Which McDonald's character was the chain's burger-stealing advertising villain?

The Hamburglar was McDonald's burger-stealing advertising villain.

The character belonged to McDonaldland, the fictional setting McDonald's used in family advertising. His central role was to try to steal hamburgers, creating a simple recurring conflict for commercials and allowing Ronald McDonald and other characters to protect the food.

The Hamburglar's appearance changed over time. Early versions looked more like a small adult villain, while the later version was redesigned as a childlike character wearing a black-and-white striped outfit, cape, and mask. The redesign made him more suitable for the family-friendly tone of McDonaldland.

The Hamburglar is sometimes confused with Captain Crook, another McDonaldland villain associated with Filet-O-Fish advertising. Their targets and costumes differed, but both were part of the same character-based branding strategy. The Hamburglar's name remains one of McDonald's clearest examples of a character built directly around a menu item.