McDonaldland was the name of McDonald’s early clown-themed advertising world introduced in 1971.
The campaign presented McDonald’s as a fantasy setting populated by Ronald McDonald and a growing cast of characters. Its colorful locations and imaginary residents gave the company a recurring visual universe rather than relying only on photographs of food or restaurants.
McDonaldland helped turn McDonald’s branding into a form of children’s entertainment. Characters such as Grimace, the Hamburglar, Birdie and Mayor McCheese were associated with the fictional world, although their designs and roles changed over time.
People sometimes confuse McDonaldland with McWorld, a later McDonald’s promotional concept used in the 1990s. McDonaldland belongs to the earlier character-based advertising era and was especially prominent in television commercials and in-store promotions.