Mac Tonight debuted in 1986 as McDonald's moon-faced lounge-singer advertising character.
The character wore dark sunglasses and sang a parody of Bobby Darin's 1959 song “Mack the Knife,” changing the central phrase to “Mac Tonight.” The campaign promoted McDonald's as an evening destination.
Mac Tonight was especially associated with late-night advertising in the United States. His crescent-moon head gave the campaign a distinctive visual identity separate from the earlier McDonaldland characters.
Mac Tonight is sometimes confused with the Hamburglar or other McDonaldland figures. Unlike those characters, he was created primarily for a 1980s campaign focused on dinner and nighttime visits.