McDonald’s unveils freakish new mascot

By creammagazine, May 20, 2014

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McDonald’s has unveiled a new mascot called ‘Happy’ but it seems the public are far from happy about it.

While the character’s name might connote brightness and joy, it is in fact a scary box-shaped thing with googly eyes that, frankly, looks more ‘serial killer’ than ‘chirpy mascot’.

Fairly lazily designed, apparently to represent the ‘Happy Meal’ box on the fast food chain’s menu, the new mascot is being considered as a fulltime ambassador for McDonald’s, to join icons Ronald McDonald and Hamburlger in representing, er, “balanced and wholesome eating”, according to a Macca’s spokesperson.

Happy is being introduced in a worldwide campaign on Friday 23 May but already the brand’s ad agency (based in Paris, of all places) is rolling out twisted versions of the creature including dragged-up cowboy and Indian Happys, an accordion-playing Happy, even a Happy ‘human cannonball’ and one very freakish Happy Clown.

Suffice to say, the negative comments have been rife on Twitter and Facebook with some members of the public calling the representations stereotypical and racist.

Antonino Tati