The Hamburglar was the McDonald’s advertising character known for stealing hamburgers and first appearing in 1971.
The character was part of McDonaldland, the fictional setting created for McDonald’s family advertising. In his early design, the Hamburglar was portrayed as a small, older-looking trickster dressed in striped clothing and covered by a cape. Later redesigns made him younger and more cartoon-like.
His recurring role was simple and memorable: he wanted to take hamburgers, while Ronald McDonald and the other characters tried to stop or outsmart him. The name itself combined “hamburger” with the familiar criminal suffix “-lar,” making the character’s purpose immediately clear.
The Hamburglar is often confused with Captain Crook, another McDonaldland antagonist associated with Filet-O-Fish. Captain Crook targeted fish sandwiches; the Hamburglar targeted hamburgers.