Ross Perot, in his squeaky Texas twang, would have put it this way: "What you're gonna be hearing, folks, is a giant sucking sound." In the marketing world, that noise is now coming from a shift in media spending more dramatic than in any of the last 25 years.

You need only look at the success of Chinese-made merchandise to see that "Made in USA" does not carry the cache it once did. Although calls to "Buy American" arise during any economic downturn, American consumers vote otherwise every time they hop into their Japanese-made car, fill it up with gasoline refined from foreign oil and motor over to Wal-Mart for the sale on patio furniture that was made in Mexico.

There is a plethora of disturbing news out there today. The economy, the bailout, the war on terror, you pick it. And if you’re still struggling with how to incorporate your traditional marketing with cost-effective, ROI-driven e-marketing, there’s even scarier news that came out recently.

Like a nimble professional driver navigating a multi-car crash on the racetrack, some brands are making slick moves through the troubled economy. And as they slip past the wreckage, they are hitting the branding accelerator hard to put distance between themselves and their rivals.

Simply put, Ronald McDonald is an American icon. He was created in 1963 and first portrayed by none other than (hang on to your McGriddle) the future Hailer of Centenarians himself, Willard Scott.

Ronald is a cheerful brand mascot known by 96 percent of all school kids in America, according to stunning-stuff.com. He is second only to Santa Claus. But other than the bizarre McFactoid of the link to the unbearably cheerful Mr. Scott, Ronald just isn’t that interesting to today’s adults.