McDonald's introduced the advertising character Mac Tonight in 1986.
Mac Tonight was depicted as a person with a crescent-moon head, dark sunglasses, and a tuxedo. The character promoted McDonald's evening business and was paired with a rewritten version of the song “Mack the Knife.”
The campaign was created for the western United States before expanding nationally. Mac Tonight is sometimes confused with McDonaldland characters, but he belonged to a separate advertising campaign and was not part of the original McDonaldland cast.
The character became especially recognizable because of the visual pun in his name: “Mac” referred to McDonald's, while “Tonight” emphasized dinner and late-evening visits.