Terrifying explanation why McDonald’s clown Ronald McDonald all of the sudden vanished
You may remember his painted face, perma-shocked expression and red wig from your childhood, but when was the last time you saw Ronald McDonald in public? Your Daily Star explains all
With his white painted face, ruby red hair and permanent look of surprise, Ronald McDonald was the public face of fast good giant McDonald’s for decades. The jovial mascot was first seen in a tv commercial in the 1960s and his distinctive yellow and red jumpsuit would become synonymous worldwide with the franchise over the years.
As closely associated with the chain as its Golden Arches, the Big Mac and the Happy Meal, he was often wheeled out during marketing campaigns with fellow characters Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird and The Fry Kids.
And McDonald’s would often retain the services of dozens of actors to appear as Ronald McDonald in restaurants and events, though only one would assume the clown persona for tv ads.
But he wasn’t without his critics and a group of 550 physicians and other health professionals took out newspaper ads in 2011, saying that Ronald McDonald should be retired as they claimed a clown mascot targeting children for fast food was “unethical”.
However for the best part of a decade, the global icon has not been seen publicly for a more sinister reason.
In 2016, the company said it was limiting the number of public appearances he would make due to a “creepy clown” phenomenon that spread globally.
At the time mysterious and terrifying trend emerged as people dressed as ‘killer clowns’ began to terrorise people worldwide.
The craze, which saw people dress up in masks and scare members of the public, was first reported in the US in August that year but quickly spread to the UK, Australia and Brazil.
Locals in Greenville, South Carolina, reported people dressed in fright wigs and full clown make-up trying to lure children into the woods.
According to The New York Times, the clown sightings resulted in at least 12 arrests across the United States and one death.
In Reading, Pennsylvania, a 16-year-old boy was fatally stabbed during an incident that “that may have been provoked by prowler wearing a clown mask”, it was reported at the time.
Australian police said they arrested a 19-year-old for scaring resident and student dressed as a chainsaw-wielding clown was filmed chasing other students on a UK university campus.
He has apologised saying he was “only chasing his friends”, but cops increased patrols outside some schools and asked fancy dress shops to remove clown masks from sale.
Ronald McDonald did not comment publicly, but the company said in a statement at the time: “McDonald’s and franchisees in local markets are mindful of the current climate around clown sightings in communities and as such are being thoughtful with respect to Ronald McDonald’s participation in community events for the time being.”
McDonald’s did not say how many of its clown’s appearances would be cut, but while he was still appearing at live events and on social media in 2017, his presence has slowly been phased out.
With Ronald out of the action, one of his fellow characters did make a resurgence last year as Grimace, a fuzzy purple mascot, became an unlikely good luck charm for the New York Mets baseball team.
The Mets were one of the worst teams in the MLB when Grimace bumbled on to their pitch on June 12 for a special appearance and threw a ceremonial first pitch.
They won that game and went on a seven-game winning streak, which fans jokingly put down to Grimace.
They had so much fun with it that Grimace travelled on New York’s famous Subway to the club’s Citi Field for a play-off game, to the joy of fans.
McDonald’s has been contacted for comment.
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