Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald has a posse. Less than a decade after his conception, McDonald's brand icon was already elevated to such a level of fame that in 1971 he was given a veritable Saturday morning cartoon's-worth of supporting characters, including Grimace and the Hamburglar. Few brand icons reach a level of fame where they earn a cast of friends, but McDonald's mascot has achieved a completely unique cultural status.
Astonishingly, not everyone is born with an immediate and intimate knowledge of Ronald and the company for which he is Chief Happiness Officer, but as one of the world's most pervasive brands, even toddlers seem to be aware of the iconic clown. Ronald.com is McDonald's effort to ensure the just-out-of diapers demographic gets an early education in the Ronald McDonald universe.
Intended for "3 to 7 year old children," Ronald.com is all about positioning the fast food clown as an ambassador of fun and learning. Parents are given an overview of how the site might aid in the child's development, and kids can play Ronald games, create music or even practice their ABCs.
What kids can't do at Ronald.com is learn more about a Big Mac or McNuggets because there's no mention of food anywhere on the site. The only connections to McDonald's Restaurants are a couple of fine-print links that take visitors to the company's corporate page and location finder.
Unfortunately for McDonald's, it's hard to disguise branding as altruism when the following text appears at the top of every page: "Hey kids, this is advertising!" Ronald may mean well, but McDonald's has blown his cover. The iconic clown is really just hanging out online in an effort to make an early connection with tomorrow's french fry consumers.
