The Hamburglar was introduced in 1971 as a striped-shirt thief in McDonald's branding.
The character was part of McDonaldland, the fictional setting created for McDonald's advertising. In his early form, the Hamburglar was a small, mischievous figure with a long black-and-white striped outfit and a speech pattern built around the word “hamburgers.” His role was to try to steal McDonald's hamburgers, usually while being discovered or stopped by Ronald McDonald and the other characters.
McDonald's redesigned the Hamburglar in the 1980s. The later version looked more like a young human character, with a black mask, red clothing, and a cape. This redesign made him more visually approachable for children while retaining the central idea of a playful hamburger thief.
The Hamburglar is often mixed up with Captain Crook, another McDonaldland character associated with Filet-O-Fish advertising. The two characters had different costumes and product associations.