The Hamburglar first appeared in McDonald's advertising in 1971 as a striped-shirt thief.
The character was part of McDonaldland, a fictional world created for McDonald's advertising. In his early form, the Hamburglar was a small, somewhat eerie figure associated with stealing hamburgers. The company later redesigned him into a more child-friendly character with a black cape, red hair, and a pronounced love of hamburgers.
The Hamburglar appeared alongside Ronald McDonald and other branded figures such as Grimace, Mayor McCheese, and Birdie. These characters gave McDonald's television commercials a shared setting and helped the company create a recognizable fantasy world for children.
A common error is placing the Hamburglar's debut in the 1960s because Ronald McDonald appeared in 1963. The Hamburglar came later, in 1971, as McDonaldland expanded into a larger character-based branding system.