The Hamburglar was the McDonald’s mascot portrayed as a hamburger thief in the original McDonaldland advertising characters.
The character debuted in the early 1970s as part of a colorful fictional world built around McDonald’s restaurants. The Hamburglar wore a black-and-white striped outfit and a cape, and advertisements presented him as a recurring comic threat to hamburgers.
His design changed over the years. Early versions looked older and more sinister, while later advertising made the Hamburglar smaller, younger-looking, and more cartoonish. The redesign made the character easier for children to recognize and fit the friendly tone of McDonaldland.
The Hamburglar’s name is a deliberate play on “hamburger” and “burglar.” That wordplay is why the character is distinct from Captain Crook, another McDonaldland villain associated with Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and from Grimace, whose early role involved milkshakes.