Summary: In Jack Solomon's Masters of Desire, he speaks about how McDonalds appeals to different age groups by releasing multiple different advertisements including children with Ronald McDonald. Solomon explains that Ronald McDonald is a symbol of fun towards children. Ronald shows children that they will be happy if they go to McDonalds.
Response: When I was a young, I was scared of Ronald McDonald and every other clown out there. I wouldn't have believed that Ronald McDonald was any sign of happiness during my childhood. Ronald McDonald is a sign of fear, towards me, then fantasy. I believe McDonalds did not do a good job using Ronald McDonald to appeal to fantasy ad in my opinion.
I guess Ronald McDonald thought that someone who always has an up beat emotion, who's playful and always smiles attracted children's attention. With all those scary movies about clowns, it kind of throws of the fun,helping types of clowns. Therefore I would have to agree with you on that, because I to find clowns scary and creepy. In my opinion clowns can't be a fun symbol for children when they just look creepy and sound creepy. Just thinking about them gives me the creeps, with their creepy smile, extreme white painted face, poofy curly hair that shadows over their face, but I guess that's just the horror movies talking since Ronald McDonald does attract children.
ReplyDeleteHahaha oh Ronald. I do believe the clown was a sort of a missfire. I personaly dont recall the clown from when i was a kid. I knew more about McDonalds and the characters around my teenage years and i never paid much attention to them. I think most or the McDonalds characters where pretty much a miss like the hamburglar or purple blob i dont even know what thats abiut. Certainly "Masters of Desire" is a bit outdated because Ronald McDonald and his "lovable" gang of misfits are no more. The only existing character today is Ronald and hes practically fading. I hardly ever see him in the current McDonalds advertisements/commercials. Today its usually some animated sequence involving a singing goat or in conjunction with a new Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks movie advertising the movie and offering the kids some sort of toy.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is the problem with any of these types of articles, especially ones on advertising: they feel out of date as soon as those ads are no longer airing. What strikes me, though, is even though these specific ads are no longe airing, the techniques are still omnipresent. I do wonder, though, how the Disneyification of advertising would be addressed in an updated of "Masters of Desire."
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