Abstract

This article discusses the current relationship between image and entertainment, based on a case study of McDonald's brand image. By studying the different periods of its history within American society from when it was established in the thirties to our present day, the article identifies the historical moment when the brand image moved away from the product to a form of entertainment. In the case of McDonald's, the strategy of brand propaganda has aimed to sell not only hamburgers but a journey to an island of happiness. Aiming to understand why we have become image consumers, the articles recovers, based on McDonald's history, the economic, social, cultural and political events that have led us towards an image-obsessed society. It is argued that this has happened because we now live in a society where the image is the same as to exist. So the brand offers us the necessary illusion for identity construction. The clown Ronald McDonald is the perfect paradigm for a new kind of global consumption that smiles and waves with the promise of happiness. In conclusion, the article explains the global reach of this promise. How is it possible to speak of “identification” with a brand that, seemingly, has no historical or cultural relationship with Brazil?