Mayor McCheese was the McDonaldland character introduced as the mayor of the hamburger-themed world in 1971.
He was designed as a personified cheeseburger, with a large burger head, a suit, a sash, and a mayoral role. His title made him part of the fictional civic structure that gave McDonald's children's advertising a recurring setting and cast.
Mayor McCheese is sometimes mixed up with Officer Big Mac, who served as a police character, or with the Hamburglar, whose identity centered on stealing hamburgers. Each character had a separate role within McDonaldland.
McDonaldland advertisements used these figures to connect menu items with an imaginative world. The campaign was especially prominent during the 1970s and helped turn McDonald's branding into more than a logo, mascot, or slogan.