Is Ronald on death row?

It's been a while since my last post... partly due to being busy and partly because I really don't think that there's been anything exciting to write about these last several weeks.

This morning something caught my eye that is very blog-worthy. Boston-based Corporate Accountability International, the lobby group that shut down "Joe Camel" back in the late 90s is at it again and this time, their target is the ubiquitous Ronald McDonald.

CAI believes that Ronald, as an attractive mascot for kids, has helped carve the McDonald's message into their young minds, contributing to the overwhelming childhood obesity, diabetes, etc. seen in kids today.

An initial survey showed that while the majority - 65% - said they had favourable impressions of Ronald (largely in part to the charity work that McDonald's does), 46% did agree that it was time to retire the 47 year old spokes-clown.

While CAI still has a long way to go on this battle, some analysts believe that it might make sense for McDonald's to concede since kid's meals are not the biggest share of their revenue and the corporation is still focused on growth in overseas markets.

CAI has won some important victories over the last 30+ years... I'm curious to see how this one pans out.