McDonaldland was the name of McDonald’s first national children’s advertising campaign, launched in 1971.
The campaign created an interconnected fantasy world rather than presenting isolated commercials. Ronald McDonald served as the guide to that world, while other characters and settings gave McDonald’s advertising a continuing story structure.
McDonaldland was influential because it connected the restaurant’s visual branding, television advertising, packaging, and family promotions. It also helped establish the idea that McDonald’s could be represented by an entire cast of branded characters.
The campaign name is sometimes confused with the Happy Meal, which launched later in the 1970s as a product. McDonaldland was the advertising universe; the Happy Meal was the children’s meal associated with later family marketing.