They seem a little steep for Worcester hills
By adamg on Mon, 04/07/2014 - 4:59pm
You may have seen the recent Taco Bell ad in which a bunch of guys named Ronald McDonald swear their undying allegiance to some new taco/egg/hash-brown wrap thing (we haven't paid that much attention since there may only be one Taco Bell left in the whole city of Boston and, well, we've got much better taco options down here in the Parkway region).
In any case, alert viewer Stuart Goldman noticed that one of the Ronald McDonalds is from Worcester, which is all well and good except a) Where is there a farm in Worcester? And b) Where are there mountains in Worcester?
Can anybody tell where this alleged Wormtowner really is?
Neighborhoods:
Ad:
Comments
Its like Little House on the Prairie
Some of the best well dressed, well groomed people west of the Mississippi
or
How can a family who is suppose to be in the midwest have huge mountain ranges behind them when they are suppose to be a flat prairie?
*ta da* TV Magic. Its not suppose to make sense. Almost as much sense as the Brady Bunch.. six kids, one bathroom, no toilet? Come on...
PS - I wish I knew him, he's kinda woofy.
Mountains
Well, they say that Wormtown (Worcester) is built on seven hills. If you take a lot of liberties with the hill vs. mountain concept, there you have it.
and the big Woo is
also the only city stupid enough to build an airport on top of a hill yet smart enough to talk MassPort into buying it from them. Those crosswinds may explain the lack of scheduled airlines. Only in MA...
The airport is lovely
You get a great view of Worcester from that hill. It's nice because you don't have any pesky airplanes causing noise.
Dis they say Worcester, Mass?
There are also (US) Worcesters in New York, Pennsylvania and Eastern Maryland (also not too likely to have mountains in eastern MD, however). Worcester, NY seem likely to have the right kind of geography, however.
Sorry
No shit-brown hills between Oneonta and Cobleskill, NY, no.
Yes, it says Worcester MA
Yes, it says Worcester MA
Oh!
That's a SNOW mountain in his parking lot! The color is about right.
I Checked Spokeo...
I checked Spokeo.com, and it says there are three Ronalds McDonald in Woostah, and one of them is in his 60s. The two others live near downtown. Maybe this is a case of a person living in a nearby suburb calling the central city his home.
Married
Also notice this guy has a wedding band on.. so we know he's married!
I was gong to say...
...what are the chances that someone with a last name "McDonald" having a child in the last 40 years has named their child "Ronald"? It just seems like people wouldn't want to torture their kids like that.
Then a I remembered my college classmate named "Jack Daniels".
Nevermind.
He's westa Wista
.
Just because he's from
Just because he's from Worcester doesn't mean they shot the commercial in Worcester. There is still hope this guy is legit.
Missed the commercial
But the real test would have been how they pronounced Worcester. That would have really given them away as to where they were actually from. If they just ran the caption and didn't even make the attempt, I guess that says just as much.
Hot damn this post and the
Hot damn this post and the comments r hilarious. I like how everyone is researching this man. I wondered if these men were real too. Did Taco Bell really fly around the country just to interview real men named Ronald? Seems unlikely
The guy is as phony as
The guy is as phony as whatever they use for egg in an Egg McMuffin.
You mean eggs? They crack
You mean eggs? They crack them fresh. I once got an Egg Mcmuffin with quite a bit of shell in it. They just cook it in a little metal ring so it stays in a pretty circle.
I can vouch for this
I did a stint at McD's in high school.
Less the steepness
More the dryness. Or non-greenness.
Worcester County?
It doesn't say City of Worcester, it could be Worcester County, the home of Mount Wachusett. Interesting to see Yum! brands struggling. Taco Bell apparently chasing McDonald's customers with this ad and the recent announcement that Kentucky Fried Chicken has now fallen behind Chik-Fil-A in the fast food chicken category.
KFC has been disappearing from our area
All three of the KFCs near me have closed over the past few years. The East Somerville and North Cambridge KFCs were remodeled into local Asian restaurants. The Inman Square KFC was torn down to make way for an apartment or condo building now under construction.
West Roxbury for the, uh, win!
In addition to the city's only Taco Bell, West Roxbury also has one of its remaining KFCs (Washington Street just up from the Dedham line) and an honest-to-goodness Long John Silver, which I guess is where people go when they don't feel like getting gussied up for Red Lobster (right next to the Taco Bell on VFW Parkway also just up from Dedham - convenience you can't beat with a stick).
Needless to say, West Roxbury also has a McDonald's and a Burger King (both also on VFW).
KFC
Is the one in Allston still there?
And why do I care?
I still mourn the loss of the last Arby's anywhere near here (in Waltham, gone for like 10 years now)
Four other KFCs in Boston
Allston, Rozzie, and two in Dot, though one of those is perilously close to Southie in Andrew Square. Haven't eaten in one in many years. These days, it's Korean fried chicken FTFFFW (fried fast food).
Gah, that's right, I'd forgotten Roslindale
Across the road from the mall where you'll find Popeye's, so it's a wonder it's still open.
I'm a fan of the Long John
I'm a fan of the Long John Taco's on the VFW, but I still miss the KenTacoHut that used to stand on Hyde Park Ave in the plaza with America's Food Basket. Three cuisines; one storefront.
Weird Aside
Those ads are directed by Errol Morris, of all people: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-errol-morris-uses-ronald-mc...
(No subject)
Seems legit to me
So everyone was filmed in L.A.
Heh, at the end if the video, the Worcester guy is labeled as from Boston.
The back of Mt Lee maybe?
The hillsides appear chaparral, rather than covered with conifers and deciduous trees. Chances are that that's the backside of Griffith Park in the background.
Eh, you're in Boston. So,
Eh, you're in Boston. So, Worcester, Wisconsin, it's pretty much the same thing, right--west.
It's the midwest.
It's the middle of the state, and it's west.
No, the mid-west is
No, the mid-west is Framingham. The Worcester hills are like the Rockies.
This is a trope that never gets old (for me)
See, for instance...
The hills are alive...
Those are the Santa Susana mountains north of lovely Chatsworth, California. A storied film and TV location, well within the "golden circle" of cheap union labor costs. :)
Korea!
As anyone who's watch MASH reruns knows - those brown mountains are clearly Korea.
[Actually I lived in LA and that looks like the mountains in that area. It's amazing how many places in the world have brown mountains and live oaks... according to Hollywood.]
Big Sky Ranch
because everything with that background is filmed on Big Sky Ranch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Sky_Ranch
Hence my comment about Little House on the Prairie, which was filled on Big Sky Ranch
A corporation may have LIED?!
Say it isn't so!
Success
The fact that anybody actually watched the making of ad, which is itself an ad, is proof that this ad campaign is a smashing success.
Not that I'm eating breakfast at Taco Hell any day soon… Last time I ate there I got sick from undercooked chicken.
its like the movie clerks 2
thats supposed to take place in suburban new jersey. However the hamburger joint has giant mountains behind in.. hmm
Commercial shot in CA
I propose that they shot the commercial in California at a studio set and flew everyone in for it. How else would you get all of the Ronald McDonalds together for the final shot? Plus the whole background for commercial is remarkably sterile.
Rounding up the Ronalds...
I noticed that too, but then I saw there's a group shot of all the Ronald McDonalds in one of the commercials, so they must have flown everyone out to California for the shoot.
That, or none of their real names are Ronald McDonald. But that would mean advertisers lied and I honestly, I just don't see that.