Ronald McDonald Origin and History

Who would not be familiar with this clown who wears a “red-white-yellow” color combination outfit very much similar to their company logo? It has been decades yet little had this icon of McDonalds changed. Ever wonder where did he came from?

By the way, for me, McDonalds pancakes and hot chocolates are the best especially when compared against Jollibee. You must try them yourselves.

Ronald McDonald – Origin and history

The original character and design of American advertising icon Ronald McDonald, including facial design and costume (featuring “french-fry bag pockets” and “food-tray hat”), were created by George Voorhees, a professional clown, for a hired performance at a local Los Angeles, California area McDonald’s restaurant. The performer was subsequently legally enjoined from performing as, or exhibiting the likeness of, the character in any form.

The first live television appearance of Ronald McDonald was by local TV personality Ray Rayner on WGN-TV Chicago (at the time he also played as the syndicated Bozo the Clown character on the same station). Soon afterwards Willard Scott played the role in a series of pre-recorded television commercials.

Ronald McDonald – Willard Scott

Willard Scott (a local radio personality who also played Bozo the Clown on television) performed using the monicker Ronald McDonald on three separate television spots—these were the first three television ads featuring the character, whose appearance was substantially similar to the original (George Voorees) Ronald Mcdonald (spelled with a lower-case “d”) as shown in the Valley News and Green Sheet, a San Fernando Valley newspaper of the time.

Though Scott claims to have “created Ronald McDonald”, he apparently is referring to his personification of the character in the following excerpt from his Joy of Living:
“At the time, Bozo was the hottest children’s show on the air. You could probably have sent Pluto the Dog or Dumbo the Elephant over and it would have been equally as successful. But I was there, and I was Bozo… There was something about the combination of hamburgers and Bozo that was irresistible to kids… That’s why when Bozo went off the air a few years later, the local McDonald’s people asked me to come up with a new character to take Bozo’s place. So, I sat down and created Ronald McDonald.”

(At the time Scott claims to have “created Ronald McDonald”, the character had already been portrayed by at least 2 other actors.)

McDonald’s mentions neither Voorhees or Rayner, nor claims that Willard Scott “created Ronald” in their statement:
“The smile known around the world,” Ronald McDonald is second only to Santa Claus in terms of recognition. In his first TV appearance in 1963, the happy clown was portrayed by none other than Willard Scott.” [1]

At present various forms of the name “Ronald McDonald” as well as costume clown face persona, etc. are registered trademarks of McDonald’s. McDonald’s trains performers to portray Ronald using identical mannerisms and costume as one another, to contribute to the illusion that they are one character.

Ronald McDonald – ‘The Code’ of the Clown

Willard Scott’s costume was in several minor ways different from the original Ronald Mcdonald version (but notably, retaining the “fast food tray” hat design) and, as Ronald, Mr. Scott’s clown face was substantially the same as that of his personification of Bozo the Clown, a well-known character whose widespread syndication in early television made him the best-known clown character in the United States. Thus, his use of the character does not violate the code of non-infringement. McDonald’s also changed elements of the character’s persona, style, costume and clown face when they adopted the character as a trademark, possibly in deference to “The Code”, the tradition of clowns to scrupulously avoid copying other clowns’ appearance or performance style.

src: experiencefestival.com