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  • 8/4/2019 Retire Ronald Expose

    1/32

    Clowning With Kids Health

    tHe CaSe for

    ronalD MCDonalDSretireMent

    www.rrd.g

    Brought To You By:

    and its campaign

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    2/32

    Table o Contents

    Foreword ....................................................................................... P 1

    IntroductIon ................................................................................. P 2

    ronald Mcdonald: a retrosPectIve .......................................... P 4

    Bi pii mki ki ................................................ P 5

    c ........................................................................ P 6

    wheres ronald? ........................................................................... P 7

    w i ami f?.................................................................... P 8

    ci .................................................................... P 8

    Mspi ti .................................................................... P 10

    t Ii r MJk .................................................................... P 11Pii i b ................................................... P 12

    tki b.............................................................................. P 13

    t Mw wi wb ....................................................................... P 14

    PuttIng ronald on KIds BraIns, Past Parents ......................... P 15

    t p i b i ki .......................................... P 16

    rbi r .................................................................... P 17

    t p p............................................................................ P 17

    gi kp (: p) ...................................... P 18

    caMels, clowns and cartoon characters ............................... P 19

    ronald: on the eve oF retIreMent ............................................. P 20

    ronald, BehInd the MaKe-uP: Food systeM IndustrIalIst ....... P 21

    ronald the retIree....................................................................... P 22

    a pp im r.............................................................. P 23

    w bi r i ........................................ P 23

    aBout us ......................................................................................... P 24

    value [the] Meal advIsory Board ............................................... P 24

    acKnowledgeMents ...................................................................... P 25

    endnotes ........................................................................................ P 26

    P ci.................................................................................... P 28

    P ci timi.................................................................... P 28

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    3/32The Case for Ronald McDonalds Retirement

    Foreword by Michele Simon

    Author o Appetite or Proft: How the Food Industry Undermines

    Our Health and How to Fight Back

    To most children, Ronald McDonald is the very embodiment o

    McDonalds. But Ronald McDonald is ar rom an innocent clown.

    Rather, as this stunning report reveals, the character is the product o a

    well-orchestrated and shrewd marketing strategy by Americas king o

    ast ood. By connecting its corporate image to a un-loving clown,

    McDonalds gains a tremendous amount o positive public relations. And

    what better way to bypass parents and market directly to children thanthrough a clown the icon o circuses and childrens parties.

    But most children have never heard o public relations and dont even

    have the capacity to understand what marketing is all about. Instead,

    childrens lives are guided by un and emotional attachment. Thats why

    they are the most vulnerable to the marketing strategies o a character

    like Ronald McDonald.

    In addition to the unorgivable exploitation o children there is the manner in which clown imagery

    masks the true ace o McDonalds operations. Far rom being happy meals, McDonalds ood is

    responsible or such social ills as heart disease, diabetes, animal welare abuses, labor exploitation,unceasing environmental destruction, and the breakdown o our ood system.

    What about the parents? I hear this rerain all too oten. Ater all, kids

    dont drive themselves to McDonalds or purchase those Happy Meals

    themselves. But any parent can tell you how dicult it is, ater a long

    day at work, to resist the daily pestering by their children to take them to

    McDonalds. What parent hasnt driven past a McDonalds and heard the

    whining rom the back seat? Who doesnt know a child bent on collecting

    Happy Meal toys or visiting the playground McDonalds so cleverly places

    on much o its property?

    Its not just the nag actor, which is the practice the advertising

    industry invented to get kids to nag their parents or all sorts o

    products, including junk ood. What McDonalds multi-billion dollar

    marketing machine represents is a undamental restructuring o

    the amily dynamic. Every time a parent has to say no to a child, its

    another let down, another way that a parent has to eel bad about not

    making that child happy. Its yet one more way Corporate America

    Ronald visits Calverton Elementary inBeltsville, Maryland. School presentationsare but one way Ronald slips past parents tomarket directly to children.

    Ronald reads to kids at Inglenook Library inBirmingham, Alabama. What may seem likcorporate social responsibility is really justbranding by another name.

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    has insinuated its way into the lives o children to make profts, even

    i it undermines parental values.

    Even more insidious is how these very same corporations deend their

    alleged right to advertising by wrapping themselves in the United States

    Constitution. Free speech, they claim, is what allows them to advertise

    wherever, whenever, and to whomever they please. But thats not whatthe First Amendment says at all. Free speech is a concept intended to

    protect the American people rom the excesses o government, to allow

    individuals to speak out. It was never intended to protect corporate

    advertising. Even in the modern interpretation o commercial speech,

    the Supreme Court has upheld reasonable restrictions on corporate

    advertising, especially to protect children, the most vulnerable

    o Americans.

    Moreover, parents have a right to raise their children in a sae environment, without constantly

    worrying about predatory corporate marketing. And children have the right not to be preyed upon

    by a clown with a corporate agenda.

    Its time to send Ronald McDonald to join Joe Camel in the retirement home o marketing icons,

    where he hopeully will never be heard rom again.

    An IntroductIon

    In 1963, the McDonalds Corporation unveiled a clown with hamburger bun-shaped shoes and a

    ood tray hat that has since prooundly shaped advertising, eating habits, and the global ood system.

    Never beore had a corporation so sharply ocused its marketing beyond

    (and around) those with the purse on those with the greatest pull on the

    purse strings. The strategy was simple and ingenious: build brand loyalty

    among children and you will have customers or lie.

    Today, there is scarcely a child who doesnt recognize Ronald McDonald

    nor a parent who hasnt been nagged to visit the Golden Arches. The

    use o the iconic clown has propelled McDonalds growth into an

    international ast ood juggernaut.

    The problem is the clowns success can now be measured in staggering

    rates o diet-related disease. Since Ronalds conception, obesity rates

    have more than tripled among American children. The prevalence o

    diet-related conditions like type 2 diabetes has similarly skyrocketed.

    In addition, McDonalds dependence on enormous quantities o cheap,

    consistent ingredients has undamentally reshaped our entire ood system.

    But McDonalds is loath to take responsibility, leaning on a series o

    age-old public relations myths, namely that the corporation just gives

    consumers what they demand. Its as i the corporations billion dollar

    Ronald with kids in Minnesota, buildingbrand loyalty among children rom a very

    young age.

    Ronald and a child at a store opening inMiddleton, Massachusetts. Toddlers suchas this little girl are unable to dierentiateadvertising rom reality until they aremuch older.

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    5/32The Case for Ronald McDonalds Retirement

    marketing budget wasnt aimed at infuencing and creating that demand, especially among those

    most vulnerable to the manipulations o marketing: children.

    It has been previously reported that about 40 percent o McDonalds

    advertising expenditures are spent marketing directly to children.1

    This percentage spikes signicantly when you include the dollars

    spent convincing gatekeepers (a term McDonalds executives useto describe parents) that McDonalds ast ood isnt so bad or kids.

    It may be one thing or an adult to judge the sales pitch against the

    science, but children do not understand the persuasive intent o

    advertisements. Brand loyalties can also orm at a very young age

    and persist through adulthood.

    Thats a major reason why, while most Americans have a avorable

    impression o McDonalds and its corporate mascot, about hal avor

    retiring Ronald. It wouldnt be the rst time a global corporation

    gave its controversial namesake a rest either by orce o publicpressure and/or moral compunction.

    Until that time, he will remain the ace and a driving orce behind an epidemic o obesity and

    diet-related disease that costs well over $147 billion a year in the U.S. alone. 2

    So ar, rather than let Ronald rest, McDonalds spin doctors have instead aimed, ironically, to make

    the clown the ace o something else: health and well-being. As history demonstrates, Ronald has no

    diculty speaking out o both sides o his mouth.

