Mayor McCheese was McDonald’s cheeseburger-headed mayor in its 1970s advertising.
Mayor McCheese belonged to McDonaldland, the fictional setting that housed many of McDonald’s recurring promotional characters. His most distinctive feature was a large cheeseburger-shaped head, paired with formal mayoral clothing such as a sash and top hat.
The character represented a playful civic authority inside the advertising world. This made McDonaldland feel like a complete community rather than merely a collection of unrelated mascots. He appeared alongside Ronald McDonald, Grimace, the Hamburglar, and other characters.
Mayor McCheese is sometimes confused with Officer Big Mac, another character whose design was connected to McDonald’s food imagery. Mayor McCheese’s defining title and cheeseburger head make the correct identification specific. McDonald’s later reduced the use of many McDonaldland figures in mainstream advertising.