McDonald's first national children's advertising world, introduced in 1971, was called McDonaldland.
McDonaldland presented McDonald's characters and restaurant imagery in a fantasy setting aimed at children. Ronald McDonald served as its central figure, while characters such as the Hamburglar, Grimace, and Mayor McCheese populated the promotional world.
The campaign extended beyond ordinary product advertising. Television commercials, restaurant décor, toys, and promotions used recurring characters and locations to create a recognizable fictional setting around the McDonald's brand. This approach made the chain's identity feel like an entertainment property as well as a restaurant.
McDonaldland is sometimes treated as simply another name for McDonald's mascots. More precisely, McDonaldland was the fictional setting, while the individual figures were its characters. Some characters changed appearance over the years, and not every market used exactly the same advertising material.