    McDonalds ormer CEO Fred Turner once explained, the corporation got into charity or very

    selsh reasons. It was probably 99 percent commercial. It was an inexpensive and imaginative

    way o getting your name beore the public and building a reputation to oset the image o selling15-cent hamburgers.3

    In other words, or McDonalds, corporate social responsibility is just branding and marketing

    by another name. Sending Ronald to schools as a health ambassador is a means o building brand

    trust among parents by alleviating their concerns about McDonalds products. And or all the talk

    o health and healthy choices, like chocolate milk and apple slices in caramel dipping sauce, all the

    promotions aim to bolster sales o McDonalds bread and butter: its burgers, ries and soda.

    Well its time the huckstering was reserved or talent night at the retirement home. I Ronald

    continues at the job hes been doing the joke will be on the health o uture generations.

    Clowning With Kids Healthpi i m ii p b lk

    r P ami i i m izb mmi i. I

    i ii p j r i

    bi mk i. t pi bkp i r

    bik im, Clowning With Kids Healthm i

    p bi .

    Without urther ado, we give you Ronald McDonald.

    Publi opii f ral

    % of peoplewho favor

    retiring Ronald

    % of peoplewho strongly

    favor retiringRonald

    0

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    32%

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    ronAld McdonAld: A retrosPectIve

    Here I am kids. Hey, isnt watching TV un? Especially

    when you got delicious McDonalds hamburgers. I know

    were going to be riends too cause I like to do everythingboys and girls like to do. Especially when it comes to

    eating those delicious McDonalds hamburgers.

    -ra Mda, m i f ii mmia4

    The era in which Ronald McDonald was conceived was a simpler time. The clown marketed attyburgers and ries directly to kids without repercussion, and seemed to have a ball doing it.

    McDonalds Corporation Founder Ray Kroc spoke plainly about why marketing to kids made

    business sense, a child who loves our TV commercials and brings her grandparents to aMcDonalds gives us two more customers.5

    But today things arent so simple. Most Americans dont think its right to use cartoon andchildrens characters like Ronald to sell a harmul product like McDonalds burgers.6 So CEOJim Skinner has attempted to rewrite history claiming, Ronald has never sold ood to kids in thehistory o his existence.7

    The public is also getting wise to why Ronald hasreinvented himsel more times than Madonna andmaintained a ever pitched schedule o parties,

    speaking engagements, and commercials (hint: its notto trim Americas waistline). The trend has even theVice President or Marketing Greg Watson longing orsimpler times.

    We have Ronald doing all sorts o thingswe wantto simpliy that and not burden him with too manyother assignments making him a spokesperson ornutrition, making him a spokesperson or too manyother things, said Watson recently. I think it takesaway rom the magic and joy that Ronalds supposeto bring.8

    And when Watson says magic and joy it may bethat he really means all bee patties, special sauce,lettuce, cheese. And that is what Ronald McDonaldis all about in a nutshellersesame seed bun.

    McDonalds Corporation Founder Ray Kroc believedmarketing to kids just made plain business sense.

    Today kids under twelve command up to $50 billionin direct purchasing power, and inuence $670billion in amily purchases.

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    Birth o a pioneerin marketing to kids

    Speaking o reinventions, beore Ronald was Ronald he was Bozo the Clown, star o his owntelevision show, Bozos Circus. Tapping Bozos popularity with kids, McDonalds hired the clownto attend the opening o a store in Alexandria, Virginia. Children and their amilies lined the streets

    by the thousands; purchasing ood rom McDonalds in order to visit the clown.9

    This in-person promotion was an extension o commercials Bozo the Clown delivered during thelocal version o his weekly television show that was sponsored by McDonalds.

    Bozo proved a talented spokesperson or McDonalds. In just three years o marketing withBozo, local sales grew 30 percent and exceeded McDonalds national average by 50 percent. TheWashington, D.C.-area ranchises became the largest in the country with an advertising budget thatexceeded that o the national corporation. And most o this budget was spent promoting the clown.10

    Despite Bozos success promoting McDonalds to children on television, the Washington networkdropped Bozos Circus in 1963, leaving McDonalds without a pitchman. They quickly decided it was

    time the store had a spokes-clown o its own.11

    So in 1963, rookie television announcer Willard Scott suited up as Ronald McDonald and the clownmade its own commercial debut.

    Though hard to imagine as extraordinary today given the ubiquity o advertising to children, inhis rst commercial Ronald made a direct appeal not to potential adult patrons but to children.The approach bucked all marketing conventionsand it worked.

    Beore long McDonalds had embraced the clown nationwide and attached its ortune to Ronaldsstar, ushering Scott out in avor o the trimmer Coco the Clown o Barnum and Bailey ame.12

    Soon the move would blow-upliterally.

    Mda i w pw

    Md p pp i

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    b mbii mb

    Bz iiib ki, i

    m Bz wi s.

    1960-1963:

    ra Mda i b

    cpiizi Bz mki

    ki, Md i i

    i i i mmi.

    1963: 1965:

    A Clowns Coming o Age

    o , r k

    on many roles, all in devoted

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    h obesity rates (cetes f disease ctl)valence o Obesity* Among U.S. Children Ages 6-11

    -pi BMI 95 pi b cdc .

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    In 1965, ater some initial internal disagreement about the benets o national televisionadvertising, McDonalds accepted an oer rom NBC to sponsor the Macys Thanksgiving DayParade. The 3.5 minute ad buy eaturing Ronald gave the corporation an eight percent salesjump during a time o year where sales typically declined.13

    The ollowing year, pleased with the successul gamble, McDonalds or the rst time sponsored

    a, shall we say, super-sized Ronald balloon in the parade.The return on investment was so super that in 1967 the corporation broke into athleticsponsorships with a new postseason ootball game that would later be called the Super Bowl.14

    And that was just the beginning or a corporation that today spends $1.2 billion on marketingjust in the U.S., with much o that amount being spent advertising directly to childrennamelythrough its clown mascot.15-16

    Clown at a crossroads

    Today, McDonalds boasts that Ronald McDonald is as recognizableas Santa Claus.17 The brand he helped create now exceeds $32 billion,making it the sixth most valuable brand in the world over Google,Apple and Disney.18

    But he is also spread more thin than ever (as youll see in the nextsection) and alling out o avor. In an eort to defect criticisms raisedby popular lms like Food Inc. and Supersize Me and books like TheOmnivores Dilemma, the clown has been employed in a wide rangeo public relations gimmicks that double as a means o branding andmarketing unhealthy ood to children.

    But how long can he keep up the hoax? Ater all, no one likes aduplicitous clown.

    ra g a gag

    r m, Md,

    p im mk

    ki.

    ra g i a a

    t f r Md h p i Pi

    Pi m xi

    p mmi f .

    1971: 1974:

    ra ji paa

    r mk i i mmi

    b M tkii d

    P, i p m

    i ii.

    1965:

    ra i mi

    r p i pi

    , iii mi-i ki ii

    im Md.

    1970:

    Ronald participates in a tree-trimming at th

    Chicago Police Department. Such appearanhave helped blur traditional lines between

    public and commercial space.

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    9/32The Case for Ronald McDonalds Retirement

    Wheres ronAld?

    Hes here. Hes there. Man, the guy is everywhere.

    -m Mda ki pag19

    Unlike Waldo o the popular childrens books, Ronald continues to build his popularityby making sure he isnt hard to pick out in a crowd.

    In the all o 2009, Corporate Accountability International put out a national call or

    Ronald sightings to get a better sense o just where and how he was hooking kids onunhealthy ood.

    1976: 1979: 1980: 1989:

    t happy Ma

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    bbb .

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    What did Americans fnd?

    Well, it turns out building brand identication with children is hard work. Ronald is no longercontent just to interact with children when they visit McDonalds, he has become involved in everyaspect o childhood, with appearances in some o the most unlikely places.

