Those over the age of 25 might be able to reminisce with the iconic sight of Ronald McDonald when tucking in to some chicken nuggets as a child.
From what I can remember growing up, there was no better feeling than getting a McDonald's happy meal so you could play with a toy once and never use it again. And the image of the iconic McDonald's clown was always attached to the experience.
But despite being the face of one of the largest fast food chain restaurants in the world, McDonald's opted to ditch Ronald McDonald due to a startling reason.
Although I now find it difficult remembering what I had for lunch yesterday, if you cast your mind back to 2016, you might recall the killer clown craze started appearing on social media in August 2016.
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The aim was to hype up a horror movie that was meant to drop two years later and the original images that were shown worldwide sparked copycats in other places around the world.
Just one month after the first incident, there were creepy clowns spotted in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
From what seemed to be a bit of harmless fun turned into horrific violence exemplified when Florida family was attacked by a group of 20 people in clown masks.
The Sun also reported a person in a clown mask who allegedly pulled out a knife and started running after a boy on his way to school.
McDonald's released a statement at the time, which read: "McDonald's and franchisees in the local markets are mindful of the current climate around clown sightings in communities and as such are being thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald's participation in community events for the time being."
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A statement on the UK McDonalds website also read: "We're afraid that Ronald McDonald no longer appears in McDonald's UK advertising, but he is still very busy working for us.
"He often travels up and down the country to help promote some of our exciting new activities and visits our restaurants to make sure everyone is enjoying their meals."
Ronald McDonald still remains in some restaurants around the world but is largely nowhere to be seen.
Willard Scott was the original portrayer of the McDonald's mascot who sadly passed away in 2021 at the age of 87.
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As Ronald, he featured in commercials and in marketing imagery from the character's first appearance in 1963 into the early 1970s.
Speaking to the New York Times back in 1987, Scott said: ''I just love people. A lot of speakers on the talk circuit leave right afterward.
"I do a lot of shmoozing. I'm like a dog. You just open the door and I go, 'rrrr, rrrr,' and then I lick everybody's face."
Topics: McDonalds, Food And Drink
Anish Vij