1. Ronald McDonald lives!
Russell Grenning
In these uncertaindayswhenwe of acertaingenerationbemoanthe passingof the iconsof our
youth,sometimes –justsometimes –somebodywithcourage,faithanddeterminationsays “This
far,butno further”and I am proudto salute Steve Easterbrookassucha man. Yeahhhhhh...onya
Steve,areal cool dude!
Mr Easterbrook isa man of visionandof true grit. He became CEO of McDonald’s - whichisa major
force for goodin the ongoingfightagainststarvationworld-wide –inMarch.
At the recentMcDonaldsannual shareholdermeetinginthe USA,Mr Easterbrookdeclaredthat
RonaldMcDonaldis “here to stay”- yes,althoughunderhiswise leadershipRonald’slegendary
clowncostume hasbeensomewhatmodifiedtomake it,againinSteve’sword, ‘trendier”,our
favourite red-headedfunsterissafe.Jobsecurityisimportantespeciallyforclownsasgoodold-
fashionedcircusesare fastdisappearing.
I for one don’tmindthatRonald’soutfithasundergone some updating –afterall,I have gone from
flairsandskin-huggingsatinshirtstocomfortable corduroysandcardigans – and,let’sface it,when
McDonald’smade itsfirsttrademarkapplicationforgoodoldRon back in1967, hisimage wasthe
spittingimage of Freddie Kruger.Nowadays,agentler,kinderandtrendierRondoesn’tfrightenthe
kiddies.
And,giventhatRonaldisnow middle-aged,Ithinkitabsolutelysensible thathisold-fashioned
jumpsuithasbeenreplacedbyyellow cargopants,a vestanda red-and-whitestripedrugbyshirt.I
am envious –deeplyenvious –that his large redshoeshave remainedbecause itisyearsandyears
since I abandonedmyplatformsforcomfyslippers.
“Ronald McDonald – the Hamburger-Happy Clown”made hisfirstappearance onUStelevisionin
1963 and wascreatedby actor WillardScottwho had previously playedBozothe Clown.MrScott
wentontobe the weathermanonNBC-TV’s“Today Show”whichshowedareal talenttoswitch
fantasyroles.
Mind you,I have some nigglingworriesabout whathashappenedtoMcDonaldland – Ronald’shome
base – where he has,or usedto have anyway,lotsof adventureswithhis cheerychums Mayor
McCheese,the Hamburglar,Grimace,Birdie the EarlyBirdandthose lovable tots,The FryKids.If Mr
Easterbrookhappenstoreadthis,I do hope thathe can lie torest mylingeringconcerns.
Whenthe rival fast foodchainTaco Bell enteredthe USbreakfastmarketin2014, theyran adsfrom
actual real people calledRonaldMcDonaldtestifyingtothe wonderfullynutritional andall-round
lovelinessof theirmenuproving,yetagain,thatimitationisthe sincerestformof flattery. Pathetic,
reallypatheticwasn’tit?

2. Andwhile onthe subjectof imitation,Ifeltsick –yessickis not toostrong a word – whenI saw
HeathLedgerdoinghisdemonicportrayal of Ronaldin “The Dark Knight”.Ithinkthe character was
supposedtobe somebodyorsomethingcalled TheJokerbutI saw straightthroughthat so-called
“joke”and dashedfromthe theatre fora reassuring Triple Beef withBaconandDouble Cheese Big
Mac withlarge fries.
What isalso nice aboutRonaldisthat he has become soculturallyaware – inThailand,forexample,
he greetspatronswiththe traditional Thai “wai”gesture of palmstogetheratchestheight.We could
all learna lot fromhissensitivity.
Andhe ishonouredasthe Patron of RonaldMcDonald Houseswhere parentscanstayovernight
whenvisitingtheirsickyoungstersatnearbyhospitals.Iunderstandthatthese are forparents
whose kiddiesare sufferingfromseriouschronicailmentsandnotundergoingtreatmentfor
childhoodobesity.
So back to that McDonald’sshareholdermeetingandMr Easterbrookwhoalsoannouncedthathe
was “incredibly proud”that workersat theirUS outlets – butnot at outletsownedbyfranchisees -
wouldbe paida massive $1 an hour above the local minimumwage attheirUS outlets.Yetthat
wasn’tenoughsatisfythe whingerswhostagedanoisymassdemonstrationoutside the meeting
demandinganimpossiblyhigh$15 an hour.The bloodycheek!
One US mediaoutletquotedaMcDonald’sworker assayinghe gets$8.25 an hourwhich,to my
mind,isquite sufficientgiventhatMr Easterbrook – himwiththe vision,the determinationandall of
that – strugglesbyona base salary of only $1.1 millionplushisTargetIncentive Planwhichis160%
of base salary.I can onlyhope thathe getsan employeediscount forburgers.
Some pack of whingerscalled “CorporateAccountability”alsoturnedupat the shareholders’
meetingdemandingthatRonaldbe retiredbecause the clownmarketstochildren.That’srubbish
because I’mstill terriblyfondof him.
If I’d beenMr Easterbrook,Iwouldhave giveneverymemberof thisgroupwhoare probably
commies,free vouchersforaMcHappy Meal justto cheerthemup.