Ronald McDonald, introduced in 1963, became McDonald’s best-known advertising character.
The character was created as a clown mascot for McDonald’s television advertising and soon became central to the company’s family-oriented branding. His red hair, yellow clothing, red-and-white striped details, and clown makeup gave the character a distinctive visual identity.
Television performer Willard Scott played the earliest version of Ronald McDonald in local Washington, D.C., advertisements. The character later appeared in national campaigns and became associated with the fictional McDonaldland universe and its other branded characters.
Ronald McDonald is sometimes confused with Speedee, the earlier chef mascot used in the late 1940s and 1950s. Grimace and Mayor McCheese were also McDonaldland characters, but neither was the chain’s primary humanlike clown mascot.