McDonaldland was the fictional town created for McDonald’s advertising characters such as the Hamburglar.
McDonaldland appeared in McDonald’s advertising beginning in the early 1970s. The setting gave the company a shared fantasy world in which Ronald McDonald interacted with characters connected to menu items and restaurant themes. It was designed especially to appeal to children and make the brand’s advertising more imaginative.
Its characters included the Hamburglar, Grimace, Mayor McCheese, Officer Big Mac, and others. The characters’ designs and personalities changed over time, and some disappeared from regular campaigns. Ronald McDonald remained the best-known figure, while McDonaldland itself became less prominent in later advertising.
McDonaldland should not be confused with a physical theme park or a real community. It was a fictional advertising setting. The name also explains why early McDonald’s promotions often looked more like a children’s cartoon than a conventional restaurant commercial.