Ronald McDonald became McDonald’s primary advertising mascot after the early Speedee era.
The character first appeared in a 1963 television commercial, portrayed by Willard Scott, who was then a local Washington, D.C., television personality. Ronald was designed as a clown character associated with McDonald’s restaurants and children’s advertising. His name deliberately echoed the company’s name.
Ronald’s arrival marked a major shift in McDonald’s branding. Speedee had represented the restaurant’s original speedy-service identity, but Ronald could support stories, television commercials, live appearances, and a broader fictional world. McDonaldland characters such as Grimace, the Hamburglar, and Mayor McCheese later joined him.
Ronald is sometimes confused with the earlier Speedee mascot or with the other McDonaldland characters. He was not the original McDonald’s mascot. His importance grew during the 1960s, when McDonald’s increasingly used character-based marketing to appeal to families and children.