McDonaldland was the name McDonald's used for its major family advertising world of characters.
The campaign introduced a fictional setting populated by figures such as Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Mayor McCheese, and Captain Crook. It became one of the most recognizable examples of branded children’s advertising in the 1970s and 1980s.
McDonaldland connected separate commercials through recurring characters, locations, and stories. That approach helped McDonald's turn individual products and promotions into a larger imaginative universe. The characters appeared on packaging, playgrounds, television programs, and restaurant materials.
McDonaldland is not the name of a real theme park or a corporate division. It was an advertising concept, and its cast changed over time. Some characters were later retired, redesigned, or used less frequently as McDonald's shifted toward other marketing approaches.