Which mascot did McDonald’s introduce in 1963 as its first national advertising character?

McDonald’s introduced Ronald McDonald in 1963 as its first national advertising mascot.

The character was created for television advertising to make McDonald’s more recognizable to children and families. Willard Scott, then a television personality in Washington, D.C., played an early version of Ronald for local McDonald’s commercials. The national character soon developed a clown costume, red hair, and a bright fast-food-themed personality.

Ronald was not the company’s only later mascot. McDonaldland characters such as the Hamburglar, Grimace, and Mayor McCheese joined the advertising world during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Those characters helped turn McDonald’s restaurants into a distinctive fictional brand universe.

A common mix-up is identifying Ronald as a product mascot or as a character created after the Hamburglar. Historically, Ronald appeared first among McDonald’s major national advertising characters, while the other figures were added later.