Most of its advertising was targeted at working class. This changed during the 1950s, when White Castle sponsored a children television show, The Cactus and Randy Show.
At that tine American spending in food continue to grow. The increase appears to have stemmed primarily from changes in foods purchased, including more food bought and eaten away from home.
During the second half of the century, consumers increasingly spent food dollars on meals outside the home.
McDonald’s did little national advertising in the 1950s. In 1959, Minneapolis McDonald’s operator, Jim Zein, began running radio advertisements and his sales skyrocketed.
Based on this success, Ray Kroc encouraged other franchises and managers to launch their own campaigns.
Following this directive, two Washington D.C., franchisees, John Gibson and Oscar Goldstein, began sponsoring a children’s television show, called Bozo’s Circus.
This resulted in the creation of Ronald MacDonald, the McDonald’s corporate clown icon who appeared in local Washington, DC television commercial beginning in 1963.
During the following year, he appeared in national television on Thanksgiving. The company has regularly used McDonald its advertising campaigns and like the Quaker Oats man, people dressed as Ronald MacDonald make personal appearances throughout the nation.
Ronald McDonald’s a household word with its “billion served” advertisement slogan serving as evidence of its leadership in this area of fast food.
The Happy Meal has been pleasing kids since 1979. The Ronald MacDonald Houses are noted for their continued good work with families and children suffering from incurable disease.
Through extensive advertising, McDonald’s became the nation’s largest fast food chain during the 1970s.
McDonald’s and other fast food restaurant don’t rely just on advertising to get young people hooked. McDonald’s operates more than 8,000 playgrounds at its US restaurants to lure children onto the premises.
While McDonald’s is re-finding its belief in beef as its core product, KFC is continuing to harry its competitors by promoting chicken as a lean and healthy product, confronting the obesity and food hygiene issue rather than shying away from it.
The new positioning by company is summed up used by company advertising and marketing: tasty and safe, balanced nutrition, high quality, and healthy living.
In 2000, the fast food industry spent $3 billion a year on television advertising, much of it targeted at children.
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