McDonald's fictional advertising world for characters such as Grimace and the Hamburglar was McDonaldland.
McDonaldland appeared in McDonald's advertising beginning in the early 1970s. It gave the brand a shared setting populated by characters connected with menu items, restaurant imagery, and playful stories aimed primarily at children and families.
The setting helped McDonald's turn separate mascots into a recognizable branded universe. Grimace, the Hamburglar, Mayor McCheese, and other figures were presented as recurring inhabitants rather than isolated advertising characters.
McDonaldland is not the same thing as the Happy Meal brand. The Happy Meal is a McDonald's children's meal product introduced later, in 1979, while McDonaldland was an advertising setting. The two were often marketed to overlapping family audiences, which can cause the names to be mixed up.