In McDonald's branding history, Mayor McCheese represented McDonaldland as its mayor.
Mayor McCheese was one of the colorful characters introduced for McDonaldland advertising in 1971. He was depicted as a human-like mayor with a large cheeseburger for a head, linking the fictional setting directly to McDonald's food branding.
The character appeared alongside figures such as Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar, Grimace, and Captain Crook. Each character gave the advertising campaign a recognizable personality and helped turn menu items and restaurant visits into an imaginative story world for children.
Mayor McCheese is sometimes mixed up with Officer Big Mac, another McDonaldland character whose head was shaped like a Big Mac. Their roles were different: Mayor McCheese was the town's civic leader, while Officer Big Mac served as a law-enforcement character.