The Truth About Why McDonald’s Decided To Ditch The Hamburglar

The last time that anyone saw the Hamburglar was actually in 2015. You might even remember the headline-grabbing advertising campaign. He was sporting a very different look — and it sent Twitter into a mini-meltdown. Yet while you’d think the Hamburglar going viral would’ve made him more popular, it didn’t quite work out like that.

This was hardly the Hamburglar we grew up with, you see. The biggest difference? Well, he was an actual person — and a bit of a looker, too. Everyone’s favorite hamburger thief now wore a sweet trench coat, striking leather boots and cheekbones to die for. McDonald’s even gave him a brand new backstory! And that was part of the problem.

Mickey D’s explained that the Hamburglar’s then-13-year absence was down to a new lifestyle. McDonald’s’ then-VP of U.S. Marketing Joel Yashinsky told Mashable, “He’s had some time to grow up a bit and has been busy raising a family in the suburbs.” Crazy, right? But the new Hamburglar’s time in the spotlight was short-lived.

As per CEO Steve Easterbook, the idea behind bringing back the burger boy was to create “brand excitement.” McDonald’s had been facing tough times in 2015 and was looking to the Hamburglar to lure in new customers. And it wasn’t a terrible idea —especially considering that loyal fans of the Golden Arches had loved the Hamburglar for decades.

The first appearance of the character came way back in 1971, but you might not have such fond memories of the original guy! That’s because McDonald’s first attempt at the Hamburglar was a weird old dude wearing a “Lone Jogger” top. If that doesn’t scream “stranger danger,” we don’t know what does. Luckily, he didn’t stick around for long.

The whole point of the character was to appeal to children, after all. The character was created because McDonald’s had just introduced “Play Places” — soft play areas — into a handful of its diners. And to bring these parental nightmares to everybody’s attention, Mickey D’s created an ad campaign featuring “McDonaldland,” which featured a whole world of friendly characters.

You’ll know Ronald McDonald, of course. But do you also remember the Fry Kids and Mayor McCheese and Grimace? They were all part of the beloved McDonaldland gang! But while those guys have been left pretty much unchanged over the years, the Hamburglar was seemingly harder to get right. And the Lone Jogger was wrong on any number of levels…

The crooked nose and gray hair were certainly part of the problem. Also, the fact that they never explained why he was called the “Lone Jogger” was just weird. Yet the company persisted with the characters — and they proved extremely popular with kids. Though there was trouble from an unexpected source just over the horizon.

In 1971 Sid and Marty Krofft launched a damaging lawsuit against McDonald’s. In it, they said the McDonaldland characters were basically ripped off of their H.R. Pufnstuf TV show. The pair particularly felt that Mayor McCheese was a copy — and the similarities were undeniable. But McDonald’s wouldn’t go down without a fight.

The evidence against McDonald’s was difficult to deny. First off, even a cursory glance at Mayor McCheese and H.R. Pufnstuf shows that they’re both human-size dolls with literally big heads. Then there’s the fact that the two characters are mayors, even if it’s hard to understand what their official responsibilities would be. That’s not all, though.

Remember how Mayor McCheese was in charge of McDonaldland? Well, H.R. Pufnstuff was also the head honcho of a make-believe world. He belonged to Living Island — a place made of imaginative animals, houses, and environments. And if all that sounds mightily familiar, there’s a very good reason for it.

It turned out that the company that came up with the McDonaldland concept had actually spoken with the Kroffts about H.R. Pufnstuf. This was in 1970, when Needham, Harper & Steers was pitching to get hired by McDonald’s. The lawsuit even said an executive from the ad agency tried to get the Kroffts in on the deal.

The legal action also referenced a letter in which the ad agency explicitly stated that it was basing its McDonald’s pitch on Pufnstuf stuff. The letter even talked about paying the Kroffts for the work! But the most damaging part was probably when Needham supposedly told them that its campaign had been ditched — and then went ahead without their knowledge anyway.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, the ad agency then recruited ex-Krofft employees to work on the McDonald’s campaign. The company went so far as to hire the Kroffts’ principal voice actor! Things didn’t look good for McDonald’s, but that didn’t stop the company from fighting the suit with everything it had.

In fact, it took six years for a court to come to a verdict in the legal battle between McDonald’s and the Kroffts. But, in the end, the chain lost. The judge ordered it to take down the McDonaldland TV commercials and get rid of certain characters. There was also the small matter of a $1 million payout to take care of.

