Mac Tonight was the McDonald's advertising character associated with a rewritten version of “Mack the Knife.”
The character appeared in a 1986 campaign as a tuxedo-wearing figure with a crescent-moon head and sunglasses. The advertisements used the familiar melody to promote McDonald's as an evening dining destination.
The character's name is a deliberate combination of “Mac,” a shortened reference to McDonald's, and “Tonight,” which communicated the campaign's focus on nighttime visits. This was distinct from the restaurant's earlier family-oriented mascot advertising.
Mac Tonight is sometimes mistaken for a McDonaldland character because both appeared in McDonald's commercials. However, Mac Tonight belonged to a separate campaign and was not one of the fictional McDonaldland residents.