Ronald McDonald replaced Speedee as the central figure of McDonald's branding in the early 1960s.
Speedee represented the restaurant's original promise of fast service, but McDonald's increasingly wanted a mascot who could appeal directly to children and families. Ronald McDonald, a clown character, filled that role and became the face of the company's television advertising.
The earliest Ronald appeared in a 1963 local commercial, portrayed by Willard Scott. Over time, McDonald's refined the costume and developed McDonaldland, a fantasy setting populated by additional characters.
Ronald did not replace the Golden Arches as the company's logo. The arches remained the principal corporate mark, while Ronald functioned as an advertising mascot. This distinction explains why both figures appear in branding histories even though they served different purposes.