The Ronald McDonald Memes That Are Taking Over Instagram

What mascot has embodied McDonald's more than any other? It probably doesn't take a mind-reader to guess that a lot of people wouldn't name the chain's resident thief, the Hamburglar. We also doubt that the majority of people would name the vaguely gumdrop-shaped Grimace, who is apparently a giant taste bud or "the embodiment of a milkshake," according to a tweet from the company. If we had to guess people's top answer, we'd pick a yellow-clad clown whose name screams McDonald's.

In 1963, McDonald's introduced a new mascot named Ronald McDonald, per the Associated Press (via Business Insider). Somehow, he arguably looked even scarier back then. Though Ronald McDonald wouldn't be the only character McDonald's would release (flashback to McDonaldland), he demonstrated great staying power, even after he faced forced retirement in a bid to save children from the Golden Arches' marketing clutches. McDonald's may not use the clown in its marketing campaigns anymore, but his spirit lives on in the form of memes. Recently, McDonald's Instagram account gained a bit of traction on a couple of posts after sharing some Ronald McDonald memes.

Ronald McDonald hasn't been in any ads recently, but he sure has blown up on Instagram. Two memes starring Ronald in particular that were posted to the Mcdonald's Instagram account are gaining some attention. The first one is a carousel post of the Ronald McDonald float from the Macy's Day Parade with each picture zooming in closer and closer to his face. Yikes. The caption reads, "Can I get uhhhhhh ... cup of water?" stretched out across multiple slides.

One frightened user commented, "Mom, come pick me up. I'm scared." But that's far from the first or worst example of the McDonald's clown being scary. In one of his early commercials, he wins the trust of a child whose mother told him not to talk to strangers. That exchange bears a striking resemblance to Pennywise the clown's introduction in the movie "It."

Another meme shared on the account is a much less scary carousel post with three different captions above a smiling picture of Ronald. They read, "when you text your ex and they don't respond," "when people in the comments call you an intern," and "when you say 'you too' after they said 'enjoy your meal.'" Commenters added a couple of captions of their own, such as "When you want sundae but the machine broke," and "When you won't bring snack wraps back." Perhaps we'll see more of Ronald in memes, but if not, he can always show up in our nightmares.