Ronald McDonald first appeared in a 1963 television commercial created for the Washington, D.C., market.
The character was developed for local McDonald's advertising by Oscar Goldstein, the franchisee associated with the Washington, D.C., area. Willard Scott, then a television personality, played the first Ronald McDonald in those early commercials. The original costume used recognizable food imagery before the character's appearance was standardized.
Ronald soon became a national mascot and the central human-like figure in McDonald's family branding. His design and costume changed over the years, but the red hair, yellow clothing, and striped details remained important identifiers.
The first appearance is sometimes incorrectly dated to the early 1970s because that is when McDonaldland expanded into a larger cast of characters. Ronald, however, predates that expansion by about a decade.