Across the world people are living in fear of the ‘killer clowns’ but could this bizarre new craze have been started by McDonald’s mascot Ronald McDonald?
It may sound odd to blame the cheerful cheeseburger fuelled mascot of a fast food company for the recent spate of clown based incidents but a YouTube video is convincing people Ronald is to blame.
The clip, which comes from an absolutely terrifying Japanese ad campaign for McDonald’s, shows Ronald acting in a particularly creepy way, The Mirror reports.
In the first ad he makes haunting phone calls to a young woman while staring at her window but as creepy as that sounds it comes nowhere near the second advert, which shows Ronald lurking under the woman’s bed like Donald Trump at Halloween.
There’s some debate at the moment over the advert’s authenticity but regardless it’s pretty chilling to think these ads went out to promote a burger chain.
YouTubeInterestingly McDonald’s have forced Ronald to keep a low profile at the moment, keeping him away from promotional events during the killer clown craze.
In a statement McDonald’s said:
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.
As an aside if these clips are real, what the fuck were the marketing team behind them thinking when they commissioned them?
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.