“Now you can buy a Happy Meal at the Happiest Place on Earth.”

This chapter begins with a panorama of the Ray A. Kroc museum. Schlosser emphasizes the “Disneyesque tone” of the museum. The author’s goal is to draw parallels between the two corporations and their founders:

• Both Ray Kroc and Walt Disney were born in Illinois and born one year apart.
• They served together in the same World War I ambulance corps.
• They both left the midwest for southern California, where they played integral roles in two American industries.
• Both leaders dropped out of high school, yet added “formal education” style schools to their companies..
• Schlosser notes that more than being great businessmen and entrepreneurs, both men were“masterful salesmen.” They figured out how to market their companies well to children.

Ray Kroc’s name to fame came while selling milk-shake mixers in 1954 in San Bernardino, California. The McDonald’s brothers were two of Kroc’s biggest customers. Their McDonald’s Self-Service Restaurant used Kroc’s unit that could make five milkshakes at once. Kroc was amazed by their self-service system and envisioned the expansion of the restaurant around the country. However, the brothers were less ambitious and content with their current success. They had no wish to travel elsewhere. Kroc convinced them to sell him the right to franchise the restaurant nationwide.
After an agreement was settled, Kroc reached out to Disney to see if there was an opportunity for McDonald’s in the Disneyland Development. Kroc had high hopes, but his proposal went nowhere. Disney’s company progressed much more quickly than McDonald’s and served as an example for Kroc.
Meanwhile, Walt Disney founded the marketing strategy known as synergy. He allowed other companies to use Disney-licensed characters, like Mickey, with their products and advertisements. Later on, Kroc used similar techniques to expand his franchise.
During the Baby Boom era, Kroc wanted to market the restaurant to families and create a safe All-American place for children. In 1960, one McDonald’s franchise cleverly sponsored Bozo’s Circus, a local television show in the Washington D.C. area. The clown’s appearance in the restaurant often drew large crowds, eventually leading to the creation of McDonald’s own Ronald McDonald clown. Kroc added Playlands “playgrounds” to the franchises to increase kid and family appeal.
Next, Schlosser discusses how companies began to market to children in the 1980s. The fast food industry created promotional partnerships with toy manufacturers to gain more customers. The idea was give away simple toys with children’s meals and sell fancier ones at a discount. Kids would encourage their parents to take them frequently so that they can collect the entire set being advertised on TV. In 1996, Disney signed a ten-year marketing deal with McDonald’s and achieved synergy between the two companies.
Schlosser also discusses McDonald’s “Trusted Friend” campaign, which attempted to make consumers feel that the restaurant truly cares about them. The company wanted parents to feel like they are being good parents when they take them to McDonald’s.

The last section of the chapter discusses how fast food has been incorporated into schools. Many fast food chains have offered finances to needy schools in exchange for advertising and marketing of their products throughout the school. Schlosser says most school advertising campaigns are “subtle.” He cites a 1998 study that found that teaching materials provided by Consumers Union contained slanted information that favored the sponsor's product or views.