    Fortunately or Ronald, his appearances can be short on substance and long on promotion. As theAmerican Psychological Association explains, the most common persuasive strategy employed inadvertising is to associate the product with un and happiness, rather than to provide any actualproduct-related inormation.20

    McDonalds ad executives know as much. Ronald does not promote ood, but un and activity theMcDonalds experience, according to corporate spokesman Walt Riker.21

    The strategy is one Ronald pioneered and one that predominates, but its just one o the many waysRonald reaches kids. And though the schedule today is accelerated, the objective remains the same:turn children into lie-long customers.

    While on the surace Ronalds running around may seem like community service, see i you cant spotbranding and marketing by another name in the examples below.

    Clowning around schools

    Back in the days when we rst got a company airplane, we used to spot

    good locations or McDonalds stores by fying over a community and

    looking or schools. Now we use a helicopter, and its ideal.

    -ray K, Mda cpai 22

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    r i i

    90 b i i s t l

    a ii ki

    ppi p iki b

    Md.

    1994:

    ra mak mi

    r i ix 40-mi im fm

    t wk a r

    Md. n mb im g

    a pp im .

    1998:

    ra pm

    I i i ami Pi

    aii m mm

    pi mp i ii,

    r i pm b Md

    pii ci hppi of. t

    i i

    ppi i pii

    p- imi.

    2003:

    ra g i

    r b i bi .r

    p ki , p

    i i . e i

    bi pim r i

    i i i. P b

    Mw, iiiz ki b hp

    m k i M

    i i.

    2004:

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    Zoning restaurants near schools has made it easy or kids to requent McDonalds at times whenparents have the least control over where their children eat. The proximity is also an opportunity tomarket to children regardless o whether their parents approve o their eating ast ood. Think abouteach Golden Arches and Ronalds Playground as a giant billboard thats the impact they have onthose who pass byor children glancing out rom a classroom window.

    But whats good or the corporations bottom line is quite the opposite orthe publics health and waist line.

    A 2009 study by the National Bureau o Economic Research ound thatninth graders whose schools were within a block o ast ood were morelikely to be obese than students whose schools were urther away.23

    McDonalds practice o building restaurants at the doorstep o schoolsis widespread and continues to spur competitors to ollow suit. InChicago, one o the chains biggest markets, Corporate AccountabilityInternational ound that more than 90 percent o the citys McDonaldswere located within walking distance* o a school.24

    Another study has ound the clustering o McDonalds and other astood chains in neighborhoods with schools to be disproportionately highwhen compared to other neighborhoods.25

    I proximity to schools can contribute signicantly to obesity rates, youcan imagine what happens when McDonalds and other ast ood is soldin schools.

    McDonalds pioneered that practice too. The rst McDonalds to open inside a high schoolopened in 1976 in Benton, Arkansas.26 Today, nearly a quarter o the nations high schoolssell branded ast ood.27

    ra bm a ambaa a

    r mp i mb

    i, b i i p

    i

    i i pib i

    bi.

    ra f w way i

    r f ip pmi

    p p i ,

    pm Mt ni,

    r Md s s,

    Bk tim i r Md.

    Hes here. Hes there. Mathe guys everywhere.

    2005: 2006: todAY:

    Ronald continues to fnd ways to penetratepublic, non-commercial spaces like schools

    promoting positive causes, he is able to in tupromote junk ood to children. Here he givesthumbs-up during a school presentation onbullying in Churubusco, Indiana.

    * wki i i b 0.5 mi, i b

    mj i ci qi bk.

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    12/3210 Clowning With Kids Health

    McSpelling and Teaching

    Clowns and teachers are both gures that children trust. Just like using

    teachers to bring kids into McDonalds, to sell and serve them ast ood, the

    use o Ronald McDonald as a marketing tool exploits that trust.- rba cig, f ga a, s sa Fai, caiia28

    When it comes to marketing to kids in and around schools, Ronalds employer has also been busyguring out ways to engage kids in the classroomand even to bring the classroom to McDonalds.

    Using the underunding o the nations schools as a marketing opportunity, McDonalds conceivedMcTeachers Night, a undraising program that puts teachers behind the register or a night. Inexchange or their ree labor, McDonalds donates a percentage o the evenings prots to thelocal school.

    The program generates great local public relations or McDonalds as well asa spike in sales rom the parents, children, and community members whoare encouraged to eat while teachers work. Children are encouraged to drawpictures o Ronald McDonald and to decorate the walls o the restaurant. Inexchange or the boost in sales, avorable public relations and opportunityto market to its target demographic, schools receive an average o $800 or anights work.29

    For urther ree publicity in schools, McDonalds rewards children withree burgers and Chicken McNuggets or meeting educational goals andacademic achievement through programs like the McSpellit Club.30 Inone Michigan elementary school, McDonalds even installed a mural oRonald and a Mini McDonalds restaurant where students could redeemacademic achievement awards or their avorite ast ood.31

    In Seminole County, Florida, McDonalds took theirast ood reward program a step urther. Grade schoolchildren received their report cards in envelopeseaturing Ronald and oers or ree Happy Meals inexchange or good grades, attendance, and behavior.32

    McDonalds also develops sponsored educational material as yet anothermeans o penetrating schools with its marketing. One McDonalds rst

    grade program asks kids to design a McDonalds restaurant and providesinormation about applying or a McDonalds job.33

    Apparently, its never too early to start recruiting!

    Parents are, however, challenging such practices. In Seminole County, the Campaign or aCommercial-Free Childhood and area parents pressured the county into canceling the rst gradeprogram.34 Youve got to give it to the hamburger-happy huckster, hes mastered some clevermeans o marketing burgers to children and using the adults kids trust most to validatehis productdespite its aect on public health.

    In Seminole County, FL, McDonalds oeredree Happy Meals in exchange or academicachievement. Report cards arrived in abranded envelope.

    Ronald receives third party validationrom Wisconsins frst lady at an eventpromoting reading.

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    13/32The Case for Ronald McDonalds Retirement

    The Ironic Ronald McJock

    I take what I put into my body very seriously we should not be promoting

    this type o ood as having any connection to athletic pursuits. It breaks my

    heart to see the Olympics using Ronald McDonald to promote this ood tokids; its the exact wrong message to be sending.

    -r hii, ak a f g mai a ix-im Ima tia fi 35

    Another way Ronald has inserted himsel into schools is as an ambassador or health mind youthat the diplomat is rom a restaurant at the heart o the global epidemic o diet-related disease.

    Though physical activity is a key element in health and wellness, the lack o it does not appear tobe the primary reason behind the epidemic. While only one third o U.S. adolescents meet therecommended levels o physical activity, there is no clear evidence young people have become less

    active over the past decade as the prevalence o obesity has continued to rise.36

    There are, however,plenty o studies conrming the increase in consumption o McDonalds-style ast ood and itsimpact on childrens health.37-38

    Thats why McDonalds approach is such a cunning one and has provoked the ast ood industry,at large, to ollow suit. Though no amount o exercise can compensate or a diet high in ast ood,Ronalds calisthenics are distracting enough to make people believe otherwise.

    In 2005, McDonalds transitioned Ronald McDonald rom chie happiness ocer into anambassador or a balanced, active liestyle.39 One can only imagine the move was inresponse to growing concerns about the healthulness o its product andthe 2004 release o Supersize Me, a lm critical o the corporations practices.

    In his new incarnation Ronald traded in his baggy yellow jumpsuit or aormtting track suit and appeared on television commercials ridingbikes, snowboarding, and juggling vegetables.40

    With Ronald taking on his new persona, the corporation initiatednew programs designed to gain access to kids through educators andgovernment ocials like the McDonalds Active Achievers andPassport to Play.

