Speedee represented McDonald's quick-service brand before Ronald McDonald.
McDonald's introduced Speedee in 1948, when Richard and Maurice McDonald redesigned their restaurant around a simplified, faster service system. The character was a chef-like figure whose name referred to speed, the central promise of the original Speedee Service System.
Speedee appeared in early McDonald's signs, packaging, and advertising. He was eventually replaced as the company's best-known character by Ronald McDonald, who became the public face of the brand during the 1960s.
Speedee is sometimes confused with later McDonald's characters such as Grimace, the Hamburglar, or Mayor McCheese. Those figures belonged to the later McDonaldland advertising world, while Speedee belongs to the restaurant chain's earlier identity and its emphasis on rapid service.