Which McDonald’s advertising character was known as the thief who wanted hamburgers?

The Hamburglar was McDonald’s advertising character known for trying to steal hamburgers. He was introduced as part of the McDonaldland cast, a fictional world created for the company’s family-oriented advertising.

The early Hamburglar was portrayed as a small, mischievous character with an exaggerated appearance and speech. His recurring behavior gave commercials a simple comic plot: he wanted McDonald’s hamburgers, while Ronald McDonald and the other characters tried to stop or outsmart him.

McDonald’s later redesigned the Hamburglar with a more modern appearance, changing his visual style while retaining the basic thief concept. He is sometimes confused with Captain Crook, another McDonaldland character associated with Filet-O-Fish promotions. The Hamburglar’s defining branding role was specifically the attempted theft of hamburgers.