Speedee was the mascot that represented McDonald's restaurants before Ronald McDonald.
Speedee was introduced in 1948, when Richard and Maurice McDonald redesigned their San Bernardino restaurant around fast, standardized service. The character was a smiling chef whose image supported the restaurant's original “Speedee Service System,” a production method designed to serve food quickly and consistently.
The McDonald brothers later moved away from Speedee as the brand's main public symbol. The Golden Arches became increasingly prominent during the 1950s and 1960s, while Ronald McDonald became the company's best-known character after his introduction in 1963.
Speedee is sometimes confused with the Hamburglar or Grimace, but those characters belonged to a later advertising world called McDonaldland. Speedee is important in branding history because he connects the early restaurant identity to the operational idea of speed that shaped the chain's expansion.