Television

Television technology had been perfected by the late 1930s, but monetary and technological demands during World War II stopped early experimentation. When the war ended, television burst on the scene but few Americans could afford to buy television sets, and the quality was poor.
In the 1950s, the price for televisions declined and disposable income of many Americans increased so that most middle class families could afford television sets. By 1956, 40 million television sets were in American homes. By the end of the decade, 86 percent of American homes possessed one. Snack food manufacturers were quick to understand the importance of this new medium. Beginning in the 1940s, snack food manufacturers began advertising on television. Many companies targeted children’s television programs to sell their products.
Fast food chains were slow to take advantage of television advertising. This changed in 1960, when the McDonald’s franchise in Washington, D.C. decided to sponsor a local children’s television program called Bozo’s Circus. Sales in Washington grew by a whopping 30 percent per year during the next four years. Previously, McDonald’s franchisees had not developed television commercials. Using a simple rhyme, Willard Scott came up with the name Ronald McDonald for the companyicon he portrayed in the first company television commercials broadcast in October, 1963.
The national McDonald’s Corporation decided to sponsor the broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1965. Previously, fast food chains had not advertised on national television, and it was a risk because McDonald’s major sales were in the summertime, not in November. The Thanksgiving Day’s advertisement produced immediate nationwide results and this convinced McDonald’s to expend more funds targeting children, giving McDonald’s an edge in the children’s market.
By 1970, hundreds of millions of dollars of corporate funds were expended on child-oriented television advertising. Television promotions had succeeded in making Ronald McDonald identifiable by fully 96 percent of American children, making him second only to Santa Claus.