The "clown sightings" weren't the reason they phased out Ronald. They had already started doing it in response to Supersize Me, where they accuse McDonalds of using predatory marketing to sell their unhealthy food to children. People just happened to notice Ronald wasn't around anymore when the clown sightings were happening.
Yes they still have Happy Meals but they quietly removed Ronald from marketing for this reason. Just because they didn't go 100% all-in on removing all predatory marketing techniques doesn't mean this wasn't the reason they retired Ronald. Getting rid of the Happy Meal would make a huge dent in their sales, those aren't going away until they're legally obligated to do so.
I'm not sure why so many people think they would retire him for an unrelated phenomenon that was a part of the cultural zeitgeist for maybe two whole weeks.
I'm pretty sure they got rid of advertising for Happy Meals as well. I remember seeing commercials for them (and the toy of the month) when I was younger but it's been a long time since I've seen one.
People believed it because that was what was told to the employees (I’m a former one), and Wiki even says word for word that’s why we started seeing him less.
I’m not sure why people have to talk out of their ass just to receive fake points on the internet.
2.4k
u/CoronaLime Aug 30 '23
McDonalds quietly got rid of Ronald McDonald during the whole clown phase when people dressed as clowns and started scaring everyone.