    Through Active Achievers Ronald delivers, educational messagesto students about nutrition, and balance between eating right and

    staying active, and oers Get Moving with Ronald McDonaldschool assemblies.41 Partners on the program also include sugary-beveragemanuacturer Coca-Cola as well as education departments, nutritionists, andassociations who dont seem to see the trouble with having a salesperson orcheap burgers sell kids on health.42

  • 8/4/2019 Retire Ronald Expose

    14/3212 Clowning With Kids Health

    And when McDonalds launches a new program, it goes all out.Passport to Play, the corporationscurriculum on how kids around the world play, snack and grow, has been used in 40,000 schoolsin the U.S. alone. The guides and materials will reach approximately eleven million children in15 countries.43 Ronald had the opportunity to kick-o the use o the new curriculum with a bang,appearing at more than 90 schools across the country in his newly adopted athletic wear.44

    Not only has McDonalds used schools and health proessionals to validate its not-so-healthyood among students and parents, it has also paid generously or the endorsements o a range oproessional athletes rom Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Dwight Howard to Julie Foudy, SerenaWilliams, and Michael Phelps; none o whom actually rely on a McDonalds diet to remain atop theirrespective sports.

    McDonalds has long-sponsored the Olympic Games and recently committed upwards o $100-150 million to the Vancouver games and the upcoming summer Olympics in London.45 For one,McDonalds has launched the McDonalds Champion Kids Contest that selected ten childrenbetween 11 and 14 to attend the games, and sent Ronald to deliver the good news to each othe winners. Their charge? Promote McDonalds by posting journals, photos, and videos onMcDonalds.com.46 For McDonalds executives, the only thing better than a clown promoting cheap,

    unhealthy ood is having unsuspecting teens do Ronalds job or him.

    Providing his own brand o health care

    The medical community must practice what its preaching. It is deplorable

    or a doctor to ask a patient to avoid harmul oods that cause heart disease

    while there is McDonalds in the hospitals lobby serving a menu that is

    mostly burgers, ries, and soda.

    -d. la I. l, rb W J ciia sa a

    amiy pyiia a uiiy caiia, l Ag 47

    While Ronald and his employer have done quite a bit to align themselveswith health and wellness, perhaps no other Ronald sighting was as troublingas his appearances in childrens hospitals across the country.

    The Washington Post discovered there are at least 30 McDonaldsrestaurants located inside hospitals nationwide, including childrenshospitals in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York City and Cleveland. Insome cases, Ronald hails patients rom the lobby.48

    I its not McDonalds in the lobby or ood court, its a chain patterned aterthe market leader. A 2006 study published in the American Academy oPediatrics estimates that ast ood restaurants can be ound in nearly 30percent o U.S. hospitals with pediatric residency programs.49

    The reason or opening McDonalds in hospitals may extend well beyondthe prot potential, which itsel should not be diminished. Outpatientpediatric visitors to a hospital with an on-site McDonalds are our times

    Ronalds Scripps Research Institutepartnership is one example o Ronaldsduplicity. On the one hand he promotes

    atty ood to kids. On the other, researchinitiatives on childhood obesity. Needlessto say McDonalds support or suchresearch raises serious questions aboutthe integrity o the outcomes.

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    more likely than visitors to other hospitals to have purchased ast ood the day o their visit.Inserting Ronald in the health care environment is yet another way to build undeserved brand trustamong parents and the public. Visitors to hospitals with a McDonalds more oten assume that thechain supports the hospital nancially, rating McDonalds ood healthier than visitors to hospitalssans the corporate clown.50

    Ronald is no newcomer to health care settings. His rst oray into the industry was 35 years ago withthe ounding o his own homes or sick children and their amilies the Ronald McDonald House,which now boasts some 300 homes worldwide. The charitys ounding, however, was not entirelyas altruistic as the corporations historians would today have people believe. Beginning in the late1950s McDonalds decided to visibly support local charities as a means o generating positivepublicity. We got into it or very selsh reasons, Fred Turner, ormer CEO and Chairman once toldan interviewer. It was an inexpensive, imaginative way o getting your name beore the public andbuilding a reputation to oset the image o selling 15-cent hamburgers. It was probably 99 percentcommercial.51 The exposure generated by this community involvement spurred McDonalds ideaor a branded charity o its own.

    The expressed marketing intent o McDonalds charity work raises some serious questions. On the

    one hand, the charities are helping children and amilies in great need. On the other, the charitiesare another means o building brand trust, identication, and loyalty to a product and a corporationat the heart o the global epidemic o diet-related disease.

    Needless to say, Ronalds orays into the world o public health have him speaking out o bothsides o his mouth.

    Taking to the tube

    During the nationwide Wheres Ronald search people spied the clown during Saturday morningcartoons and other prime-time viewing hours or children, making an activity that should beharmless and un or children another realm or parents to police.

    In addition to getting the McDonalds brand in ront o kids duringthese times, a bulk o the corporations advertising aims to enticechildren to visit restaurants with the cross-over appeal o the movies,games, music and toys kids like and want mostor simply have thegreatest amiliarity with amiliarity that generally results romsupersized expenditures on marketing.

    Recent promotions surrounding animated lmsShrek Forever Ater, Alvin

    and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and Ice Age: Dawn o the Dinosaursare but a sampling o the lm releases and merchandising McDonaldscapitalized on to urther incentivize children to requent its ranchises.In 2009, McDonalds also celebrated 30 years o Happy Meals with its thBeanie Babies promotion.52

    And lest you think Ronald only partners with ctional characters in histelevision promotions, there are also marketing campaigns involvingpop icons that are geared or a slightly older crowd, namely tweens. Othe celebrity spokespeople, Justin Timberlake may be the most notable,

    Ronald shows up wherever kids are and inwhatever kids watch, rom commercialsduring Saturday morning cartoons to movie

    games and music.

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    because he also sold his 2003 single Im LovinIt to McDonalds to use in its advertising campaigno the same name.53

    Unortunately, the inundation o cross-promotional images, products, and celebrity endorsementsleaves children with more than just stars in their eyes. The marketing can have a proound impacton childrens brand preerences and inclination to eat unhealthy ood issues we explore urther in

    the sectionPutting Ronald on Kids Brains, Past Parents.Theres a reason why McDonalds and other junk ood purveyors dedicate so much o their ad budgetto television advertising. It reaches a vast audience and its eective.

    Today the average American child views 40,000 commercials in a year, hal o which are or junkood.54-55 Parents could just turn the TV o, but that wouldnt prevent Ronald rom reachingchildren through other mediums like the internet.

    The McWorld Wide Web

    Although people ound a slew o ways the clown and the brand hepromotes shapes the world our children live in, online Ronald actuallycreates a worlda McWorld that isor children to explore and, were itpossible, inhabit.56

    To unlock all kinds o cool stu in McDonalds virtual world (theHappy Meal gone digital to borrow rom the Web sites description) kidsare encouraged to requent McDonalds and look or special codes oundon the Happy Meals healthier items (apples with caramel dippingsauce, White and Chocolate Milk Jugs). So, in other words, in order tomaximize un in this ree virtual space, children are incentivized to buyHappy Meals. In McWorld, where kids rule, buying Happy Meals is thebest way to obtain, accessories or your avatar, treehouse, or interactivepets and visit with popular movie, comic and TV characters.57

    For parents concerned about their children spending their ree time inthe corporations promotional virtual reality, instead o reading, getting

    exercise or exploring educational sites, not to worry buried in the ne print McDonalds remindschildren to ollow amily rules on internet use. Kids, never mind the voice that comes with eachscroll over reminding you that kids rule.58

    What a perect world in which to hawk hamburgers, right? Well, that may be because earlier

    incarnations o McDonalds Web presence were geared primarily at gathering inormation on thebehaviors and preerences o its youngest customers.

    Declaring Ronald the ultimate authority on everything the rst McDonalds kids-oriented Web siteencouraged children to send the clown an email telling him their name, avorite McDonalds menuitem, and other personal inormation that would help the corporation assemble data aboutthe interests and hobbies o their child consumers.

