Ronald McDonald is the most tragic victim of the UK’s killer clown craze
The so-called killer clown epidemic has claimed its latest victim: Ronald McDonald.
McDonald's may be creating jobs – but its red-haired mascot is "keeping a low profile" after reports of pranksters dressed as clowns and wielding weapons around the UK increased.
ITV reported that McDonald's had said it was "being thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald's participation in community events" because of the "current climate around clown sightings in communities".
McDonalds' alarming reaction comes the day after a teenager was arrested following reports of a person dressed as a clown brandishing a chainsaw on the campus of Brunel University.
That's after several sightings of people dressed as clowns clutching machetes, knives and other weapons across the country.
The craze has come to the UK from the US, where "killer clowns" have appeared in several cities. Although it's worth pointing out no one has actually been killed, or even hurt a little bit, by the clowns.
A spokesperson for McDonald's UK said: “There are no planned activities with Ronald in the UK".
Twitter users were pretty appalled by the news of Ronald McDonald's victimisation.
You might also like: Great British Menu chef Adam Handling's TripAdvisor meltdown
https://twitter.com/chrisconsiders/status/786055637121761284
https://twitter.com/keaton/status/785911205068025856
Although some were glad to see the back of him.
It's about time someone put a stop to Ronald McDonald. That jerk has been scaring me since I was a kid.
— Brandon Cloud (@theclobra) October 11, 2016
Pranksters being arrested all over the place for dressing as clowns yet Ronald McDonald has poisoned generations and isn't pursued
— Will Black (@WillBlackWriter) October 12, 2016