McDonaldland

McDonaldland was a fantasy world used in the marketing for McDonald's restaurants. It was based on the "total concept and feel" of Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf television program.[1] McDonaldland was inhabited by Ronald McDonald and other characters. In addition to being used in advertising, the characters were used as the basis for equipment in the playgrounds attached to some McDonald's. McDonaldland and the supporting characters have been abandoned in their marketing, but Ronald McDonald is still seen in commercials and in Happy Meal toys.

Contents

History

1971 - 1974: Early years

The first phase of the McDonaldland concept began in January 1971, when 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; many had 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 a theme park of "Thick Shake Volcanoes", anthropomorphized "Apple Pie Trees", "French Fry Bushes" (where McDonalds French Fries grew from bushes), "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.

Some of the commercials were directed by veteran voice actor Howard Morris, who voiced some of the characters in the commercials as well.

1974 - 1979: Transition years

The McDonaldland line saw significant changes during this period. Notably, Grimace, who was introduced as an evil villain, was revamped in 1974 to be one of the good guys. Then, in 1977, the Uncle O'Grimacey character was introduced for a brief promotion for Shamrock Shakes around St. Patrick's Day.

Lawsuit

Needham Harper & Steers, an ad agency (now known as the Omnicom Group) 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 or paid.[2]

In 1973, the Kroffts successfully sued McDonald's, arguing that the entire McDonaldland premise was essentially a ripoff of their television show. Specifically, the Kroffts claimed that the character Mayor McCheese was a direct ripoff of their character, "H.R. Pufnstuf" (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 $1,000,000 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.

1980 - present: Popularity and decline

In the early 1980s and throughout the 1990s, McDonaldland remained a popular marketing device. The characters that remained following the lawsuit were Ronald McDonald, Grimace, Hamburglar, and the French Fry Gobblins (later renamed the Fry Guys, in an apparent attempt to make them seem more kid-friendly). Birdie the Early Bird would join the lineup 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 took place in "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.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, McDonald's released a videotape series titled Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald. The series depicted Ronald, Grimace, Birdie, Hamburglar, and a few new characters like Ronald's pessimistic dog Sundae. These videos would begin in live action, in what resembled a modern-day McDonaldland. Then when the characters would enter down a tube, or other means of travel, they would become animated. The video series had six parts but the sixth one is very rare because it was never sold at a McDonald's.

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. Grimace did, however, appear in an advertisement for Monsters vs. Aliens Happy Meal Toys, while Hamburglar also appeared in a more adult-oriented commercial advertising the Big Mac.

Characters

References

See also