Which McDonald's mascot served as the company's fictional mayor?

Mayor McCheese was the fictional mayor in McDonald's McDonaldland advertising.

The character had a large cheeseburger for a head, wore a mayoral sash, and was presented as a civic leader within the fantasy world. His design turned a familiar McDonald's food item into a personified brand character, a common technique in the company's child-focused advertising of the 1960s and 1970s.

Mayor McCheese appeared alongside other McDonaldland figures, including Ronald McDonald, Officer Big Mac, and the Hamburglar. These characters were used in commercials and promotional materials to create a continuing setting rather than a series of unrelated product advertisements.

A frequent mix-up is between Mayor McCheese and Officer Big Mac: both had food-based heads, but their fictional jobs were different. Mayor McCheese was the mayor, while Officer Big Mac was associated with law enforcement. The character later became less prominent as McDonald's reduced its use of the broader McDonaldland cast.