    Today children are protected rom such overt tactics by the Childrens Online Privacy ProtectionAct, which took eect in 2000. But rest assured, McDonalds is still able to gather inormation byobserving the behavior o children in its McWorld.

    Ronald.com invites children too youngto understand the persuasive intent oadvertising to spend hours playingadver-games that reinorce loyaltyto the McDonalds brand.

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    In McWorlds partner site, Ronald.com, McDonalds advertises in the orm o games, oten reerredto as adver-games, as well as party kits. Like in McWorld, parents neednt worry children willmistake the Web site or anything but an interactive advertisement written innocuously in white,small print in the upper right-hand corner is the warning, hey kids, this is advertising.59

    Unortunately, while these interactions with Ronald McDonald occur virtually, his infuence on

    our childrens eating habits are very real.

    PuttInG ronAld on K Ids BrAIns , PAst PArents

    We have living proo o the long-lasting quality o early brand loyalties in

    the cradle-to-grave marketing at McDonalds. We start taking children in

    or their rst and second birthdays, and on and on, and eventually they

    have a great deal o preerence or that brand. Children can carry that

    with them through a lietime.

    -Jam Mna, i makig xp, a Ki A cm60

    To the retailers o the world with products to sell, children represent a once and uture market with acombined purchasing power unseen in earlier generations. In the U.S. it is estimated that children (upto age 12) command $40 - $50 billion in direct purchasing power, and infuence another $670 billionin amily purchases annually.61

    And there may be no other demographic to which marketing is more eective than children. Unlikeadults, children do not understand advertisings persuasive intent and even just one 30-secondcommercial can infuence the brand preerences o children as young as two.62-64For this reason childpsychologists are increasingly calling into question the ethics o marketing to children at large, letalone the marketing o a product so detrimental to childrens health and the publics well-being.

    As scientic evidence continues to mount that McDonalds marketing to kids is no less thancommercial exploitation, more and more proessional and health associations are going on recordabout their concerns as well. The American Academy o Pediatrics, or one, has asserted that,advertising directed toward children is inherently deceptive and exploits children under eightyears o age.65

    Whats most insidious is that the manipulation o children in this case translates not only into achilds avorable impression o Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets, but into their eating unhealthy

    amounts o each.66

    As the ormer Director General o the World Health Organization has noted,these marketing approaches matter or public health. They infuence our own and in particularour childrens patterns o behavior. Given that they are designed to succeed, they have seriousconsequences or those at whom they are targeted.67

    And as weve seen in the previous section, McDonalds not only pioneered the science o marketingto children, but elevated it to a $17 billion a year practice.68

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    The power o getting the brand in kids hands

    We all know that the repetition o messages and images whether in politics, the marketplace, orclassroom has a proound impact on the memory, choices, loyalties and preerences o adults.

    In children the eect is magnied; a vulnerability which marketers have exploited or decades.69The repetitious use o cartoon characters creates a recognizable, relatable and unique personalityor children to associate with a particular brand or product.70 According to Andrew Ellis, proessoro psychology and author o a study about brand recognition in children, the associations ingrainedin childhood are typically carried orward into adulthood. Youre more likely to be avorablydisposed to a brand youve known all your lie than one youve encountered more recently, saysEllis.71 In this way, a corporation that builds trust and positive associations in children is more likelyto retain that child consumers brand loyalty into adulthood. Marketing characters, in this sense,are tools or establishing customers or lie.

    According to John F. Love, author o McDonalds: Behind the Arches,no other marketing actor has been more important in distinguishing

    McDonalds as a leader in ast ood than its early decision to appeal tochildren through advertising. Although other ast ood chains ollowedsuit none was able to weaken the loyalty o children to McDonalds.72

    To this end, McDonalds has not only ensured that Ronald and theMcDonalds brand are everywhere kids are, it has branded productsintended or even their youngest customers. There are in-storePlayPlaces or kids and menu items wrapped in images o Ronald playingwith children.73 There are also the high chair trays with images oanthropomorphic hamburgers and inant bibs with pictures o Ronald andFriends.74 All serve to reinorce the brand or both children and parents

    alike during meals, playtime and beyond.

    Promotional gimmicks such as collectable toy series in kids meals provideongoing incentive to keep kids coming back. Typically, any one toy is madeavailable or a limited time, oten a period o one week so that in order to

    collect the complete set, a child must return to McDonalds and purchase a Happy Meal as otenas the toys are rotated. In a survey conducted by Consumers International, approximately one out oevery three 8- to 11-year-olds said the toys and games included in the kids meals were an importantreason or visiting one chain over another.75

    So whats the result o all this product placement?

    Well, not surprisingly, numerous studies have shown that exposure to ood advertising makeschildren signicantly more likely to avor advertised brands.76

    i 2007 sd m Sd uvs, sch chd v d h

    d McDds s sd h dc d d

    s, ss h d c v m ss .77

    The Ronald Beanie Baby is but one wayMcDonalds aims to position its brandeverywhere kids are. To the corporation playtime is just another opportunity to advertise.

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    Rebelling through Ronald

    Early on, McDonalds ound a ormula that worked or reaching the hearts and minds o children,namely by creating a space just or them.

    From McDonalds playgrounds and Ronald.com to Happy Meals andchildrens parties, the messages and images are calculated to appeal toa childs growing sel-awareness and desire to possess things that areuniquely her/his own.

    As child psychologist Susan Linn writes, marketing products byeeding into childrens need to be in control exacerbates an ongoingnormal tension in amily lie that arises as children move rom the totaldependence o inancy to the independence o adulthoodwe call this aneed or autonomy.78

    Alarmingly, that same appeal to independence and autonomy which rst

    attracts a child to the happy meal will cause them to reject the item as theymature and sense they have outgrown the kids meal.79 The desire to nolonger be treated as a child and cast-o things associated with childhoodcan be easily leveraged by advertisers. In act, concerns have been raisedthat toys given away in happy meals and the nature o the marketing usedto promote them are unlikely to appeal to children over the age o 9 or10 and may instead be sending the message that older children should be making choices romthe adult menu.80 Consumers International nds that the marketing or a more teenage audiencepromotes items rom the adult menu.81

    The trouble with this, o course, is that these products come not only with an adult-sized price tag,

    but an adult-sized calorie count as well, and theres no option or healthy side substitutes on theadult menu.

    The power o pester

    We have seen how McDonalds takes advantage o environments beyond parents control to brandand sell its products to children. But thats not the only way McDonalds overcomes the reservationsparents have with buying unhealthy ood or their children.

    As one advertising executive has put it, were relying on the kid to pester the mom to buy the

    product.82 The aggressively studied, honed and employed tactic to which this executive reers isaectionately termed pester power by those in the childrens marketing industry.

    Lucy Hughes, ormer VP o Initiative Media, explains, i we understand what motivates a parent tobuy a producti we develop a creative commercial that encourages the child to whinethat thechild understands and is able to reiterate to the parents, then were successul.83

    Advertisers understand that it takes a lot o ortitude or a parent to continue to say no, whensaying yes is the path o least resistance. They also understand that even health-conscious parentsare inclined to give-in ater a long day at work or ater busily shuttling kids rom school to soccerpractice to piano lessons and beyond. Not only have they classied nagging tactics into seven major

    A young child shares a park bench with Ron

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    categories rom pleading nags to pity nags, theyve even gone so ar as to categorize parents accordingto identied stress actors and conditions (such as income, marital status, and guilt) that make a parentmore vulnerable to the nagging o their children.84-85

    So even as McDonalds is telling parents that theydeserve a break today, they are encouraging childrento nag and pester their parents or the advertised products, taking advantage o parents innate desire to

    make their children happy.

    Getting through the gatekeepers (read: parents)

    So, assuming the near ubiquity o advertising, the marketing calculated to compel kids topester, the reach o McDonalds into places where parents cant be, and the appeal o kid-riendly environments like McDonalds PlayPlace (where parents can relax while the littleones run wild) wasnt enough, theres also McDonalds strategy to justgo throughparents.

