Ronald McDonald gets active makeover

New ads for McDonald’s Corp. depict an athletic Ronald McDonald who could run rings around the old baggy-suited mascot – the latest evidence the fast-food chain isn’t clowning around about its image.

A global TV commercial making its debut today shows the famous clown bike riding, snowboarding and playing basketball with NBA superstar Yao Ming, appealing to kids to get up off the couch.

In a not-so-subtle reminder that it’s not just about burgers and fries, McDonald’s also shows him juggling vegetables with his friends and dodging strawberries as he snowboards down a yogurt mountain.

Stung by complaints that fast food isn’t nutritious and can contribute to obesity, McDonald’s added salads and fruit options to its menu in the past two years and launched a campaign to educate consumers about balanced, active lifestyles.

Manufacturing

Goodyear’s Topeka plant in high gear

Ongoing U.S. military operations, industrialization in China and elsewhere and new construction projects have increased demand for tires used on large trucks and equipment, driving plenty of business toward Goodyear and other tire makers.

Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s plant in Topeka is running six days a week to try to meet the demand. Workers are just as busy at Goodyear’s other large-tire plants in Luxembourg, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey and South Africa.

Goodyear says every tire it makes is spoken for through next year.

It takes more than a day to build the large tires, which can cost upward of $30,000 and can top 14 feet in height. They are used on trucks and earth-moving equipment in mining, construction and in the military.

Tax preparation

Block shares surge

Shares of H&R Block surged to a 52-week high Thursday, a day after the nation’s largest tax preparer announced quarterly and annual earnings that handily beat Wall Street estimates.

The Kansas City, Mo.-based company also said Thursday it had given chief executive Mark Ernst a $398,640 bonus for his work during 2004, less than half of what he received last year.

Shares for H&R Block closed Thursday at $56.18 – up $5.53, or 10.92 percent – on the New York Stock Exchange.