The Fry Kids were small, colorful, fry-shaped creatures in McDonaldland advertising.
McDonald’s used the Fry Kids as part of the fantasy character group that appeared in commercials and promotional material from the 1970s onward. Their visual design connected them directly to McDonald’s French fries, making the product recognizable even when the characters appeared away from a restaurant.
The group was originally known as the Fry Guys and Fry Girls before the name Fry Kids became the more general term. This naming history is why older advertising references may use a different label for similar-looking characters.
The Fry Kids were separate from the Hamburglar, Grimace, and Ronald McDonald. McDonaldland characters were designed as a cast, with each figure providing a different visual or comic role in the brand’s children’s advertising.