But despite the lawsuit result and the headaches that no doubt went along with it, the McDonaldland concept somehow continued to survive and thrive. Certainly, Hamburglar and Grimace were still showing up in McD’s commercials in the 1980s. And it was around then that Hamburglar’s look got a major overhaul — in more ways than one.

By the early 1980s, Hamburglar’s look had evolved a little bit from the creepy Lone Jogger. Gone was the crooked nose, weird hair and the entire old-man vibe. Instead, the Hamburglar became a kid with red hair wearing a cape and a cool Zorro-style hat and mask. Yet even this version kept some of the original’s stranger characteristics.

The Hamburglar never spoke back in the day. Well, he did, but it was all just gobbledygook. The burger thief even needed Captain Crook to translate it for everyone. But in the ’80s Hamburglar stopped talking in gibberish and instead said, “Robble, robble!” This was a start, at least, and it became something of a catchphrase.

But the ’80s were a weird time. And the McDonald’s ads during that decade act as a kind of window into a very different and strange past. If you need proof of this, just remember that the hamburgers in these commercials had eyes and mouths and were basically sentient beings. Though they were being eaten by the other characters. It’s madness!

And how about the fact that the ’80s gave the Hamburglar an origin story? In one ad — titled “How Hamburglar Got His Stripes” — we get the inside scoop on how this criminal first showed up in McDonaldland dressed all in black. Then we see how his famous stripes came to be.

In the ad, Hamburglar gets to McDonaldland and immediately tries to get his hands on those burgers. But our favorite clown stops him by unraveling parts of his black outfit. The result? The Hamburglar is left covered in stripes! And yes, it’s insane that people spent time and money on this story, but it goes to show how popular the Hamburglar was.

That’s why the Hamburglar was busy promoting Mickey D’s well into the 1990s. A pair of commercials that aired in 1997 show that he still loved a cheeseburger as much as the next guy. But from the following year until 2003 the Hamburglar would take on his biggest role yet — in an animated series.

Who remembers The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald? If you were a kid at the turn of the 21st century, you probably would! The show was a series of six animated movies about the McDonaldland gang getting up to all kinds of crazy stuff. But the genius part was that you could only buy the films on video from McDonald’s restaurants.

The other thing was that McDonald’s actually put some talented people to work on the series. Wacky Adventures was produced by Klasky-Csupo — the company responsible for Rugrats and early episodes of The Simpsons. And while all of the McDonaldland characters appeared in the episodes, it seems like Hamburglar had more than his fair share of star turns.

In three of Wacky Adventures’ six episodes, Hamburglar is the driving force behind the stories. So, while the purpose of the show — according to a McDonald’s exec — was to promote a “more meaningful relationship between Ronald and kids,” it seems that Hamburglar was arguably the breakout star. But this popularity wouldn’t last forever.

The beginning of the end came in 2002. If you’re a McDonald’s fan, you might remember it was around this time that tennis superstars the Williams sisters became promoters of the chain. And that meant they had to appear in commercials with our favorite Big Mac thief.

Serena Williams gets the best line in the resulting Hamburglar commercial. And as the tennis ace did confess that being in McDonald’s ads was a dream come true, we have no doubt that she loved every second of it. Serena quips in the ad, “Hamburglar, this time you’ve been robbed.” Zing! Yet things were never as sweet again for our Ham man.

Behind the scenes, McDonald’s was looking to ring in the changes. The company was struggling to meet sales targets and seemingly felt that mixing up its marketing was the way to get a boost. So, the Golden Arches asked 14 ad agencies that worked for it around the world to dream up the best new campaign in a winner-takes-all contest.

The key to winning this ad agency competition was to create something that would appeal to McDonald’s customers all over the world. For the first time, Mickey D’s was going to push the same marketing message to all of its global audiences. And do you know which campaign won? You’re probably humming the tune right now!

All together now, “Ba da ba-ba baaaa.” Yep, the famous “I’m lovin’ it” theme tune was the winning jingle. But McDonald’s did more than just create a jaunty earworm. The company had Justin Timberlake record the song and turn it into a hit. The chain then reportedly spent $1.37 billion on the subsequent ad campaign.

That apparently included $6 million to Timberlake for the song and to sponsor his tour. Though the money spent to reinvigorate the franchise was evidently worth it. McDonald’s then-president Charlie Bell said, “We’re more focused than we’ve ever been on really connecting with our customers.” And while it clearly worked, it did mean that some people were left behind… 

Even as the “I’m lovin’ it” baton passed from Timberlake to Destiny’s Child, McDonald’s found no time to bring back the Hamburglar. The lovable rogue’s hiatus from our screens lasted an incredible 13 years. But perhaps that absence was why his, ahem, “sexy” new look ruffled so many feathers when he returned in 2015.

