Ronald McDonald’s renewed sense of purpose

As McDonald’s opens its outlets in Maharashtra, it reiterates that it still has use for its semi-retired mascot.

Akshay Sawai

October 08, 2020 / 15:09 IST

The Coronavirus seems to have been good for one man’s career, Ronald McDonald.

The mascot of fast food chain McDonald’s has a renewed sense of purpose – to serve as a symbol of the importance of masks and social distancing.

Old Ronald began to seem outdated, even in India, where the company started operations only in the late 1990s. Typically, he would be seated on a bench outside the restaurant – his body language being of a man who did not have much to do and had become a sideshow in his own house.

The heady days when everyone, including Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan, took a picture with him seemed to have dwindled.

Ronald suffered a further setback in 2016. Gun-carrying people in clown costumes were spotted in certain parts of the US. McDonald’s was forced to shelve Ronald for a while.

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