Did Stephen King play a pivotal role in changing the McDonald’s business model?
Clowns have instilled fear into both adults and children alike for years. Although they are traditionally associated with comedy, aiming to bring joy and make people laugh, clowns don’t have the best reputation, thanks to several true crime incidents and terrifying representations of them in the media.
Once a staple feature of children’s birthday parties, the popularity of clowns has declined significantly in recent years, and it is not hard to see why. Their exaggerated features and makeup serve to mask their true identities, and their uncanniness makes them incredibly unsettling. The man who arguably ruined the reputation of clowns first was John Wayne Gacy.
During the ‘70s, he raped and murdered over 30 men, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in the country. In 1975, Gacy joined a clown club and began performing as various different clown characters, including ‘Pogo the Clown’, which earned him the nickname of ‘The Killer Clown’.
The idea of killer clowns became even more prominent when Stephen King wrote the novel IT, which told the story of a murderous clown named Pennywise who terrorised local children. King once discussed the inspiration behind his terrifying character, explaining, “I thought to myself, ‘What scares children more than anything else in the world?’ And the answer was ‘clowns’. So, I created Pennywise the Clown.”
In 1990, the book was adapted into a mini-series, with King adding, “It scared a whole generation of young people and made them scared of clowns, but clowns are scary for children to start with.”
Meanwhile, the popular fast food chain McDonald’s has used a clown mascot, Ronald McDonald, since 1963. While some people are fans of the red and yellow themed mascot, others find him absolutely terrifying, although his presence never affected the company’s ability to become the biggest fast food chain in the world.
However, you may have noticed that Ronald McDonald’s presence has considerably lessened in the past few years, and the reason might be rooted in King’s creation. In 2017, another adaptation of his book was released, which was a huge success. In fact, it was so popular that it became the highest-grossing horror movie ever made.
Just a year before, there was a case of mass hysteria after clown sightings in countries like England and the United States became increasingly common. Many were seen holding knives, chasing people or standing menacingly by people’s doors and windows. There isn’t one concrete reason for this clown craze, although some people speculated that the media coverage of these sightings was a form of promotion for IT.
Yet, it turned out it wasn’t a publicity stunt – people were simply jumping on a craze, taking advantage of the mass hysteria for their own amusement. However, it was very likely that these people were inspired by Pennywise – King’s character popularised the notion of killer clowns after all – and the killer clown phenomenon of 2016 might not have even occurred if not for the legacy of Pennywise and the widespread knowledge that a new movie featuring the character was in development.
Since these clown sightings, Ronald McDonald has been purposefully phased out of some of McDonald’s marketing. While we cannot simply blame Pennywise’s influence as the sole reason, King’s creation certainly had a significant impact on Ronald McDonald’s demise. Pennywise heightened the fear of clowns in people as soon as he emerged in the ’80s – and again when he reemerged in the mid-2010s – making us think of real-life killers like Gacy and reminding us of the sheer terror that lurks behind their thick makeup and comical costumes.
