By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Last month the fast food industry got a much needed publicity boost with the ‘CEO Wars.’
It will go down as the latest version of a Burger War. This all started when McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski took a question bite of his own ‘product,’ the new ‘Big Arch.’
The small, awkward chump into the burger made the promotional video an instant meme. Then some of Kempczinski’s competitors mocked his demeanor, phrasing and reaction to his new sandwich.
Leadership from rivals like Burger King and Wendy’s, roasted the video, with executives filming themselves taking large bites of their own burgers to highlight the contrast.
Through it all, it appears fast food restaurants are using executives as their new mascots. With less eyeballs on televisions, the new trend to get attention is going viral via social media.
The hefty prices at these eateries don’t help the cause. People are driving by fast food establishments more and more because of the pricing, lack of options and there is no connection. Those mascots from yesteryear were a warm invitation to children of all ages. We wore the shirts, bought their figurines and even quoted the taglines like ‘Where’s the beef?”
Quick shoutout to the legendary Dave Thomas of Wendy’s for being an awesome spokesman for several years, but it is time to rank the best fast food mascots of all time. Either a creation or a real life individual becoming the face of the eatery are eligible.
10. Big Boy — Bob’s Big Boy
I have never been to a Bob’s Big Boy. So the mascot Big Boy makes this ranking purely off his appearance in the hiliarious Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999. The movie’s villian Dr. Evil escapes in a rocket shaped like the iconic statue.
With one glance, you know the brown-haired Big Boy in his red-and-white checkered overalls is a representation of an era and an eatery. The mascot has been the face of Shoney’s Big Boy restaurants since the 1930s. The diner is named after the founder Bob Wian’s.
The Big Boy is based off a chubby 6-year-old boy named Richard Woodruff,” according to the company.
9. Wendy Thomas – Wendy’s
OK, Dave didn’t make the countdown because he functioned more as a direct spokesperson for Wendy’s. But the iconic logo is strongly connected to Thomas. The cute pigtail girl is the daughter of the restaurant founder.
Wendy Thomas is the namesake for the burger chain and is the red-haired face of the eatery.
And a closer look at the Wendy’s logo, you’ll see the world ‘MOM’ indicting the maturity of Wendy and the type of food you can get at the restaurant.
8. The Noid – Domino’s Pizza
This selection makes the ranking based off of nostalgia. I remember a red, cartoonish image popping up on my TV during commercials for Domino’s Pizza.
Then with a catchy campaign, ‘Avoid the Noid.’ Quickly the Noid became a part of 1980s culture. Clearly there for marketing and merchandising, the Noid is the second most memorable character associated with pizza.
The Noid was a man in a red, bunny suit who often goes through the challenges of delivering a pizza within 30 minutes. Occasionally the Noid makes a return to give Domino’s a boost and makes us old folks reflect on a simpler time.
7. Jack — Jack in the Box
Whenever I am in the Nashville area, I will stop by a Jack in the Box and hold up the line trying to pick a couple of items for their lengthy menu. Looking around the establishment I can easily spot an image of Jack I. Box.
Then with some research you learn about the sorted history of the mascot named Jack. The company, founded in 1951, killed Jack off for nearly 15 years beginning in 1980 because it wanted to focus on a more adult customer.
But the name of your restaurant is a child’s toy. The imagery of Jack is perfect as a mascot looking like the toy that would pop out of a Jack in the box.
Jack is a clown. When the chain brought him back in 1994, it gave him a fake identity that included family members. Now Jack is the CEO and delivers a political energy in his ads. He is funny and definitely geared towards adults.
6. Cows – Chick-fil-a
There is no one cow in particular. But whether is is on a billboard, on a TV ad or a pop-up on a website, soon as you see that black and white animal you know the product.
Chick-fil-a’ struck gold with the cows pushing the public to go eat mor’ chicken. These mascots have an invested interest in less burgers being consumed. Chick-fil-a and the black and white Holstein cows are strongly connected now and grab our attentions. Their whole marketing campaign began in 1995 and will all remember to “Eat Mor Chikin.”
5. The King – Burger King
The most direct competitor of McDonald’s is definitely Burger King. After America fell in love and fear of Ronald McDonald, Burger King hit us with another scary mascot the ‘The King.’
The King has been the main mascot of the fast food establishment since 1955. Since 1960, he’s been featured in most of Burger King’s ads.
He comes and goes and even went through a phase of being the “Marvelous Magical Burger King,” in the 1980s.
Then a couple of decades later he returned in funnier commercials directly calling out the ‘Golden Arches.’
The emotionless, stiff face of the ‘The King’ is hiliarous and a perfect contrast to the portrayal of Ronald. Plus ‘The King’ is easy to identify with his establishment.
4. Taco Bell Dog – Taco Bell
“¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!”
This was being quoted on my campus of The University of Memphis in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Looking in the rearview mirror, it might be concerned a little racist, but you can’t argue that the catchphrase is iconic. The line was presented through a chihuahua and made the Taco Bell Dog legendary. The Taco Bell Dog was a chihuahua named Gidget. She was a Hollywood A-lister as a dog working in over movies as well. The actual dog was easy to love on appearance, but it did play into Mexican-American stereotypes.
Eventually the dog was removed after a success era of Taco Bell marketing.
3. Little Caesar – Little Caesars
Pizza! Pizza!, another memorable fast food quote.
Little Caesars delivered with deals featuring two pizzas for the cost of one. As soon as we walked out of the establishment on a typical 90s Friday night, I had the honor of carrying the cardboard box with the two large pies.
I would look down at the protective paper sleeve with the Roman emperor inspired mascot saying, ‘Thank you! Thank you!’
Their mascot is actually a mini cartoon version of Julius Caesar. The guy in the toga came to the masses in 1971 and fits the establishment perfectly.
2. Colonel Sanders – KFC
Harland David Sanders was born on September 9, 1890 and passed away about 90 years later. During his life, he managed to become Colonel Sanders and was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1952.
But Thomas, he is a real person? I thought you said, ‘No real people.’ Like the Little Caesar, Colonel Sanders became a larger-than-life figure and emerged into lifelong mascot for his restaurant.
He was more than just the founder of KFC. Sanders was the brand ambassador and grew into the mascot for the entire franchise. He is still the face of KFC and in recent years several actors and actress protrayed the legend officially making Colonel Sanders a mascot.
1. Ronald McDonald – McDonald’s
The official face of all fast food mascots is Ronald McDonald. The clown in the bright yellow and red with the ghostly white face and bold scarlet hair needs no introduction.
He was introduced to us as the ‘Hamburger-Happy Clown’ in 1963. Then he matured into a leader of a whole McDonald’s crew of make-believe characters.
Through iconic commercials, action figures and plastering his face everywhere, Ronald is one of the most famous clowns in the world.
Most school age children from my era could identify Ronald and he is still a celebrity on playgrounds.
Children learned to love him and get pass the clown makeup. Adults have a lasting bond with him and that helps make Ronald McDonald the best mascots in fast food history.
THOMAS SELLERS JR. is the editor of The Millington Star and both the sports editor and a weekly personal columnist for West 10 Media/Legacy Media. Contact him by phone at (901) 433-9138, by fax to (901) 529-7687 and by email to thomas@legacy-media.net
