McDonald’s created McDonaldland in the 1960s for its character-based advertising.
McDonaldland was a fantasy setting populated by Ronald McDonald and a growing cast of food-themed characters. The campaign gave McDonald’s a recognizable story world for television commercials, in-store materials, packaging, and promotional merchandise. It was designed especially to appeal to children.
The setting turned individual mascots into a connected brand universe. Characters such as Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, and Grimace appeared in different roles, allowing advertising to resemble children’s entertainment rather than ordinary product commercials.
McDonaldland is sometimes used as a loose label for all McDonald’s mascots, but the term specifically refers to the fictional world and its associated campaign. The characters and visual style changed over time, and many of the original figures were later retired or used less prominently.