    With consciousness growing about the unhealthiness o McDonalds-style ast ood or

    kids, the gatekeepers (a term coined by McDonalds to reer to moms and dads) are,increasingly, making a concerted eort to maintain control o the gate despite all the

    pressures. So McDonalds current promotions are aimed at building brand trust amongmothers in particular.

    In a series o new television ads, McDonalds appeals to mothers, putting its healthiestoerings and Happy Meal modications out ront. The appeal o such healthier choicesmay disarm gatekeepers, but that doesnt mean children will get a healthy meal or make

    healthier choices.

    The main entre in Happy Meals is still burgers and ried chicken nuggets. The healthier choices are, ashas been mentioned beore, nominally healthier. The brand identication children will make and carryinto adulthood is with McDonalds as a burger corporation. Ronald may hawk the occasional salad, but hes

    undamentally a hamburger-happy clown.

    Whats more, recognizing that an endorsement o their brands nutritional quality is strongest rom onemom to another, McDonalds has directly enlisted mothers in recent public relations eorts. Beginningin 2007, McDonalds began recruiting regular moms to take a corporate-led tour behind the scenes oMcDonalds operation and share their experiences as Quality Correspondents. 86 The hope: i they couldget a racially-diverse and photogenic group o moms to reassure other gatekeepers that they can give theirkids a Happy Meal and still be a good parent, it might be possible to overcome the stigma o ast-ood. Whilethe independence o these mommy bloggers is questionable at best, the motivation o McDonalds is clear.

    At base parents are working against the stream even ater theyve been persuaded to make McDonalds aregular stomping ground. Their children will have already been bombarded with messages and images romthe corporation urging their appetite or low-quality ood that is high in at, sodium, and sugar. Once thisappetite orms it is hard to buck. All o these ingredients have a particularly pernicious aect on a childstastes and cravings while their bodies are still developing. 87

    In sum, we all deserve a break. Children deserve a break from this ubiquitous corporate icon and the

    targeted marketing tactics designed to manipulate their psychological and physical appetites. Parentsdeserve a break from the nagging and pestering that the clowns tactics foster. We all need a break fromRonald McDonald.

    Close to 80 percent o Americansdo not believe that ood served in

    ast ood restaurants meets eventheir most basic, daily nutritionalneeds. But McDonalds is fndingnew ways to woo weary parentsor undermine their healthconsciousness altogether.

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    cAMels , cloWns And cArtoon chArActers

    Theres one reason corporations use cartoons and other childrens characters to sell harmulproducts: theyre eective.

    Joe Camel, or one, helped make R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Companys Camel cigarettes the mostrecognizable brand among young people its target demographic.

    Within one year o the introduction o the anthropomorphic camel, the brand once dismissedby young people as the brand o their grandathers became the third most popular cigaretteamong youth aged 12 to 18, according to the Centers or Disease Control. Within three years,preerence or Camel cigarettes had increased rom 0.5 to 32 percent among adolescentsmokers.88 In 1991, the Journal o the American Medical Association published several studiesindicating that Joe Camel was not only widely recognized by and popular among children, butthat 91 percent o children as young as 6 knew exactly what Joe Camel had to sell.89

    In response to the cigarette corporations transparent eort to market its product to youngpeople, Corporate Accountability International (then Inact) organized the Send Joe CamelPacking campaign. In time, President Bill Clinton, the American Medical Association, the

    Surgeon General, and the Federal Trade Commission would oppose the use o Joe Camel. R.J.Reynolds ultimately agreed to end all advertising eaturing the cartoon camel.

    Joe Camel: International icon or marketing deadly products tochildren. Retired since 1997.

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    ronAld: on the eve oF retIreMent

    Today, Ronald is as recognizable to children as Santa Claus.90 The honor owes to the corporationsgetting in on the ground foor o the craze to market to children, childrens marketing budgetsthat dwar the competition and the clever insertion o the clown into every aspect o childhood.

    That adds up to a cross-generational amiliarity like no other and translates, generally speaking,into a avorable opinion o the hamburger-happy clown. According to a 2010 poll by CorporateAccountability International, conducted by Lake Research Partners, roughly two-thirds (65percent) o Americans have a avorable impression o the clown (25 percent very avorable, 39percent somewhat avorable, 14 percent unavorable)*.

    Not surprisingly, given the close and deliberate linkbetween Ronald and the McDonalds brand at large,65 percent of Americans also have a favorableopinion of the corporation (22 percent unfavorable).But interestingly, the intensity o the response is

    considerably diminished: only 17 percent have a veryfavorable opinion ofMcDonalds at large, while 48percent have a somewhat favorable opinion of theburger giant.

    These ndings appear to conrm the value o havinga clown cum Chie Happiness Ocer as thecorporations spokesperson: it sotens and personalizesthe image o a burger chain ounded on the principleso the assembly line and 20th century mass production.But even the corporations principle salesperson has

    diculty translating the totality o his appeal into thechain he promotes.

    Though the clown is well-liked, 52 percent of Americans favor stopping corporations fromusing cartoons and other childrens characters to sell harmful products to children (30percent strongly favor this). In act, Ronald is not immune rom Americans desire to stamp outmisleading marketing to children.With similar reach and even greater intensity, Americanssupport retiring Ronald as a corporate mascot (47 percent favor, 32 percent strongly favor).

    Importantly, the desire to retire Ronald is not reserved or those with an unfattering impressiono him.Among those with a favorable impression of Ronald, about half (46 percent) actuallysupport retiring him. This is a staggering number. The same is true o those who have a avorable

    impression o the McDonalds corporation (46 percent support retiring Ronald).And amongparents with children under 18 who have a favorable impression of Ronald or the McDonaldsCorporation, fully half (50 percent) support Ronalds exit to the nearest retirement home.

    As public consciousness about the links between ast ood marketing and the epidemic o diet-relateddisease continues to mount, the numbers supporting Ronalds retirement promises only to climb.

    0

    10

    20

    30

    40%

    50

    46% 46% 50

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    Favor RetiringRonald

    McDonald

    Have favorableimpressionof Ronald,yet favor

    retiring him

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    of his retiring

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    ronAld, BehInd the MAKe-uP: Food sYsteM IndustrIAlIst

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    The Case for Ronald McDonalds Retirement

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    ronAld the retIree

    The world is no longer what it was when a clown with a ood tray hat and soda cup nose made his rsttelevised sales pitch to the nations children. The 15-cent burger chain seized an opening to exploitthe marketing vulnerabilities o children and in so doing, has become one o the worlds largest

    corporations and a dominant orce in the way we eat, the way our ood systems unction, and thecommercialized environment in which our children grow up.

    Unortunately the corporations success has come at an overwhelmingcost, especially to our childrens health. The rates o diet-relateddisease like type 2 diabetes have risen with the growth o the ast oodempire, and are increasingly aecting children at younger and youngerages. In the past 30 years, the percentage o obese children has tripledin children ages 2 to 5, and quadrupled in children ages 6 to 11.91

    Today we also have a better understanding o the proound infuencemarketing has on our children, the lielong habits it orms, and its role

    in driving the current epidemic. Leading health institutions, rom theWorld Health Organization to the Institute o Medicine, criticize thepractice McDonalds has pioneered.92-93 And parents are increasinglyed-up with the bombardment o advertisements, the promotion oast ood under the guise o social responsibility, and the ploys to dulltheir resistance to a product they know is unhealthy or their kids.

    In other words, parents are ready or McDonalds to take some responsibility or the obstacles ithas put in their way when it comes to healthully eeding and raising their children. Parents cantraise children in a vacuum and their taking responsibility or what kids eat shouldnt preclude the #1marketer o unhealthy ood to kids rom doing the same; especially when the corporation is bent on

    nding ways to reach kids despite the best eorts o the most observant parents.