But — as with many things on the internet — Hamburglar’s new look seemingly didn’t hold people’s attention for very long. He briefly took over the company’s social media and scored a short video of his own…. Then he basically disappeared again. Was the McDonald’s Sirloin Third Pound burger not good enough to keep him in public?

Hamburglar’s fate is not so different from that of all his McDonaldland friends, mind you. In fact, the burger boy was lucky to pop back up in 2015. Characters such as Grimace and Mayor McCheese haven’t been seen since The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald. Though a McDonald’s spokesperson did once reveal their location.

“Mayor McCheese and his friends are indeed alive and well, enjoying life in McDonaldland,” the spokesperson said. “Ronald McDonald has taken over the mayor’s responsibilities since being appointed Chief Happiness Officer.” Ah, yes. Ronald McDonald. For while the other characters have been put out to pasture, this stalwart is still going strong. But even he has come close to retirement.

Cast your mind back to “the great clown panic of 2016.” As you’ll no doubt recall, it was a fraught time of creepy clown sightings and general clown hysteria. So, if your company happened to have a clown mascot, you’d probably think twice about promoting that fact! Yet that isn’t the only issue with big Ron.

Ronald McDonald has long been a bugbear of healthcare professionals. Corporate Accountability International even campaigned in 2011 to get McDonald’s to stop using Ron. The problem? The experts believe fast food and obesity are linked so directly that fast food companies shouldn’t promote their menus to children. And Ron was high on the hit list.

Though Ronald has so far survived the onslaught of media attacks. It’s possible this is primarily down to the clown’s tight association with the company’s charitable endeavor: Ronald McDonald House Charities. And as the Hamburglar and all his pals don’t have such close ties to the admirable houses, they’ve not been able to stick around.

That’s not to say that Hamburglar will never again see the light of day. McDonald’s is actually doing well these days. Its sales have been steadily increasing over the past two years at the time of writing. But there’s no telling if it’ll need a boost in the future. And there’s nothing like a recognizable face to get people talking about your brand. And while the chain is at it, it could bring back the parts other that everyone misses from ’80s and ’90s, too. These photos will make you wish you could travel back in time...

Back when Transformers were must-have toys for youngsters, McDonald’s introduced its own version of the robots that could ingeniously morph into other objects. Except, of course, Changeables didn’t become cars: they turned into burgers and fries. From 1987 onwards, the company put “McRobots” in Happy Meals, and mini munchers could collect six in the first offering.

Glassware that you can collect was a real trend at fast-food restaurants from at least the 1970s. These specialty dispensers would sometimes be issued in connection with films. Occasionally, though, they would simply feature characters connected with the eatery. However, the concept reached its peak when McDonald’s released intricately carved mugs made from frosted glass to promote the movie Batman Forever in 1995. And these glasses were – at the very least – a novel way to enjoy your large Coke.

What says fries more clearly than brightly colored pom-poms with theft in their hearts? Well, the strange characters spent several surreal advertisements attempting to hijack Ronald McDonald’s potato snacks, leaving the clown urging viewers to “keep your eyes on your fries.” So, maybe the madness made a certain sort of sense after all.

For the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, McDonald’s ran a campaign under the slogan, “If the U.S. wins, you win.” When you bought something from McDonald’s, you’d get a scratchcard that would reveal a category. And if an American won a medal in that category, you’d get a prize, too – with Big Macs for golds. But the burger giant didn’t count on the Soviet boycott, so this promotion ended up costing them big bucks.

When McDonald’s chose to celebrate 1996 smash-hit movie 101 Dalmatians, it was natural that it should create more than a hundred toys. That way, you could enjoy a plethora of pretend pets. Now that’s a smart move to help encourage return visits – and those who got the whole set can now sell it for as much as $200.

When you strolled through the weird wonderland that was the in-store McDonaldland, your eye might have been attracted to the greenery that adorned it. But when you looked more closely, you’d have seen that these trees were festooned with a fruit that you don’t see every day. Yes, it turned out that apple pies really did grow on trees – in McDonald’s, at least.

No toy is more likely to put a chill into those of a certain age than the Furby. Many can remember the ghostly voice of the furry toy speaking out in the dark of night. Terrifying stuff, but the upside was that they were cute enough to be massively popular. And to this day, they are worth a pretty penny: a set of eight went for more than $900 online not too long ago.

