Which song did McDonald’s Mac Tonight advertisements famously parody?

McDonald’s Mac Tonight advertisements famously parodied the song “Mack the Knife.”

The campaign used a revised, jazz-influenced presentation of the song to promote McDonald’s during evening hours. The familiar melody gave the advertisements an immediate musical identity, while the moon-shaped character made the connection with nighttime visually obvious.

“Mack the Knife” was originally associated with Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s 1928 musical The Threepenny Opera. It later became a major popular-music standard, especially through recordings such as Bobby Darin’s 1959 hit version. McDonald’s adapted the recognizable tune rather than introducing an entirely new song.

The advertisement is often remembered as if “Mac Tonight” were the name of the song. It was actually the character and campaign title. “Mack the Knife” is the pre-existing song whose melody and title were used as the campaign’s musical reference.