McDonaldland was the McDonald’s mascot program and fictional world introduced in 1971.
The campaign placed Ronald McDonald and other branded characters in an imaginary landscape built from restaurant themes. Characters such as Grimace, the Hamburglar, and Mayor McCheese appeared in commercials, packaging, and promotional materials. The setting gave McDonald’s a connected cast and story world aimed especially at children and families.
McDonaldland is sometimes used as if it were the name of a single character, but it refers to the fictional setting and marketing universe. Individual characters had separate names and roles. The program’s popularity helped make McDonald’s branding more than a logo and slogan: it created a recognizable visual world that could appear across television, restaurants, toys, and print advertising.