McDonald's is an American multinational fast food chain and a competitor of Jack in the Box. As of 2024, it is the second-largest by number of locations in the world, behind the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea.[1]
Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald founded McDonald's in San Bernardino, California, in 1940 as a hamburger stand. They soon franchised the company.[2] The Golden Arches logo was introduced in 1953.[3] In 1955, the businessman Ray Kroc joined McDonald's as a franchise agent; he bought the company in 1961.[4] In the years since, it has expanded internationally. Today, McDonald's has more than 40,000 restaurant locations worldwide, with around one-quarter in the US.[5][6]
McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include salads, fish, wraps, smoothies, and fruit.
Connections to Jack in the Box[]
- Both restaurants have clowns for mascots. The original incarnation of Jack was created in 1951, while Ronald McDonald was introduced in 1963.[7][8]
- In the 1970s, Jack in the Box advertising pitted the double-decker Bonus Jack (introduced in the mid-1960s) against the similar McDonald's Big Mac (introduced nationwide in 1968).[9]
- The Jack in the Box Bunch characters of the 1970s are similar to the McDonaldland characters.
- In a series of commercials around 2000, Jack in the Box mascot Jack Box challenged the heads of McDonald's and Burger King to call a phone number and make a pledge to change their ways.
- A series of McDonald's commercials in 1996 teasing the introduction of the Arch Deluxe burger featured Ronald McDonald in realistic, "adult" settings: playing golf, using a shoe polisher in a McDonald's corporate office, dancing at a nightclub.[10][11][12] The juxtaposition of a fast-food clown mascot with realistic settings is the foundation of Jack in the Box's advertising featuring Jack Box.
- In the 1997 commercial The Visitor, Jack Box claims his fries are "better than Mac's."
- The 2002 commercial Ronald featured a man named Ronald MacDonald complimenting Jack in the Box's burgers.
- In a 2009 podcast interview with Adam Carolla, Jack Box called Ronald McDonald "a decent guy" and that they've played golf together a few times.
- A video shown at San Diego State University featured Jack Box hitting Ronald McDonald with a golf ball.[13]
- In March 2022, Jack in the Box began sponsoring mcbroken, a website created in 2020 that tracks the downtime and state of McDonald's ice cream machines in the United States.[14][15] A banner ad on the site warns visitors "Don't Get McShammed," a reference to McDonald's seasonal Shamrock Shake.
- A March 2023 commercial heralding the chain's expansion into Salt Lake City, Utah featured Jack addressing Ronald McDonald directly, stating "this is the face of your worst nightmare."[16]
External links[]
References[]
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- ↑ McDonald's loses crown as world's biggest fast-food chain to global giant with zero U.S. locations; here's all about the company that dethroned it. The Economic Times (March 7, 2025).
- ↑ Skrabec, Quentin R. (2012). The 100 Most Significant Events in American Business: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-313-39862-9.
- ↑ Hughes, Mark. "Logos That Became Legends: Icons From the World of Advertising", The Independent, January 4, 2008.
- ↑ Who Made America?. PBS.
- ↑ Heady, Jaylen (April 20, 2024). How Many McDonald's Restaurants Are There In The World?. Yahoo! Finance.
- ↑ Number of McDonald's locations in the USA in 2025 (en). ScrapeHero.
- ↑ Stice, Joel. "The Strange History Of Jack In The Box's Jack", Mashed, December 10, 2020.
- ↑ Horovitz, Bruce. "McDonald's Sends In the Clown, Again", USA Today, December 10, 2001.
- ↑ Burger battle: Big Mac fights new Bonus Jack. The Spokesman-Review. April 27, 1975.
- ↑ "Ronald McDonald on the golf course." YouTube, 17 Aug. 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRSCjygJLh4>.
- ↑ "McDonalds Arch Deluxe Is Coming!!" YouTube, 5 Nov. 2015, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhJNE6CMkkY>.
- ↑ "Ronald McDonald at the dance." YouTube, 17 Aug. 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNYS8VZwlp0>.
- ↑ "Jack in the Box hits Ronald McDonald in the balls." YouTube, 21 May 2013, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JYXErAVtc8>.
- ↑ Chin, Monica. "Meet the 24-year-old who's tracking every broken McDonald's ice-cream machine in the US". The Verge. October 22, 2020.
- ↑ Jennings, Lisa. "Jack in the Box taps into ‘McDisappointment’ about broken ice cream machines during Shamrock Shake season." Nation's Restaurant News. March 2, 2022.
- ↑ Jack in the Box ad 2023 – Hello, Ronald!" Daily Commercials. May 16, 2023.