Which McDonald’s advertising character was known as the company’s fictional mayor?

Mayor McCheese was McDonald’s advertising character known as the fictional mayor.

Mayor McCheese appeared in McDonaldland, the fantasy setting McDonald’s used in children’s advertising from the early 1970s. He was portrayed as a humanlike figure with a large cheeseburger for a head, combining the restaurant’s food imagery with the playful character design common in children’s commercials of the period.

The character was part of an ensemble that included the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie, and other residents. Each figure had a distinctive visual identity, allowing McDonald’s advertisements to build recurring stories rather than simply show food and restaurants.

Mayor McCheese is sometimes confused with Officer Big Mac because both were civic or official-looking characters. Officer Big Mac was associated with law enforcement, while Mayor McCheese held the fictional mayoral role. The characters belonged to the same McDonaldland advertising universe but had different identities.