Why Is Ronald McDonald Being “Ghosted”

In case you missed our conversation on the air this morning here's a sad bit of news for fans of decent clowns everywhere. Sadly, one of America's favorites has been pretty much ghosted these days due to the public's disdain. Yes, Ronald McDonald has been sidelined and is no longer in the spotlight that he has basked in since the early 1960's.

It seems that since 2016 he has been pushed aside because of the movie "It". If you recall the movie featured Pennywise the sinister clown that haunted and taunted little kids and brought them to his underground lair in the sewers of a small Maine town.

Pennywise was not a happy go lucky clown and was not one you would hire for your kid's birthday party. There were other menacing clowns in various movies that pushed the likeability factor all the way to down to the bottom and with that fear of clowns was sky high.

There were sinister clown sightings all over the world inspired by movies with very bad clowns. These evil doers with ill intent would dress as scary clowns and just stand on the street corner holding balloons and scaring passer byes to the heavens.

That was all it took for McDonalds to ghost Ronald and not have him be so present. Now you don't see him on tv commercials or pretty much any promotional ads. That's too bad, because all he ever did was try to make people happy. In fact, The Ronald McDonald House for Children has raised millions of dollars over the decades and has helped family with very sick kids afford the necessary hospital and ancillary bills that come with it.

At the time McDonald's made a statement to say it is being 'thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald's participation in community events' as a result of the 'current climate around clown sightings in communities'. 

The craze even led best-selling U.S. horror author Stephen King, whose 1986 novel IT tells the story of a supernatural being that appears as a clown, to appeal for anti-clown sentiment to be tempered.

'Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria - most of 'em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh,' King wrote on Twitter.

If you ask me, Stephen King is very much responsible for the disdain of good old clowns, it's funny how he knows his mind is responsible for the irrational fear of them and is almost apologetic about it.

Fast food is big, big business. Americans spent $320 BILLION in 2022. That's sooooo many french fries to get lost between your driver seat and center console! (A treat for later?) I started thinking about the country's obsession with fast food and wondering if Massachusetts lines up with the country as a whole when it comes to the abundance of certain fast food restaurants.

Stacker did the counting and provided the national data (updated in 2022). So what's your guess nationally? Does McDonalds hold the key to the fast food kingdom with the most national locations? How about in Massachusetts - does Massachusetts really run mostly on Dunkin' or did another chain edge them out for the #1 spot?

We're basing these countdowns on one thing: number of locations. These aren't necessarily the most popular fast food chains in the country and in Massachusetts, they just have the most locations. However, one could assume that the reason there are more locations is due to higher demand. Higher demand usually comes from higher popularity.

The first fast food restaurant in America is widely considered to be White Castle. It was founded in 1921 by Walter Anderson and Billy Ingram in Wichita, Kansas. White Castle is known for pioneering the assembly line production of hamburgers and for introducing the fast-food concept to the United States. While we don't have any White Castle locations here in Massachusetts, they do sell their micro hamburgers at area grocery stores so if you have a hankering for the OG fast food, it's a minute away in your microwave oven.

So let's do this. To get the full comparison, I'll first give you the 8 fast food restaurants with the most locations in the United States, then I'll give you the 8 fast food chains with the most locations in Massachusetts. Get your fiery sauce ready and let's go!

DOMINO'S
# of U.S. locations: 6,720
Founded in: 1960 in Ypsilanti, MI

BURGER KING
# of U.S. locations: 7,257
Founded in: 1954 in Miami, FL

TACO BELL
# of U.S. locations: 8,088
Founded in: 1962 in Downey, CA

HUNT BROTHERS PIZZA
# of U.S. locations: 9,240
Founded in: 1991 in Nashville, TN

DUNKIN'
# of U.S. locations: 9,412
Founded in: 1950 in Quincy, MA

McDONALDS
# of U.S. locations: 13,515
Founded in: 1955 in Des Plaines, IL

STARBUCKS
# of U.S. locations: 15,966
Founded in: 1971 in Seattle, WA

SUBWAY
# of U.S. locations: 20.603 (oh my soul!!!)
Founded in: 1965 in Bridgeport, CT

TACO BELL
# of U.S. locations: 75
Founded in: 1962 in Downey, CA

WENDY'S
# of U.S. locations: 98
Founded in: 1969 in Columbus, OH

BURGER KING
# of U.S. locations: 132
Founded in: 1954 in Miami, FL

DOMINO'S
# of U.S. locations: 161
Founded in: 1960 in Ypsilanti, MI

STARBUCKS
# of U.S. locations: 178
Founded in: 1971 in Seattle, WA

McDONALDS
# of U.S. locations: 239
Founded in: 1955 in Des Plaines, IL

SUBWAY
# of U.S. locations: 370
Founded in: 1965 in Bridgeport, CT

DUNKIN'
# of U.S. locations: 916
Founded in: 1950 in Quincy, MA