Mayor McCheese served as the fictional mayor of McDonaldland in McDonald’s advertising.
The character had a large cheeseburger for a head and wore a mayoral outfit, turning a familiar menu item into a civic leader. He appeared alongside Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar, Grimace, and other characters in commercials and promotional materials.
Mayor McCheese is sometimes confused with Officer Big Mac, another McDonaldland character whose name referenced a McDonald’s sandwich. The Hamburglar had a very different role as a hamburger thief, while Grimace was associated with the restaurant’s milkshake branding.
McDonaldland gave McDonald’s a shared fictional setting in which its products and mascots could interact. Characters such as Mayor McCheese helped the company make menu items memorable to children and gave its advertising a continuing story world rather than a series of unrelated commercials.