Mayor McCheese was the hamburger-headed mayor introduced in McDonaldland advertising.
McDonald's created McDonaldland as a fictional setting for television commercials and promotions. Mayor McCheese was one of its central residents: a suited civic leader with a large cheeseburger for a head. The character appeared alongside other advertising figures and helped turn menu imagery into a playful story world for children.
The character's design made the connection to McDonald's food immediate, but Mayor McCheese was not simply another name for the Big Mac. The two concepts were used differently in the advertising universe, and the character's title gave him a civic role inside McDonaldland.
McDonaldland characters were especially prominent in the 1970s and 1980s. Many later disappeared from regular national advertising, making older character names easy to confuse. Mayor McCheese is identified by his mayoral title and hamburger head.