Mayor McCheese was the McDonald’s mascot with a cheeseburger for a head who served as mayor of McDonaldland.
The character wore formal mayoral clothing, including a sash, and had a cheeseburger head with facial features. He appeared in McDonaldland advertising alongside Ronald McDonald, Grimace, the Hamburglar, and other characters.
Mayor McCheese is sometimes confused with Officer Big Mac, another McDonaldland character whose head was shaped like a Big Mac. The distinction is important: Mayor McCheese represented civic authority in the fictional land, while Officer Big Mac was associated with law enforcement.
McDonaldland characters helped McDonald’s create a connected fantasy setting for children’s marketing during the 1970s and 1980s. Although many of the characters became less prominent in later advertising, Mayor McCheese remains one of the clearest examples of the brand turning menu items into named fictional personalities.