Mac Tonight was the character featured in McDonald’s 1980s branding campaign promoting evening dining.
The character was a crescent-moon-headed figure who wore sunglasses and often appeared playing a grand piano. His advertisements were built around a rewritten version of the song “Mack the Knife,” with the campaign changing the emphasis from daytime fast food to nighttime restaurant visits.
McDonald’s introduced Mac Tonight in 1986 in the United States. The character became strongly associated with the company’s effort to encourage customers to visit after dark, when breakfast and lunch advertising were not the main focus.
Mac Tonight is sometimes confused with McDonaldland characters such as Birdie or the Hamburglar. Those figures belonged to a different family-oriented fictional setting, while Mac Tonight was primarily a musical advertising character. The campaign was also separate from the Ronald McDonald mascot tradition.