Banksy has also taken on concerns of socio-economic disparity with his work. In the first image he depicts a small child pulling a rickshaw much larger than he is which holds wealthy tourists. The barefoot child struggles with the crushing wait of the fat Americans, who obliviously smile and snap a selfie. The painting demands that the viewer reassess their first-world priorities. The second work addresses not only socio-economic disparity but also the role multi-national corporations’ play in oppressing people in impoverished countries. In this performance piece, a young man in tattered clothing is forced to polish the giant clown shoe of a disapproving Ronald McDonald. This particular work of art toured New York City for a 24-hour period, randomly appearing in front of McDonald’s restaurants throughout the city. To further the irony of this piece, Ronald’s face is not his standard smiling clown face but rather a Greek tragedy mask. By including a live actor in the artwork, Banksy increases the participation and interaction of the viewer. It is much more difficult to ignore the logos argument that corporations oppress when it is presented in live action.
As a pop culture icon, images of Ronald McDonald have become part of the visual rhetoric vernacular in works tackling corporate oppression.
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