McDonald's launched McDonaldland in 1971 as a fictional world connecting its characters and advertising campaigns.
The setting presented McDonald's as an imaginative place populated by figures such as Ronald McDonald, Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, and Captain Crook. Television commercials used the world to give the brand a continuing story environment rather than presenting each restaurant advertisement as an isolated message.
McDonaldland was designed to appeal to children and to make the restaurant experience feel like part of a larger fantasy. Its imagery appeared in commercials, restaurant play areas, packaging, and promotional merchandise during the 1970s and afterward.
The fictional setting is often mixed up with the individual characters associated with it. McDonaldland is the shared world, not the name of one mascot. Several characters were later retired, redesigned, or used less frequently as McDonald's advertising changed.