... Follow Ronald McDonald through the land of apple pie trees ...

February 21, 2006 1:23 PM

The Freaky Universe of McDonald's Advertising
posted by anastasiav (31 comments total)

Hrm the torrent link at the top of the article is dead for me...
posted by beerbajay at 1:27 PM on February 21, 2006

Ah but the single video links work.
posted by beerbajay at 1:28 PM on February 21, 2006

I prefer Evil Grimace.
posted by punkfloyd at 1:28 PM on February 21, 2006

I love this site. I reread it every couple of months to remember how damn funny the commentary is. I'm amazed it isn't a double.
posted by piratebowling at 1:31 PM on February 21, 2006

Grimace was always my favorite McDonaldland character.

And we totally used to do that chant in the Double Dutch commercial as a jumprope chant.
posted by SisterHavana at 1:32 PM on February 21, 2006

Man, talk about pooping on my childhood. :-(

(It's a wonder I'm not an obese monstrosity being airlifted out of my house)

I loved the whole "McDonaldland" thing. The Bob and Marty Kroft surreal quality of a technicolor place filled with anthropomorphic food-stuffs. Happy-meals in cool boxes. Squeaky styrofoam containers. Seats in a big plastic pirate ship, or around a plastic tree with a great big smile.

Hell yeah!
posted by C.Batt at 1:41 PM on February 21, 2006

I've seen it before, but even if it is a double, I'm glad to be reminded of it. I still can't read the Shamrock Shakes commentary with a straight face.
posted by justkevin at 1:43 PM on February 21, 2006

The "Date" is fucking hilarious all on its own.
posted by klangklangston at 1:48 PM on February 21, 2006

I'M THOISTY!
posted by beerbajay at 1:55 PM on February 21, 2006

ha-ha, "blind date". Awesome. What kind of jackasses are they trying to appeal to?
posted by delmoi at 2:03 PM on February 21, 2006

Hahah, hormones in mass produced meat. Sure.
posted by delmoi at 2:07 PM on February 21, 2006

Hey! That's Christopher Meloni starring as Larry! Crazy.
posted by JT at 2:07 PM on February 21, 2006

Worth it if only for the following sentence:

"To say a lot of changes have occurred would be pretty dipshittedly obvious."
posted by Optimus Chyme at 2:21 PM on February 21, 2006

Later, after his horrific skin ailment, Larry would rename himself Freakshow, and still remain unaccountably attractive to women.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:27 PM on February 21, 2006

That was superb.
posted by Keith Talent at 2:37 PM on February 21, 2006

Nice. Mocking Mickey D's is insanely easy, but this page goes the extra mile for extra style.
posted by soyjoy at 2:40 PM on February 21, 2006

The commercials that were missing were the ones from the 1970's that highlighted 'seasons'. The summer one showed lots of swimming and sun, the winter one had ice skating and snow. As a kid the change from one commercial to another was the true sign of the changing of the seasons, not the calendar!
posted by UseyurBrain at 3:09 PM on February 21, 2006

Hamburgler was the best. He was a thief who stole hamburgers!
posted by birdherder at 3:21 PM on February 21, 2006

I remember hearing the chant from Double Dutch in the schoolyard as well. Ours had McDLT in place of the Filet-O-Fish though. I wonder if that's a Canada thing?

We didn't even have a McDonald's then. :(
posted by ODiV at 4:01 PM on February 21, 2006

Hamburgler was the best.

I always had a soft spot for Hammurderer.
posted by hangashore at 4:40 PM on February 21, 2006

Sure these commercials were great in their day, but MickeyD's is quick to embrace new technology.

For some reason I feel like eating a McGriddle sandwich.
posted by bpm140 at 4:44 PM on February 21, 2006

There's an actual Ronald McDonald; here's his web site. (He's a nephew of the co-founders. He's not the Ronald McDonald that robbed a Wendy's last November.)

Willard Scott "created the role of Ronald McDonald [or did he?], designed the costume, and starred in these first commercials" from the early 1960s. (These pages mention video clips, but they don't seem to be available on the site.) Mr. Scott also played Bozo the Clown for a local TV station.

Behind the scenes at the filming of a 1974 McDonald's commercial.

The actors that play Ronald McDonald seem to become embittered towards McDonald's. Geoffrey Giuliano (who also played Burger King) regrets brainwashing children, and Joe Maggard threatened to sue the "McBullies."

The McDonaldland characters were ripped off from H.R. Pufnstuf
posted by kirkaracha at 5:07 PM on February 21, 2006

Mildly funny, but I got more just out of seeing these old commercials again.

More of the Evil Grimace at RetroJunk.
posted by evilcolonel at 5:28 PM on February 21, 2006

Brings Dennis Leary to mind: Greaseball burgers. Nonbiodegradable styrofoam containers. Why? Because we got the bombs.

Honestly, I watch this and look back on my childhood and feel...creepy.
posted by ThusSpakeZarathustra at 5:39 PM on February 21, 2006

what C. Batt said--between these and Pufnstuf, etc, everyone our age was warped (of course in a good way) : >
posted by amberglow at 6:05 PM on February 21, 2006

Double Cheeseburger? I'd Hit It!

I briefly considered firebombing the local McDonald's when I saw that ad online.
posted by Clamwacker at 6:08 PM on February 21, 2006

ThusSpakeZarathustra: Two words - nuclear fuckin' weapons, OK?!

That headline in the article reminded me of a Mitch Hedberg joke, too, but you'd have to actually hear it in order for it to be even remotely funny. Mitch was like that.
posted by Clamwacker at 6:11 PM on February 21, 2006

"Don't forget to feed the wastebaskets..."
posted by tomharpel at 8:29 PM on February 21, 2006

If you liked this you should hunt down a copy of Production Notes: Fast Food for Thought — the actual notes from the ad agencies are even more ludicrous than any satire.
posted by rafter at 9:51 PM on February 21, 2006

Ah, the days before severe product placement.
posted by cynthia_rose at 11:41 PM on February 21, 2006

I KNEW that Grimace was a bad guy once! I can't tell you how many people thought I was crazy in years past for asserting as such.

Now I have video evidence!

(y'know, providing I ever run into any of those people again, and providing they remember some offhand debate that I apparently couldn't let go of...)
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 9:41 AM on February 22, 2006