McDonald’s first mascot was Speedee, introduced with the restaurant’s 1948 Speedee Service System branding.
Speedee was drawn as a chef-like figure with a hamburger-shaped head. The character represented the fast preparation and service that brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald emphasized when they redesigned their San Bernardino restaurant in 1948.
Speedee appeared in early McDonald’s signs and promotional material before the Golden Arches became the company’s dominant visual symbol. The name is sometimes confused with later McDonald’s characters, especially Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar, but those mascots arrived much later. Speedee also preceded the modern corporate logo, making it an important link between the restaurant’s original service concept and its later global identity.