    McDonalds has a history to overcome. Hiding behind the myth o spontaneous demand inwhich every child demands burgers and ries without provocation, McDonalds has defectedresponsibility or making kids sick. Ater all, theyre just meeting consumer demand; albeit ademand manuactured and cultivated with a billion dollar per annum ad budget.

    The corporation has led industry eorts to deeat a range o health protections, working toundermine strong local legislation and weaken the language in national menu labeling standardsthat could provide parents with the kind o inormation they need to make inormed choices aboutwhat their kids eat. McDonalds political maneuvering urther demonstrates the corporationsproclivity to sabotage rather than enable the exercise o parental responsibility over the ood

    children eat.94

    McDonalds success in marketing to kids has set a standard across industries. As they say, withleadership comes responsibility. Instead o guring out ways to twist parental concern intomarketing ploys by another name (see: McSpellit, Get Moving With Ronald McDonald,McTeachers Night, etc.), its time or McDonalds to set the right example and let its renetic,traveling salesman retire.

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    A Proper retirement or Ronald

    From city hall to McDonalds headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill. there are a ew thingspolicymakers and executives should do to give Ronald a proper send o.

    McdonAlds should:

    end all use o celebrities, cartoons, and branded and licensed characters

    that appeal to children;

    eliminate all gits, toys, collectibles, games or other incentive

    items rom kids meals; and

    remove all advertising and promotional materials rom places children visit

    requently including schools, playgrounds, recreation and community centers,

    and pediatric health care centers.

    What the rest o us can do to bidRonald adieu

    heres hoW to Get Involved on the IndIvIduAl And coMMunItY level:

    Join Corporate Accountability International in calling on McDonalds to retire Ronald;

    Go towww.RetireRonald.orgto volunteer, learn more, and take actions to protect

    childrens health and saeguard our ood systems;

    Support local policy eorts, like eliminating all marketing, advertising and sales

    o ast ood rom school grounds, property in immediate proximity to schools,

    childrens libraries, playgrounds and other places where children visit requently

    as well as hospitals serving children;

    Support international policy eorts that encourage national governments to respond

    to this growing public health crisis by curbing the advertisement, marketing and

    promotion o unhealthy ood products to children and young people.

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    ABout us

    For more than 30 years Corporate AccountabilityInternational (ormerly Inact) has run hard-hitting andhighly eective campaigns to save lives, protect publichealth, and preserve the environment. Its campaigns havecompelled dramatic changes in corporate conduct, romcurbing the lie-threatening marketing o inant ormulain the developing world to securing strong new globalprotections against the marketing o tobacco productsto children.

    Value [the] Meal is a campaign led by CorporateAccountability International dedicated to reversing theglobal epidemic o diet-related disease. Launched in2009, the campaign challenges McDonalds and the astood industry to curb the range o its practices that are

    contributing to the epidemic. The campaigns advisorycommittee consists o leading experts on ood and nutrition,marketing to children, and sustainable ood systems.

    vAlue [the] MeAl AdvIsorY BoArd{Partial List}

    Susan Linn, Ed.D.

    Susan Linn is co-ounder and director o The Campaign

    or a Commercial-Free Childhood. An award-winningproducer, writer, and puppeteer, she is the author o TheCase or Make Believe: Saving Play in a CommercializedWorld, and Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover oChildhood. Linn lectures internationally on reclaimingchildhood rom corporate marketers.

    .cmmcx./

    Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H.

    Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Proessor in theDepartment o Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health

    and Proessor o Sociology at New York University. Herdegrees include a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H.in public health nutrition, both rom the University oCaliornia, Berkeley. Her award-winning books includeFood Politics: How the Food Industry Infuences Nutritionand Health (2002) and Sae Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology,and Bioterrorism (2003), both rom University oCaliornia Press.

    .dcs.cm

    Michele Simon, J.D., M.P.H.Michele Simon is a public health lawyer who has beenworking as a nutrition advocate since 1996, specializing inlegal strategies and ood industry tactics. She is the authoro Appetite or Prot: How the Food Industry UnderminesOur Health and How to Fight Back, which Library Journalcalls an essential purchase and recommends as a ollow-upto Fast Food Nation and Food Politics. Michele is currentlythe Research and Policy Director or the Marin Institute, analcohol industry watchdog.

    .f.cm

    Raj Patel, Ph.D.

    Raj Patel is a writer, activist and academic. He has degreesrom the University o Oxord, the London School oEconomics and Cornell University. Dr. Patel has workedor the World Bank and World Trade Organization. Hescurrently a visiting scholar at UC Berkeleys Center orArican Studies, an Honorary Research Fellow at the Schoolo Development Studies at the University o KwaZulu-Natal,

    and a ellow at The Institute or Food and DevelopmentPolicy, or Food First. He is the author o Stued andStarved: The Hidden Battle or the World Food System, andThe Value o Nothing, a work on how to x the ailures othe ree market.

    .j.

    For a full list, visit:

    h://.scs./v-m-dvs-d

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    AcKnoWledGeMents

    We would like to thank our Advisory Board, without which Value [the] Meal and this report wouldnot have been possible. In particular, we would like to thank Michele Simon, Marion Nestle,Susan Linn and Raj Patel or their support and guidance o this project and lending their

    invaluable expertise.

    This report was made possible because o the orethought, commitment and generosity othe ollowing partners:

    Edie Allen

    Christine Andersen

    Trude Bock

    Raj & Helen Desai

    Joan Dible

    Delight & Paul Dodyk

    Susan & Cameron Duncan

    David Dunning

    Barbara Forster & Larry Hendrickson

    Tony Hurst

    The Hurst Foundation

    John Kern & Valerie Hurley

    Chartis Langmaid Tebbetts

    Betty Morningstar & Jeanette Kruger

    Catherene Morton

    Nancy NordhoIsabelle Osborne

    Kit & Bill Prendergast

    Betsy Rix

    Dan & Sandra Scheineld

    Lawson Valentine Foundation

    Judd Williams

    And many more partners who wish to remain anonymous.

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    1 K B Ki h, F Fi, (n yk, ny: Mg-hi cmpi,

    2004), 102.

    2 ei Fiki, . .,a Mi spi aibb t obi: P- a

    si-spi eim.h ai, 28:5 (2009),

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    5 ei s, F F ni (n yk, ny: Pi, 2002), 41.

    6 lk r P, r Md s, (wi, dc: nmb 2009).

    7 ni gm, Md ceo p ki, r, J 16, 2007,

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    8 g w, Bii B t: Md Ppi, (ci B ami

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    14J F. l, Md: Bi a (n yk, ny: Bm Bk, 1986), 246.

    15 Mk t 2009, Mk b m abb ym, aii a,

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    16 Md cpi . s Mi, (uK hi c Ji, J 19, 1997)

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    17 c & hi Md, cmp hi, Md usa,

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    18 B gb B, 2009 rki, Ib,

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    19 Md cpi, Ki Imi,

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    37 c ebbi, , cmpi e Ik Fm F F am oi

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    38 di li, . ., e F-F cmpi e Ik di

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    41 Md e, r I y cmmi, Md cpi,

    p://.m.m/.m( M 1, 2010).

    42 ci cmp, Md tm up wi e h/nii exp

    Pm B, ai li I s Pimz, a 23, 2005, p://

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    43 Md cpi, B ai li Pm Imi,

    p://.m.m///b__i_i.m

    ( Fb 23, 2010).

    44 hipi Prwi, Md g ai! amb Kiki F I

    Pp P e P s, ob 4, 2005, p://ipipi.m/pi.pp?=ii=5928=3&i=4935,( Fb 25, 2010)

    45 gm db, Ioc: Md w ab ompi d o ci sb,

    t h P, J 24, 2010, p://.p.m/2009/10/04/i-

    m--b__309229.m( Fb 24, 2010).

