Ahhh McDonald's...sure...they are still all over town. But as a kid... McDonald's was so much more. It was McDonaldland. A mythical land headed by a clown.
We grew up with Ronald McDonald, The Hamburgler, Mayor McCheese....Grimace. Grimace emerged as The Evil Grimace. He had 4 arms to steal more milk shakes. He came back in 74 as a good guy. He was a big simple foil to Ronald McDonald.
McDonald was retired in 2008. The characters vanished. Ronald was still around for a few more years. McDonald's backed off on Ronald around 2016 because of the killer clown scare. With the clown image scared by scary clowns, McDonald's backed away from Ronald.
I remember the old red, white, and yellow restaurants from being a kid in 60's Cincinnati. Soon after we moved to Cumberland in the early 70s, they built a new brown building. McDonald's then grew throughout the 70s with their new brown restaurants.
To me, McDonald's will always be a find memory of my youth. Mc Donald's still markets to kids...but it isn't the same without Ronald.
