McDonaldland was the fictional world created for a McDonald’s advertising campaign launched in 1971.
The campaign presented McDonald’s as an imaginative place populated by characters connected with menu items and restaurant themes. Ronald McDonald served as the central figure, while characters such as the Hamburglar, Grimace, and Mayor McCheese became part of the expanding advertising universe.
McDonaldland helped McDonald’s build a child-focused brand identity beyond the restaurant itself. Its characters appeared in television commercials, in-store materials, packaging, and promotional products during the campaign’s most prominent period.
The fictional setting is sometimes confused with individual character names. McDonaldland is the name of the world, while Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar, and Grimace are characters associated with it.