The tall and lanky clown that has promoted McDonald’s for 40 years is under fire this week. A watchdog group is planning a protest to encourage the fast food giant to kick Ronald McDonald to the curb.
Corporate Accountability International is behind the campaign, saying the clown promotes unhealthy eating.
Steven Rothschild, a professor at Rush Medical College and a backer of the resolution said, “Through this initiative, the public health community is rallying behind a simple message to McDonald’s: stop making the next generation sick; retire Ronald and the rest of your junk food marketing to kids.”
Some 17 percent of children and adolescents are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Being overweight during childhood raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and a host of other diseases.
McDonald’s stands by their kid friendly icon pointing out restaurants have added healthy choices to the menu, including apple dippers and low-fat milk. Plus Ronald McDonald hasn’t been used in food commercials recently; he is used more as a symbol of the charity Ronald McDonald House.
A McDonald’s rep said, “We are committed to responsible advertising and take our communications to children very seriously. Ronald is an ambassador for good and delivers important messages to kids on safety, literacy and balanced, active lifestyles.”
The company has used Ronald McDonald as a mascot since 1971, making the clown just 40 years old.
McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner says he has received an outpouring of calls and emails from customers encouraging the company to keep the mascot and defend the customer’s right to choose what they want to eat.
Skinner went on to say, “Ronald McDonald does not advertise unhealthy food to children,” he said. “We provide many choices that fit with the balanced, active lifestyle. It is up to them to choose and their parents to choose, and it is their responsibility to do so.”
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