Balance of Food

My clown can outrun your clown. For reasons only a sociologist can understand, clowns are associated with fast food. "Ordering out of the clown's mouth" didn't come from Ronald McDonald, but Jack in the Box. Jack and Ronald used to be carefree icons of their respective chains. They were a way of getting kids to go to fast food restaurants. Then, Jack in the Box literally blew up its clown. And Ronald McDonald all but disappeared along with his McDonald buddies. About 10 years ago, Jack in the Box brought back Jack, placing the classic clown's head on a 3-piece suit. The new Jack was sardonic, and given his edgy style to appeal to a 18-34 male demographic. In one of the first new TV commercials, a kid asks him to make a animal balloon. Jack replies, "I run a multi-million dollar company." Now, Ronald has come back from the near-dead to be an "athletic" mascot, complete with a new leaner costume. Ronald is now so adult he even went on MSNBC as the company's "chief happiness officer." Not many children get their news from MSNBC. Ronald changed due to pressure over unhealthy foods. Ironic, though, since the first actor to play Ronald was Willard Scott, that bastion of fitness. There's no way today Scott would even have a chance to play Ronald McDonald; he would be too heavy. For years, kids wanted to go, dragging the adults along. And adults reluctantly went only because of their kids. Sales suffered. Now, the fast food restaurants want the adults front and center. After all, those salads aren't going to the kids. And the clowns are the key to getting the adults back. These particular icons remind these adults of their childhood. Specifically, their fast food restaurant childhood. "Come to McD's not for who we are now, but for who we were 30 years ago." Though not a clown, the Burger King is certainly a costumed fast food mascot, and he has made his unspoken comeback. But clearly only for adults. These clowns have grown-up, or matured, because adults are now the focus. Young children might not get the attitude adjustment. They are familiar to adults who grew up with them, even if the current incarnations of Ronald, the Burger King, and Jack aren't exactly the same. They might have frightened us when we were 7. Now they make us smile. And that means more burgers and fries get sold.