Casablanca KidWorks

Casablanca KidWorks logo

Casablanca KidWorks was a project founded in 1979 by Casablanca Record & FilmWorks . The concept goes back to Lewis Merenstein , who was friends with Casablanca founder Neil Bogart . Merenstein was a producer , u. a. for Van Morrison ( Astral Weeks , 1968) and for the album by Peter Criss ' band Chelsea ( Decca , 1969), and gave Bogart the idea of producing records suitable for children and selling them through the McDonald’s restaurant chain .

Concept and development

Bogart commissioned Ellen Wolff and Walter Wanger from Casablancas Creative Services to develop the concept. They consulted well-known child psychologists and asked what is suitable, understandable and motivating for children and what would also do justice to McDonald's. Songwriters were hired who were known for having a good understanding of child-friendly music editing, and they produced a total of three complete albums, which were already kept interactive at the time, although the term did not yet exist: they contained puzzles, books or maps that the children could work with and learn through. Wanger and Wolff also wrote speaking texts for the albums.

The finished product was presented to McDonald's; Wolff, Wagner, and Merenstein went to Chicago several times to present it, and eventually some of the company's representatives watched the commercials, which had been made according to the tried and tested McDonald's model. McDonald's agreed to the concept and the marketing plan developed by Bogart, which also included the idea of a McDonald's record and book club. The club was supposed to sell records, audio cassettes , 8-track tapes and books. The Casablanca KidWorks trademark was registered on September 19, 1979 in the Patent and Trademark Office of the US Dept. of Commerce and thus received their trademark rights .

The records produced appeared in 1979 and 1980 during a test phase under the license The Ronald McDonald Discovery and were sold through the chain's restaurants. The label of the plates showed the well-known Casablanca logo with the addition of KidWorks , including a red crayon, marbles , a cube , a button, a Scrabble stone and a small toy. Although Merenstein had predicted further development of the department, KidWorks failed when it became clear that PolyGram would take over Casablanca Record & FilmWorks completely, so that Bogart had to leave his company.

KidWorks products

Ronald McDonald Visits America - A Child's Tour of the 50 States ( LP , 1979, KDLP 1001)
Rainy Day Fun Starring Ronald McDonald (LP, 1980)
K * I * D * S Radio Birthday Party Starring Ronald McDonald Dee-Jay (LP, 1980, KDLP 1003)
Share a Song From Your Heart / FRIENDS ( Single )

literature

And Party Every Day - The Inside Story of Casablanca Records ; Larry Harris, Curt Gooch, and Jeff Suhs; Backbeat Books, 2009; ISBN 978-0-87930-982-4

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b And Party Every Day - The Inside Story of Casablanca Records ; Larry Harris, Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs
↑ Ronald McDonald visits America, KDLP 1001
^ Official gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Trademarks, Volume 1005
^ John Sippel: Casablanca Kid Series Coming ; Billboard Magazine, Oct 13, 1979, p. 15

[party-1] A ^b And Party Every Day - The Inside Story of Casablanca Records ; Larry Harris, Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs

[2] Ronald McDonald visits America, KDLP 1001

[3] Official gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Trademarks, Volume 1005

[4] John Sippel: Casablanca Kid Series Coming ; Billboard Magazine, Oct 13, 1979, p. 15