters out of my pocket at an alarming rate was the classic Asteroids game. It was one of the first games that let you continue where you left off which usually meant you'd be dead alot quicker the further up the levels you went. Here now for your entertainment and gaming pleasure is the original classic Asteroids. Use the mouse to press START, the arrow keys to move around and SPACE bar to shoot. Keep the quarters in your pocket. arcade games
1 comment
Read more

Steven Tyler Hopes To Walk This Way Soon

Steve Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith was showing his age the other night when he fell off the stage while doing his little dance during a performance at the"Buffalo Chip Campground and Trailer Park" - What the hell did I just type? A campground? My how things change. How do you go from playing the Superbowl to a campground? The 61 year old front man was air lifted to hospital after suffering minor head, neck and shoulder injuries after falling off a catwalk of the stage onto some fans. Back in the day that was called crowd surfing but at 61, that's just falling into a crowd. The clapper can't be too far behind at this point.
1 comment
Read more

Evolution of the Coke Bottle

There is no logo in the world that is more recognizable than the Coca Cola company's flagship product. Coke and its classic bottle design are a symbol known all over the world. It's gotten to the point you don't even need to have the word Coke in an advertisement as long as the distinctive bottle shape is there somewhere in the image. The classic shape has evolved over the last hundred years and has gone from a rather boring square shaped bottle to the curvy silhouette it now maintains. Below is a timeline picture showing the changes over the years . The shape is also responsible for designers of other products to be inspired by the sexy elements of the bottle, most notably  car designers. there are many examples but one of the best is the 1968 Corvette. The evolution of the bottle continues with many commemorative issues produced for various promotions but one of the latest trends was the availability of metal bottles as well.  There is no doubt the bottle will...
Post a Comment
Read more

When Retro and Politics Collide

Arguably one of the most influential Hip-Hop artists to inspire the newer generation of rappers are Run D.M.C. They were credited with bringing rap to the mainstream with their collaboration with Aerosmith and have been honored with numerous accolades including showing up 48th on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest musical artists of all time back in 2004. It seems their influence is still felt to this very day not only in music but politics as well. I seem to recall Obama using the term "It's tricky" a few times in his address yesterday on Healthcare reform. Coincidence !?!? I think not.
Post a Comment
Read more