Mac Tonight was the moon-headed singer who appeared in McDonald’s advertising beginning in 1986.
The character was designed as a stylized crescent moon wearing sunglasses and a tuxedo. Commercials showed Mac Tonight singing a rewritten version of Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife,” with the central message encouraging customers to visit McDonald’s in the evening.
The campaign gave McDonald’s a distinctive nighttime identity at a time when fast-food advertising often focused on daytime family occasions. The character’s lounge-singer presentation also made the commercials visually and musically different from the company’s McDonaldland spots.
Mac Tonight is sometimes mistaken for a permanent McDonaldland character. He was instead a separate advertising figure created for a specific national campaign, although he became strongly associated with McDonald’s branding.