    46 Md cpi, cmpi Ki Pm, p://.m.m//ki/

    mpiki.m ( Fb 24, 2010).

    47 l l, mi p i , Fb 1, 2010.

    48 ci c, h c cii i aki Bi M, wi P, p://

    .ip.m/p-/i/a64735-2004d14.m dmb 15, 2004,

    ( Fb 24, 2010).

    49 h s, ., Mki F F: Imp F F r i

    ci hpi, Pii, 2006, 118: 2290-2297, p://.pii./i///118/6/2290 ( Fb 24, 2009).

    endnotes

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    29/32The Case for Ronald McDonalds Retirement

    50 h s, ., Mki F F: Imp F F r i ci

    hpi, Pii, 2006, 118: 2290-2297, p://.pii./i//

    /118/6/2290 ( Fb 24, 2009).

    51J F. l, Md Bi a, (n yk, ny: Bm Bk, 1986), 210-211.

    52 P r, ti Bi Bbi a Bk a Md, ci l, J 17, 2009,

    p://.i.m/i/384669-ti_Bi_Bbi_a_Bk__Md_.

    pp ( Fb 24, 2010).

    53Ji timbk, vi, Im li I, p://.jiimbk.m/i/im_i_i( Fb 24, 2010).

    54 si-yi c, . ., F F r aii tii I If

    ci obi, J l emi, (2008) 51:559-618. , cmk g,

    s e. tii: w o, w wi, w i M. s di, ca: ami

    P; 1999.

    55 cmmi cmmii, ci, a, aii, Pii (2006), 118:

    2563-2569, p://.pii./i///118/6/2563 ( Fb 24, 2010).

    56 Md cpi, Mw, p://.ppm.m/_us/ ( Fb 24, 2010).

    57 Md cpi, Mw, p://.ppm.m/_us/ ( Fb 24, 2010).

    58 Md cpi, Mw, p://.ppm.m/_us/ ( Fb 24, 2010).

    59 Md cpi, r Md, ..m ( Fb 24, 2010).60 M spk, t b Md i, t Ip, M 22, 2005,

    p://.ip..k///mi/---b-m--

    i-752346.m( Fb 19, 2010).

    61Ji B. s, w ci g cmmiiz c ci B P, ri

    a empm: y Pp hm Mi c i dii a,

    (gb uii, 2006: 101-121), p://.im../mm/pb_p/232_

    ri_a_empm.p( Fb 25, 2010).

    62 Kk (2001). ci ii ii. I: d.g. si J.l. si (e.) t

    bk i mi. (t ok, ca: s. P. 375-393).

    63 Mki Mc, c l, . aii ci: cp ci, (t

    ok, ca: s, 1999).

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    di Bzkki, , t 30- e: a expim ri Imp tiicmmi F P P, J ami dii aii,

    101:1 (2001), 42, 42-46, p://.j./i/s0002-8223%2801%2900012-8/

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    65 ami am Pii, cmmi cmmii, ci,

    ii, Pii, 95 (1995): 295-297, p://ppi.ppbii./i/pi/

    pii;95/2/295.p( Fb 24, 2009).

    66 t ni ami P, F Mki ci y: t oppi?

    Ii Mii ni ami, 2006.

    67 g hm B, a Fi- w h amb (g, M 13,

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    68Jm Mn q i B. hiz, six si Mk Mk Ki w ti B,

    usa t nmb 22, 2006, 1B.

    69 P Fi, , B ii b i 3 6 : Mik M o

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    70 s g tm, B, B Bb: h cm c Mip P hm

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    71 Mi hi, ti t c Bi li B rii, M gz, ob

    23, 2009, p://.mmii.//2009/10/i.m, (

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    72J l, Md: Bi a, (n yk, ny: Bm, 1986), 222.

    73 cm Ii, Fi t: a xmii mki

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    76 di Bzkki, , t 30- e: a expim ri Imp ti

    cmmi F P P, J ami dii aii

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    77 tm n. rbi; . . e F F Bi y ci t

    P ai Pii a Mii. 2007;161(8):792-797.

    78 s li, cmi Ki: Pi i m mki &

    ii (n yk, ny: a Bk, 2004), 37.

    79 s li, cmi Ki: Pi i m mki &

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    80 cm Ii, Fi t: a xmii mki

    i, (uK: cm Ii, 2009), 24. p://i.i.-i..k/

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    84Jm u. Mn, Ki cm: a hbk Mki ci, (lxi Bk, 199

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    86 Mi r, Md c Mm F F emii, t wi

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    88 c.l. P, t b i mki: tb i m

    Mi iii, ai Pii a Mii, 153 (1999), 935-941.

    89Jp r. diFz, Md, ., rJr nbi c cm Pm cm ci

    ci, t J ami Mi aii, 266:22 (1991), 3149-3153.

    p://jm.m-./i//b/266/22/3149, ( Fb 19, 2010).

    90 c & hi Md, cmp hi, Md usa, p://.m

    m//k/mpi.m( Fb 24, 2010).

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    93 Ii Mii, l gm ai P ci obi, (wi, d

    t ni ami P, 2009); , J. Mi Mgii, Ji app gm

    vii Kk, F Mki ci y (wi, dc: t ni am

    P, 2006).

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    ci_F_Pii_c_i_2009.pp.

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    30/3228 Clowning With Kids Health

    Photo Credits

    1. a lz B (M 2009) p://z.bp.m/.

    2. r Md Ik B ci/Bimim Pbi lib.

    3. Mr eim J Pm.

    4. cb oi n (2009) vii rm.

    5. M tkii d P (n yk, ny. 2009) cp abii Ii.6. r K Mimix Md hii Im.

    7. lIFe (2002) tim B/g Im.

    8. rii r. B B.

    9. Md i ci (2007) J hpki uii Mzi.

    10. Bk B i Ki B (nmb 2003) p://ki./BkB/.

    11. Bk tim i r Md (Mi, oh. 2009) cp abii Ii.

    12. lIFe (2002) tim B/g Im.

    13. smi c Pbi s rp c (2008) cmpi cmmi-F ci.

    14. t wpp, r (2010) Md cpi, M.

    15. t sipp r Ii (2006) sipp/Md cpi.

    16. ci mmiz b ii aaronyX/Fik.

    17. r Md wbi, .r.m Md cpi.

    18. r Md ti Bi Bb (2009) tm.Mk/Fik.

    19. Bk B i Ki B (nmb 2003) p://ki./BkB/.

    20. M s (2010) Bii c B.

    21. J cm, ri (1997) r.J. r c.

    22. Fi l r Md r Ki (2006) wii Fi l Ji d.

    23. M g (Mi, Ma. 2009) cp abii Ii.

    Photo Credits or Timeline

    1. Bb B: a ci tv l tvP.m.

    2. wi s r Md Md hii Im.

    3. Fi tii cmmi Md hii Im.

    4. M tkii d P (n yk, ny. 2009) cp abii Ii.

    5. r Md #2 (1971) c cmi.

    6. Md r g (a 2009) Md Piippi B.

    7. t h sp s (1974) Pipi r Md h.

    8. Md Mi h (1976) rm c.

    9. hpp M 1979 di-I Mik/Fik.

    10. cb r (ami, tX 2008) Mik MIi/Fik.

    11. M M vi P (1989) Pi eim.

    12. Md t I a (1994) sony gi.

    13. wk a r Md (1998) Md/ Kk-cp.

    14. ci hppi o (2005) t di s/Mtvn Im.

    15. r Md wbi, .r.m Md cpi.16. B ai, Pi aii (2010) Md cpi, M.

    17. Bk tim i r Md (Mi, oh. 2009) cp abii Ii.

    18. r Md Ik B ci/Bimim Pbi lib.

    19. cb oi n (2009) vii rm.

    di: hipi cmmii.

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