Mayor McCheese was the fictional mayor of McDonaldland.
The character had a human-like body and an oversized cheeseburger for a head, making the connection to McDonald's immediate. He appeared in the chain's fantasy advertising universe alongside Ronald McDonald, Grimace, the Hamburglar, and other recurring figures.
Mayor McCheese was part of the character-driven branding that McDonald's used especially heavily in children's advertising from the 1970s. His title gave the fictional setting a civic structure and created opportunities for story-based commercials rather than simple product announcements.
Mayor McCheese is sometimes confused with Officer Big Mac because both had official-sounding roles and food-based names. They were separate McDonaldland characters. The mayor's defining visual feature was the large cheeseburger head, while Officer Big Mac was associated with law enforcement.