McDonald's introduced the Hamburglar in 1971 as a character who tried to steal hamburgers.
The Hamburglar became part of McDonald's fictional McDonaldland cast, a group of characters created for children's advertising. In his early design he was a small, mischievous figure associated with stripes and a burglar's outfit. His defining joke was an obsession with taking hamburgers, especially Big Macs.
The character's appearance changed substantially over time. Early versions looked more like an older, eccentric burglar, while later campaigns presented the Hamburglar as a younger and more stylized character. This evolution is why illustrations from different decades can look surprisingly unlike one another.
The Hamburglar is often confused with other McDonaldland figures, particularly Grimace or Mayor McCheese. Those characters had different personalities and visual roles. Together, the cast gave McDonald's advertising a continuing story world that made the brand especially recognizable to children during the 1970s and 1980s.