Driving up to the golden arches in your parents’ car as a kid is a treasured memory for many – or a secret treat for those in their mates’ mum’s car if they weren’t allowed it.
And just as key as a box of Chicken McNuggets or a tasty soft drink, another core part of the McDonald’s experience was the face of Ronald McDonald. Obviously.
The clown was the mascot of the fast-food chain after being introduced way back in the 1960s.
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However, the yellow boiler suit bloke with a red wig and chalk-white face has pretty much vanished.
Although some of us found the clown pretty creepy, he was an integral part of the world of McDonaldland along with the likes of Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird and The Fry Kids.
A part of the marketing, you’d often even get a toy of one of the characters in your Happy Meal. He'd often even appear at restaurants for events.
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But Ronald McDonald divided diners and he’s not been seen since around 2016 when he was phased out of Maccies completely.
And after fans asked what happened to him here in the UK, McDonald’s ended up releasing an official statement.
It turns out that the disappearance of the clown was due to the social media trend of killer clowns – remember that mayhem?
In case you’ve blanked it out, it was when people would dress up as creepy clowns for social media videos. But then they seemed to start turning up near schools with incidents reported globally.
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And it quickly got out of hand with attacks and alleged knife-wielding clowns.
So, very quickly, fun and friendly clowns became bad guys meaning Maccies ended up taking action with its own Ronald.
A statement at the time read: “McDonald's and franchisees in the local markets are mindful of the current climate around clown sightings in communities and as such are being thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald's participation in community events for the time being."
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A statement on the UK McDonald’s website also said: "We're afraid that Ronald McDonald no longer appears in McDonald's UK advertising, but he is still very busy working for us.
“He often travels up and down the country to help promote some of our exciting new activities and visits our restaurants to make sure everyone is enjoying their meals.”
And since 2016, it feels like he's been seen less and less in the UK with fans likely both gutted and thrilled.
Featured Image Credit: Michael Hickey/Getty Images/Noam Galai/Getty ImagesTopics: Food And Drink, McDonalds, UK News