The Stories Behind Three Famous Franchise Mascots

Many of your favorite fast-food eats have a brand mascot. You may have even grown up with them, begging your parents to stop by Burger King just so you could see the King’s painted smile while enjoying a Jr Meal.

But how did those characters come to be? Here are the stories behind three of the fast food world’s most famous mascots.

Ronald McDonald

Whether you find him charming or creepy, there’s no doubt you’ve been exposed to McDonald’s world famous clown. The first version of Ronald McDonald was created by famed weatherman Willard Scott — or so he says in his book, “The Joy of Living.” Scott was appearing as television's Bozo the Clown, when he was asked to step in and help market a local location of the hamburger chain. When Bozo left the air, Scott claims that McDonald's asked him to create a new character — named, you guessed it, Ronald McDonald — for the chain.

Scott’s Ronald appeared in just three commercials in the D.C. area before McDonald’s executives decided to bring the character into the national spotlight, this time with a new actor — Ringling Brothers clown Michael “Coco” Polakovs. From there, the clown’s popularity skyrocketed.

Now, Ronald McDonald claims higher recognition status than Jesus and Santa Claus.

Wendy Thomas

Ever wondered if Wendy’s beaming, braided redhead mascot is based on a real person? Well, she is. The icon is none other than Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas’s daughter, Melinda-Lou “Wendy” Thomas. As a child, Melinda was often referred to as Wendy because her siblings had trouble pronouncing Rs and Ls. She claims her mother used pipe cleaners to hold her hair in place for hours on end to achieve the signature side braids.

She told mashed that before her father passed away, he apologized for naming the franchise after her: "He explained, 'I should've just named it after myself, because it put a lot of pressure on you.'" Melinda, however, considers the franchise her legacy to continue.

Colonel Sanders

Kentucky Fried Chicken was the brainchild of a man named Harland Sanders, who cooked up simple country dishes at a roadside gas station. Now, he’s the instantly recognizable face of the fried chicken franchise giant.

At 16 years old, Sanders faked his age to enlist in the Army. He was honorably discharged a year later and struggled to find steady work until the age of 40, when he began selling chicken dishes in a gas station. His “secret recipe” was coined “Kentucky Fried Chicken,” and he eventually pursued his dream of franchising a restaurant.

At age 90, Sanders passed away from pneumonia. At that time, there were around 6,000 KFC locations in 48 countries. Now, there are more than 25,000 KFC locations in more than 145 countries, and Sanders has been portrayed by the likes of Darrell Hammond, Norm Macdonald, Jim Gaffigan and Reba McEntire in advertising and branding.