News

No clowning around: Anti-Ronald McDonald campaign kicks off

February 2, 2011

Protestors gathered this week in Cedar Mill, Ore., to sign a petition asking McDonald’s to retire its famed Ronald McDonald mascot.

According to Oregon Live, an area restaurant was the scene of a national campaign kickoff driven by Corporate Accountability International.

The campaign’s objective is to curb some quick-service marketing practices that the organization and its supporters believe are contributing to the national obesity epidemic.

The initial petition was signed by more than 500 Portland, Ore., area residents, and specifically asks the burger giant to retire its “kid-friendly clown mascot.”

Corporate Accountability International claims that Ronald McDonald is as recognizable to children as Santa Claus.

McDonald’s released the following statement to the group: “Ronald McDonald is not retiring. He is the heart and soul of Ronald McDonald House Charities, which lends a helping hand to families in their time of need, particularly when families need to be near their critically-ill children in hospitals.”

CAI also will present petitions to McDonald’s operators in Brooklyn, N.Y., Portsmouth, N.H., and Burlington, Vt.

The drive to force Ronald McDonald into retirement is the latest strategy aimed specifically against the QSR giant’s marketing methods. San Francisco officials voted for a ban on Happy Meals in November and the Center for Science and Public Interest and Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood have both pushed for McDonald’s to stop including toys in its Happy Meals.