Meet the new look Ronald McDonald
In a worldwide television commercial that has just been released (June 10, 2005), Ronald McDonald rides his bike with energy. He skillfully throws hoops with basketball megastar Yao Ming. He even snowboards like a pro.
It’s enough to make you choke on your oversized Big Mac meal. Yes, McDonald’s “Director of Happiness” now has a new title: “Lover of Balanced Lifestyles.”
But you won’t quit your old job.
McDonald’s owned website GoActive.com explains how Ronald juggles the two titles. “As McDonald’s Director of Happiness, Ronald McDonald is involved in everything that makes people happy. He wants the best for everyone.”
And it seems that when it comes to what’s best for everyone, greasy junk food (described by GoActive as “tasty and healthy food”) is no longer enough. In a surprising revelation, the site tells us that we now also need “physical activity that looks like a game” and “solid good health.”
Introduce Ronald to his new role as ambassador … “Ronald believes in an active and balanced lifestyle. Live for yourself. And he is the ambassador of active and balanced lifestyles for everyone.”
So what does this new diplomatic status imply? GoActive, com explains that Ronald views physical activity as a “critical component of the energy balance equation.”
Wow, Ronald is already starting to speak like an ambassador! We ordinary people would have said something like, “If you’re going to eat fattening junk food, you’d better try to burn it off with a little exercise.”
Like any good diplomat, Ronald is pretty vague about how he’s going to achieve this goal, promising to work “with the folks at McDonald’s in a number of ways to help parents and children identify realistic and fun ways to incorporate fitness and exercise into their lives. daily life”.
If Ronald’s sounds like an ambassador, its boss, McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner, sounded positively presidential when he announced his company’s “It’s What I Eat and What I Do … I Love It” campaign.
“We will use our size and strength to set an example,” he told the media. The campaign includes TV spots, new packaging, an updated website, and a new video series in which Ambassador Ronald teaches kids how to eat well and stay active.
And like a true diplomat, Ronald will soon be able to show just how multilingual he is. The new commercial airs first in the United States and will soon air in Canada, Germany, Italy, Portugal, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina.
And that is just the beginning. The TV spots will be followed later this year with a series of interactive community shows “Get Active With Ronald McDonald” in the US and other countries.
He may be active, but it’s obvious that even Ronald will need help on this historic mission. Tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, hockey player Wayne Gretzky and speed skater Bonnie Blair are among the sports luminaries McDonald’s has put into service.
CEO Skinner has refused to put a price on the mission, but television networks and sports stars may agree to the public spirit of the campaign and donate their services for free.
Of course, the company insists that none of this has anything to do with all those unfairly critical articles in the media, alarmist books like Fast Food Nation and messy documentaries like Super Size Me. Nor, he insists, does it. anything to do with recent court actions in which money-grabbing litigants have won millions of dollars in settlements.
Rather, they tell us, the latest campaign is just a natural evolution of Ronald’s previous efforts to teach kids how to stay safe – how to fasten seat belts and wear bike helmets – two very important things kids should do. know, so we will understand if Ronald forgot to warn them not to eat unhealthy foods like hamburgers and fries.
“This is just another way we communicate with our customers about the importance of energy balance,” said company spokeswoman Lisa Howard.
Hey, there’s that term “energy balance” again.
Looks like Lisa has been taking diplomatic speaking lessons from Uncle Ronald!
Leave a Reply