Taco Bell namedrops Ronald McDonald 240 times just to show how good they are

Taco Bell of Kentucky wants to boost sales by opening most of its roughly 6,000 US stores a few hours earlier, at 7 a.m., starting this week.

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But Taco Bell has a long way to go to catch up with McDonald’s, which is No1 with 31 percent of the breakfast category, according to market researcher Technomic. Egg McMuffins and other items have been consistent sellers for McDonald’s over the years, with breakfast accounting for about 20 percent of the company’s US sales.

Taco Bell breakfasts accounted for just 4 percent of sales in tests before national marketing began Taco Bell president Brian Niccol said in a phone interview that the goal was to get the figure to a level ‘‘much greater than that.’’

Niccol admitted the 240 real-life Ronald McDonalds were paid for their appearances in the ads, but insists that their enthusiastic reactions to the food were real.

‘‘All of them resoundingly loved the food,’’ he said.

Taco Bell’s ad agency, Deutsch LA, found about 400 men and women with the name Ronald McDonald, Ronnie McDonald, or some variation, Niccol said.

All over the country , the men show their approval of the food with comments like, ‘‘It’s not messy,’’ ‘‘Mmm, wow,’’ ‘‘Mmm, real good,’’ and ‘‘It has everything I like.’’

Tiny print at the end of the ad notes that, ‘‘These Ronald McDonalds are not affiliated with McDonald’s Corporation and were individually selected as paid endorsers of Taco Bell Breakfast.’’

‘‘We like to do things with a wink and smile,’’ Niccol said. ‘‘We have a sense of humour.’’

A representative for McDonald’s Corp. did not respond to a request for comment.