Ronald McDonald Under Pressure to Retire?

For more than 40 years his maniacal grin has ushered swathes of children through the Golden Arches. In fact the pinnacle of the popular child's birthday party was the one hosted by Ronald McDonald (well, it was when I was young. Now they all want 'Make Over & Photo Shoot' and 'Music Video' parties where they dress up like Beyonce or Shaikra - arguably as unhealthy for the pre-teens' body image and certainly unhealthy for the parental bank balance!)

With McDonalds AGM about to commence hundreds of health professionals in the US have signed an open letter to the group claiming that their menu is making Amercian children fat and putting pressure on health services. They believe it's time for the clown to collect his golden watch and trott on to the golf course to spend his winter years.

Whilst well documented that children are brand aware from a young age and respond positively to the McDonalds' brand. Should we not stop blaming the marketing of these brands and start asking questions of the parents of these children? The odd fast food meal does not a fat child make.

Marketing and consumerism is everywhere we go and an undeniable part of modern life.

Moderation and restraint are important lessons to intil in our children.

Dear old Ronald may well be handed his P45 but I fear the tills in the restaurants won't ring anymore quietly. Children will still be getting fat and advertising, in one form or another will still be held accoutnable.

Leaked secrets

So Android phones are, apparently 'leaking' your personal information (wasn't it iPhone causing the leaked information furore just a couple of weeks ago?)

We're using smart phones more and more with an ever increasing appetite for technology in the go. It could be argued that we're simply being less precious with protecting our personal information, or perhaps we're naively trusting in our technical gadgets and their suppliers? Or could it be that consumers are just too ambivalent about this kind of virtual intrusion?

When Sony's Playstation network was compromised it seemed that the gaming addicts greatest concern was when they could start online placy again rather than whether their bank account had been raided?

This week alone we've had three briefs dealing with Apps, the App Trap won't go away anytime soon so let's hope that consumer confidence isn't damaged by news like this and it's potenial outcomes.

34 Million and Counting!

Rajar Day rolled around again for the radio industry yesterday and it's great news for commercial radio. Posting its highest ever figures commercial radio now welcomes 34 millions adults every week.

The survey also showed that the way we're listening is evolving. A quarter of all listening now takes place via a digital receiver such as DAB or Freeview. Listening via a mobile is making strides in the younger end of the market with 13.8% of 15 to 25's choosing to listen this way.

The clamour for number 1 position in the London market is always first reported, but our shining story is Oxford's Jack FM who in the past 12 months have seen their reach grow from 4% to 17%!!

Sony Success for Commercial Radio

The hangovers have faded, the shelves are weighed down with silver and the email signatures have been duly updated with announcements of awards won - yes this year's Sony awards are over.

The usual back patting for the BBC as always, but many congratulations to our friends in commercial radio who scooped a record number of awards this year.

We're especially delighted to see the 'commercial' part of commercial radio receiveing it's own accolades and rightly so. Radio is one of the few media where an advertiser can step inside the content and shape the output.

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists at this year's Sony's!