Which McDonald’s character promoted the Filet-O-Fish sandwich in the early 1970s?

Captain Crook promoted the Filet-O-Fish sandwich in McDonald’s advertising in the early 1970s.

Captain Crook was one of the characters created for McDonaldland, the fantasy world used in McDonald’s family marketing. Styled as a pirate, he was linked with the restaurant’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich and its seafood theme. His costume and speech patterns reinforced the nautical idea.

The character appeared alongside Ronald McDonald, Grimace, the Hamburglar, and other branded figures. McDonaldland characters gave McDonald’s a way to turn individual menu items and restaurant features into parts of an imaginative story world.

Captain Crook is frequently confused with the Hamburglar because both characters were portrayed as food thieves. Their product associations were different: Captain Crook was connected with Filet-O-Fish, while the Hamburglar was associated with hamburgers. That distinction is one of the clearest ways to identify the two characters in historical McDonald’s advertising.