The fantasy world introduced in McDonald’s advertising in 1971 was called McDonaldland.
McDonaldland provided a shared setting for McDonald’s fictional characters, including Ronald McDonald and several food-themed figures. Its colorful locations and unusual inhabitants were created to make the restaurant’s advertising especially memorable to children.
The campaign appeared in television commercials, packaging and restaurant promotions. It worked as a branded fictional universe decades before companies routinely described advertising characters as part of a larger media franchise.
McDonaldland is sometimes confused with the name of an individual mascot. It was the setting itself; Ronald McDonald was the central character associated with it.