Thursday, May 29, 2003

Matt turned me on to this fabulous article in the Wall Street Journal about the marketing rules behind Ronald McDonald: Ronalds have bodyguards: " Kids would throw rocks from the parking lot and sometimes you would get protesters - Ronald can't handle that." There is "one" Ronald McDonald: "To preserve the illusion that there is only one Ronald, the chain forbids two Ronalds from ever appearing together except at a secret biennial convention McDonald's holds - but won't talk about - in which Ronalds brush up on their skills " Ronalds may " never initiate a hug " Ronalds are also forbidden from revealing their true identities while in costume. We can look forward to an onslaught of Ronald McDonald because McDonalds is spending millions on a new advertising campaign to re-introduce the character. The kicker: The original Ronald McDonald got fired for being too fat. 6:11:17 PM    comment []

We have kind of decided as a society that it is OK for ads and junk food to help fund the services that we aren't willing to pay for.  I heard on the radio this morning about buses in Milwaukee getting televisions blaring advertisements.  Supposedly this would help pay for the bus system.  Orlando, FL is the only other city to try this and they have so far not made a dime from the system in over 2 years.  This is similar to all the schools having pop machines to help pay for activities.  Why do we need coca cola to act as a third party between kids and their schools?    I would bring a can of spraypaint and hose down those monitors if they ever tried that here.   8:55:47 AM    comment []