Ronald McDonald debuted in 1963 with TV personality Willard Scott donning the clown costume for the first time in an ad spot for McDonald's (MCD). But if some health advocates have their way, the fiery-haired clown's days are numbered.

The Corporate Accountability International is calling McDonald's mascot a "deep-fried Joe Camel for the 21st Century" and is sponsoring "Retire Ronald" events at several locations around the country. The group claims that Ronald McDonald is a spokesperson for childhood obesity, and they want him cut from the payroll pronto.

Both McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) and the advertising industry in general have come a long way since Ray Kroc opened the doors on the first restaurant in 1955, pulling in a whopping $366.12 that day.

It's Ronald McDonald who has become one of the industry's icons, but this, his first commercial, doesn't exhibit such potential. Check it out, and ask yourself - would it have attracted or repelled you?

Who has the audacity to say that ... even think it? Nobody is bigger than McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD). After all, didn't McDonald's change the way we Americans eat? Didn't fast food and drive-thrus become the norm? Didn't McDonald's capture the hearts and, therefore, the appetite of every little kid with its Happy Meals and Ronald McDonald character? Didn't McDonald's even say that the world was ready for their menu and actually expand around the world? Even in France!

The answers to all the above questions is yes. McDonald's set the table (pardon the pun) to the way we view and eat fast food. Its success fostered major competitors like Burger King Holdings (NYSE: BKC), Wendy's International (NYSE: WEN) and Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC). It boasts a number of celebrities who have worked there in the past.

But McDonald's is still McDonald's. It has tried to be hip and cool by actually offering salads, but do you really go to a McDonald's to eat a salad? The movie Super Size Me did not do anything for its image either; yet McDonald's still marches on.

McDonald's went public in 1965 and a $2,250 investment back then would be worth nearly $2 million today. What a great success story; 31,000 units spread out over 119 countries. It is truly one great American export. The brand name alone is among the world's top 10 most recognizable and worth untold billions of dollars.

So, who is going to be bigger than McDonald's? The answer is Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX).