Ronald McDonald is reaching out to kids online

Ronald McDonald is alive, well and raising eyebrows in the new TV campaign that asks kids to download their photos to his website and prepare photos of themselves with him.



In the nation where kid-targeted fast-food spots are already panned as a cause of weight problems in children, there has been much media speculation the world's most famous spokes-clown was disappearing from McDonald's advertising.

Not it. Ronald McDonald never did get axed. As well as in a half-dozen ads to produce over the next almost a year, he's a chipper Ronald-in-motion: dancing, playing soccer, shooting hoops ?a and nudging kids to travel to his website and download photos and videos ?a Ronaldgrams ?a to share with friends.

"Kids today live in a digital world," says Dean Barrett, McDonald's global marketing officer. "You must speak to kids inside of a digital language in order to connect."

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Not everyone's a devotee. "Parents are going crazy attempting to deal with the Internet and social media and their kids," says advertising and clinical psychologist Carol Moog. "Why would I would like my kid to achieve this?"

But Paul Kurnit, founder of the KidShop consulting firm, says it can be a hit. The No. 1 activity that youngsters do online is connect with TV properties using their offline life, he tells. "Online is where the world will go."

In one commercial that begins April 6 on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, a chatty Ronald greets folks on the street and poses using them for photos in a empty picture frame that he's carrying. "You can picture yourself with Ronald at Happymeal.com," says an off-screen voice. "Ask parents permission."

One watchdog group says Ronald McDonald has got too far with this campaign.

"I think it's interesting that this commercials remind kids to inquire about their parents for permission it is usually to play with Ronald online," says Deborah Lapidus, campaign director of Corporate Accountability International. "If McDonald's really stands behind its contention until this is an issue of 'parental choice,' then why is it marketing directly to kids rather than parents?"

But Ronald is much more than a spokesman, says Marlena Peleo-Lazar, global chief creative officer. "Ronald's job would be to promote joy, fun as well as spontaneity of the brand. He never does a hard sell."