McDonald’s red-and-yellow clown character used in McDonaldland is Ronald McDonald.
Ronald was created as a branded character for television advertising and became the public face of McDonald’s children’s marketing. His red hair, clown makeup, yellow jumpsuit, and red clothing made him visually distinct and easy to recognize in advertisements, restaurant displays, toys, and charity events.
Within McDonaldland, Ronald interacted with a group of food-themed characters. Grimace, the Hamburglar, Mayor McCheese, and Birdie the Early Bird each had different designs and roles, but Ronald remained the central human figure in the fictional setting.
Ronald’s first television-commercial appearance was in 1963, before McDonaldland was introduced in 1971. That distinction matters: Ronald originated as a separate advertising character and was later placed at the center of the larger McDonaldland world.