Hamburglar was introduced by McDonald’s in 1971 as a striped, burger-stealing advertising character.
The Hamburglar was one of the central figures in McDonaldland, the fictional setting McDonald’s created for character-based advertising. He was presented as a mischievous character whose main obsession was taking hamburgers, making him easy for children to recognize and remember.
The earliest version wore a black-and-white striped outfit and had a more sinister appearance. McDonald’s later redesigned him with a shorter, more child-friendly look, including a red cape and a more playful personality. The redesign reflected changing standards for children’s advertising and mascot design.
The Hamburglar is often confused with Grimace or Mayor McCheese, but those characters had different designs and roles in McDonaldland. Birdie was a separate character introduced later.