What name did McDonald's give its fictional advertising world of mascots?

McDonaldland was the fictional advertising world created for McDonald’s mascots and family marketing. It provided a shared setting for characters such as Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar, Grimace, and Mayor McCheese.

The campaign became prominent in the 1970s, when fast-food advertising increasingly used recurring characters and fantasy settings to attract children. McDonaldland commercials presented the restaurant’s food and playground-like experiences through an imaginary landscape.

The setting was not a real geographic place or a chain of restaurants. It was a branded story world used in television commercials, packaging, promotional materials, and restaurant attractions.

McDonaldland is sometimes confused with the name of a McDonald’s themed play area or a restaurant slogan. Its main function was to organize the company’s fictional characters into one recognizable advertising universe.