The Hamburglar was the McDonald’s character known for stealing hamburgers while wearing a striped outfit and mask.
The Hamburglar became one of the best-known figures in McDonaldland advertising. His original design presented him as a short, mischievous character associated with striped clothing, a mask, and a desire to grab hamburgers. Later redesigns made him taller and more childlike while preserving the character’s central hamburger-stealing theme.
He appeared alongside Ronald McDonald, Mayor McCheese, Grimace, and other fictional figures in advertisements aimed primarily at children. These characters gave McDonald’s a recognizable story world rather than relying only on product-focused commercials.
The Hamburglar is sometimes confused with Captain Crook, another McDonaldland character whose stories centered on Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. The two characters had different costumes and targets. The Hamburglar’s defining object was the hamburger, which is the source of his name.