The McNugget Buddies promoted McDonald's Chicken McNuggets as costumed food characters in the 1980s.
The figures were anthropomorphic chicken nuggets with faces, limbs, and distinctive costumes. McDonald's used them in advertising and promotional material to give a branded personality to a menu item that had become one of the company's most recognizable products.
Their appearance fit a broader period in which McDonald's turned food products into characters. The approach made menu items easier for children to recognize and created collectible or repeatable imagery that could work across commercials, packaging, and toys.
The McNugget Buddies are sometimes confused with the McNugget-shaped figures used in later Happy Meal promotions. The name “McNugget Buddies” specifically refers to the character group associated with the 1980s advertising period, rather than every later cartoon depiction of a chicken nugget.