Which McDonald’s character was the company’s talking moon in the 1980s?

Mac Tonight was McDonald’s talking moon character used in 1980s advertising.

Mac Tonight appeared as a large crescent moon with a human-like face, dark sunglasses, and a tuxedo. The character promoted McDonald’s evening business and was paired with a lounge-style version of “Mack the Knife.” His name combined “Mac,” linking him to McDonald’s, with “Tonight,” emphasizing the nighttime message.

The campaign began in 1986 in the United States and became one of McDonald’s most distinctive advertising concepts of that decade. Mac Tonight was not the same character as Grimace. Grimace was a purple, rounded McDonaldland character, while Mac Tonight was specifically a moon-shaped figure created for an evening-focused campaign.

Mac Tonight also became the subject of legal controversy because the campaign’s musical presentation resembled Bobby Darin’s recording of “Mack the Knife.” McDonald’s later stopped using the character in the United States, although versions of the campaign appeared in some other markets.