Cycle one of McDonaldland began in January 1971, about the same time McDonald's was replacing its drive-ins with mansard-roofed restaurants. These early commercials were built on an upbeat, bubble-gum style tune, and featured a narrator, and plots that involved various villains trying to steal a corresponding food item, foiled by Ronald.
McDonaldland itself, as it was depicted in the commercials, was a magical place where plants, foods, and inanimate objects were living, speaking characters. In addition to being the home to Ronald and the other core characters, McDonaldland boasted "Thick shake volcanoes", anthropomorphized "Apple pie trees", "The Hamburger Patch" (where McDonald's hamburgers grew out of the ground like plants), "Filet-O-Fish Lake", and many other fanciful features based around various McDonald's menu items. In the commercials, the various beings are played by puppets or costumed performers, very similar to those used in the popular H.R. Pufnstuf program.
[edit] Lawsuit
An ad agency vying for McDonald's advertising accounts had originally hoped Sid and Marty Krofft, the creators of H. R. Pufnstuf, would agree to license their characters for commercial promotions. After the McDonaldland promotion went forward, the Kroffts were dismissed without being credited.[1]
In 1973, the Kroffts successfully sued McDonald's, arguing that the entire McDonaldland premise was essentially a ripoff of their television show. In specific, the Kroffts claimed that the character Mayor McCheese was a direct ripoff of their character, "H. R. Pufnstuf" (being a mayor himself). McDonald's initially was ordered to pay $50,000. The case was later remanded as to damages, and McDonald's was ordered to pay the Kroffts more than $1 million when the case was finally settled in 1977. As a result of the lawsuit, the concept of the "magical place" was all but phased out of the commercials, as were many of the original characters.
[edit] 1980s to 2007
The characters that remained following the lawsuit were Ronald, Grimace, The Hamburglar, and the Fry Kids. Birdie the Early Bird would join the fold soon after, representing the restaurant's new breakfast line in the early 1980s. From then on, the characters seemed to live in the real world and they interacted with real life characters, but commercials still fell under the blanket of "McDonaldland". Soon after, the Happy Meal Gang and the McNugget Buddies were prominent features in the commercials (representing the restaurant's "Happy Meals" and "Chicken McNuggets" respectively, being the menu items that mainly appealed to kids) along with Ronald and the gang.
In recent years, the McDonaldland premise has largely been phased out of advertising campaigns, with modern commercials usually just depicting Ronald alone in "real world" situations with real children.
[edit] Late 2007
As the ongoing obesity epidemic in western nations has been increasingly noted by the mainstream media, McDonald's and other fast food chains have been under increasing pressure to revamp their products and advertising with healthier alternatives. As part of this campaigns, McDonald's has agreed to discontinue marketing to children under the age of twelve and the McDonaldland characters will be completely eliminated;[citation needed] Ronald has been recast as a role model for healthier lifestyles.
McDonaldland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Talk about bogus. I always wondered why they got rid of all the McDonald characters except for Ronald. What they can't have more than one role model?
You can stop advertising to children all you want when you have adults who grew up on the fast food chain they're essentially going to take their children there just because of the nostalgic value.
Those McDonaldland commercials were the best commercials McDonalds ever put out. The Kroffts were fucking splitting hairs IMO and were just pissed they were phased out of their creation. If anything it's more their fault for the similarities than it is McDonalds, they were just taking cue from them.
McDonaldland itself, as it was depicted in the commercials, was a magical place where plants, foods, and inanimate objects were living, speaking characters. In addition to being the home to Ronald and the other core characters, McDonaldland boasted "Thick shake volcanoes", anthropomorphized "Apple pie trees", "The Hamburger Patch" (where McDonald's hamburgers grew out of the ground like plants), "Filet-O-Fish Lake", and many other fanciful features based around various McDonald's menu items. In the commercials, the various beings are played by puppets or costumed performers, very similar to those used in the popular H.R. Pufnstuf program.
[edit] Lawsuit
An ad agency vying for McDonald's advertising accounts had originally hoped Sid and Marty Krofft, the creators of H. R. Pufnstuf, would agree to license their characters for commercial promotions. After the McDonaldland promotion went forward, the Kroffts were dismissed without being credited.[1]
In 1973, the Kroffts successfully sued McDonald's, arguing that the entire McDonaldland premise was essentially a ripoff of their television show. In specific, the Kroffts claimed that the character Mayor McCheese was a direct ripoff of their character, "H. R. Pufnstuf" (being a mayor himself). McDonald's initially was ordered to pay $50,000. The case was later remanded as to damages, and McDonald's was ordered to pay the Kroffts more than $1 million when the case was finally settled in 1977. As a result of the lawsuit, the concept of the "magical place" was all but phased out of the commercials, as were many of the original characters.
[edit] 1980s to 2007
The characters that remained following the lawsuit were Ronald, Grimace, The Hamburglar, and the Fry Kids. Birdie the Early Bird would join the fold soon after, representing the restaurant's new breakfast line in the early 1980s. From then on, the characters seemed to live in the real world and they interacted with real life characters, but commercials still fell under the blanket of "McDonaldland". Soon after, the Happy Meal Gang and the McNugget Buddies were prominent features in the commercials (representing the restaurant's "Happy Meals" and "Chicken McNuggets" respectively, being the menu items that mainly appealed to kids) along with Ronald and the gang.
In recent years, the McDonaldland premise has largely been phased out of advertising campaigns, with modern commercials usually just depicting Ronald alone in "real world" situations with real children.
[edit] Late 2007
As the ongoing obesity epidemic in western nations has been increasingly noted by the mainstream media, McDonald's and other fast food chains have been under increasing pressure to revamp their products and advertising with healthier alternatives. As part of this campaigns, McDonald's has agreed to discontinue marketing to children under the age of twelve and the McDonaldland characters will be completely eliminated;[citation needed] Ronald has been recast as a role model for healthier lifestyles.
McDonaldland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
========
Talk about bogus. I always wondered why they got rid of all the McDonald characters except for Ronald. What they can't have more than one role model?
You can stop advertising to children all you want when you have adults who grew up on the fast food chain they're essentially going to take their children there just because of the nostalgic value.
Those McDonaldland commercials were the best commercials McDonalds ever put out. The Kroffts were fucking splitting hairs IMO and were just pissed they were phased out of their creation. If anything it's more their fault for the similarities than it is McDonalds, they were just taking cue from them.
