Opening with a catch-prhase from the 60’s, we present to you the McDonald’s rip off of H.R. Pufnstuf.

The fact that McDonald’s was sued for blatantly ripping off the H.R. Pufnstuf is not unknown, but it isn’t common knowledge either as neither McDonaldland or H.R. Pufnstuf have been seen in years.

However, if you look at PufnStufProductions’s YouTube posting of the H.R. Pufnstuf introduction against THIS (thanks to crakkerjakk):

You can see why McDonald’s lost — and they had to pay over a million in damages.

Play fair, kids.

Copyright laws aside — just look at the ad itself.  Apple Pie trees?  Hamburger and French fry plants?  So they were implying that the food was vegan?  And is it me, or does Ronald look like he’s sporting more of an afro than his usual frizzy hair?  Anyone else a little creeped out?

Although they could always play the “Darker and Edgier” gambit playing off the latest Alice in Wonderland film by Tim Burton — providing they don’t get sued for that too.  Imagine — “Return to McDonaldland”.

There’s no Jack-in-the-Box franchises this side of the border that I’m aware of, but it’s been around our more South-bound neighbours a long time.

Here’s an old commercial for Jack-in-the-Box from the 70’s, brought to us by RetroJunk.com and YouTube user blank77:

Hard to believe people really did speak into a large, scary clown to place their greasy food order.  Bring those things back and I bet the obesity rates would drop.  Or perhaps not.

Now, compare it to a modern Jack, brought to us by maybe-not-quite-safe-for-work planetvids.com and YouTube user sgondesen:

The modern Jack-in-the-Box ads have a lot more bite to them, and given that the giant clown head is likely to given children nightmares, they might as well cater to a more adult audience (especially since there’s no competing with Ronald)

Not that McDonald’s commercials are without bite.

If your business is planning to be around for a long time, something that you’re going to have to think about is “What will my business have to be when it grows up?”.  Included in those thoughts is how you’ll be able to let people know you’ve changed.

Best have either a maturity plan, or an exit strategy prepared.

And now for something completely different:

Yes, this was the original Grimace.  While he’s changed a lot since, apparently his intellect didn’t go up any, considering he stole the empty cups from McDonald’s.

You think that’s bad?  Ronald’s first appearance is about 100 times creepier.

There’s no way an ad like this would fly today, although not for any objectionable content (nightmare-fuel E. Grimace aside)  It’s simply not permissible to direct advertising at kids.

Personally though, I think there’s a major advertising opportunity to create a movie called “Return to McDonald Land”.  Just have a bunch of kids return to McDonald Land as adults.  It’d be advertising and cinematic gold even if (or especially if) it’s horrible.

As the long weekend is coming up, no polls this Friday.  (Unless we get a lot of comments, in which case expect an edit.)  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Consider this McDonald’s Ad from times past…

I unfortunately have no idea when or where this ad aired, but it is defintely interesting.  Regardless of whether or not you liked the humour, I doubt this kind of commercial would ever see TV air time here across North America today.

At the time of its creation, McDonald’s was probably not worried about offending anyone.  The commercial was made within the acceptable parameters of society at the time.  They had no idea that the Internet would grant their work immortality.

It’s impossible to remove their creation from the memory of the Internet now.  Even if they petition YouTube.  Even if they spent money to monitor every public video-sharing service every day to automatically ensure its removal.  Someone has the original, and many probably have the copy, and they will share it because they like it, and it will resurface.

So when old ads resurface, what should they do?

Personally, I see two options:

• Suck it up, and move on:  The “When In Rome” defence.  “I was young and stupid”.  “That was socially acceptable for the time.  Things have changed.”  Baby pictures can be SO embarrassing…
• Embrace it – “Yeah, we’d NEVER do that now, isn’t it terrible? LOL!”  Then sell it, or collections of old “good” stuff.  It’s still effective advertising.  (Heck, it’s even a live history lesson!  It’s Edutainment!)

The third option some companies might try — “Destroy the evidence” — won’t work for reasons already stated.

What do you think?