On the heels of Paris Hilton's sexually supercharged burger campaign for Hardee's and Carl's Jr, fast-food giant McDonald's is serving up a new generation of Ronald McDonald – one that's not a clown, and not even a Ronald for that matter.

The McMarketing campaign in Japan replaces the traditional baggy-pants male clown with a sexy, bikini-clad woman. "In the Japanese TV commercial," notes Britain's Guardian newspaper, "the foxy female version, with shoulder-length straight auburn hair in place of Ronald's frizzy mop, smolders at the camera in a flowing yellow dress, and later a red and white striped bikini with thigh-length leggings and red high heels."

"The customers are calling her the female Ronald but that was not our intention," said campaign creator, Hidekazu Sato, known by his nickname Kazoo, through a translator. "We devised the costume and took the red and white stripes and the yellow, which were recognized and converted them into a stylish dress. "We were assuming that even if we didn't include the McDonald's logo and even if the model was a beautiful Caucasian just those colors of the mnemonic design would wake up people's association with McDonald's. The important point is we didn't change Ronald himself – we played around with his costume."

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Posted by Lawren at September 26, 2005 08:13 AM | Trackbacks (0)

You Said

This seems wrong on so many levels.

Says: Brian D. at September 26, 2005 10:54 AM

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Eating that burger will never be the same.

Says: Dan at September 27, 2005 03:18 PM

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