Who needs their mom and dad telling them off for showing bad manners at the dinner table? Not kids at a 1980s McDonald’s, that’s for sure. Indeed, these lucky tots had their own separate dining area, decorated with the McDonaldland motifs that they loved. Of course, adults may also have enjoyed the opportunity to eat in peace...

In 1981 the Muppets franchise released the fun frolics of The Great Muppet Caper. This film was special not only because it was the only Muppet movie of which Jim Henson took charge. It was also thought worthy of being enshrined in collectible glassware, so Happy Meal munchers could enjoy Kermit on a bike even more.

Perhaps McDonald’s does not offer the healthiest of foods, but kids in the 1980s and 1990s were able to work off the calories in the extensive PlayPlaces. For instance, youngsters could weave their way through a multicolored maze that seemed never-ending – before, perhaps to their surprise, it came to a fun-filled halt, as they fell in a big pit full of balls.

Yogi Bear had his ups and downs as a character, with not everything he appeared in proving a hit. Although the bear himself was much loved, Yo Yogi was not. However, toys that were once issued to support the show are much more to people’s liking, fetching $100 each on the collectors’ market.

McDonald’s marketing game was at its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, and it aimed its effort squarely at kids. Not only could you play with characters such as Grimace, but when you sat down to eat, the chairs themselves had a playful motif. In some restaurants, burger seats were the kids’ resting place of choice.

Inspector Gadget was the hero of an incredibly popular series of cartoons that showed throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The character was half man, half, erm, gadget, which had enormous appeal to kids. And as time goes by, also to collectors, who will pay up to $350 to get their hands on a figurine of the detective.

Anyone who was a kid in the late ’80s probably spent many a birthday party in a PlayPlace. Not only could you vanish into the maze of pipework, only to be seen when you slid down from it, but you could also play in the ball pit. And best of all, it was Happy Meals all round, so everyone went home with a birthday gift.

McDonald’s and Nintendo have been partners for a long time. In the 2010s, for instance, the fast-food corporation used the Ninendo DS to train their workers, but back in the 1980s some restaurants featured the then-state-of-the-art Nintendo 64. So kids who had tired of the indoor gym and slides could enjoy a few games of Super Mario Bros. instead.

In the 1960s McDonald’s offered an added extra when you drove through for food. When you approached, a worker would spring out and start washing your windscreen. This, the fast-food franchise suggested, would make driving safer. However, drivers didn’t feel that their windshields were too dirty to see through, and the service didn’t catch on.

On top of the glasses released to promote movies, there were also drinking vessels that featured characters closer to home. Yes, McDonaldland did not just provide inspiration for playgrounds. Its inhabitants also found their way onto special glassware. There were six tumblers that showed off the likes of Mayor McCheese and Grimace.

When 13-year-old Scotty Landreth found a flexidisc among some old newspapers that he was using for kindling, he couldn’t have imagined that it would score him a million dollars. But it did: it was one of 80 million discs released as part of a promotion, and it was the winning one.

McDonald’s dipped its toes into the glassware business in the 1970s, but it really took off in 1983. It was then that you could get a Camp Snoopy glass cheap with a meal. And each week McDonald’s offered a new glass, meaning collectors had to eat at the burger chain for five weeks straight to swipe the whole set.

You may not associate McDonald’s with cookies, but there did use to be a bunch of them based on McDonaldland. For anyone out there who does remember them and perhaps misses the munch, we have some good news. A poster on Reddit informs us that the Homekist brand of Lemon Creme sandwich cookies tastes identical to the McDonald’s treats.

Snoopy wasn’t the only character from the world of comics to feature on McDonald’s glassware, though. For just 69 cents, you see, from 1987 you could snap up a Garfield piece – and many did. It was so impressive that the cat himself described his face as “the most wanted mug in America” in a commercial.

McDonald’s meals come with a drink, of course, and the standard is a cool Coke. But back in the 1980s you could get an “orange drink” that some found delicious. You’d even see it in large yellow barrels at school fairs or track meets. These days, though, the beverage is no longer available.

Thirty years ago, the environment wasn’t as widespread a concern as it is today. So it didn’t seem like a bad idea to package burgers in polystyrene. However, the material is close to indestructible, so the firm agreed to phase out its old-style boxes for the more environmentally-conscious paper packaging that is so familiar today.

There is possibly no greater joy for a small child than scaring your mom with a dinosaur puppet on your hand. And McDonald’s facilitated the fun by popping frighteningly real dino heads into Happy Meals. This was a tie-in for a 2000 film, but we’re stretching the 1990s by a year – because who doesn’t love dinosaurs?

Children of the 1990s will need no introduction to the Power Rangers. And indeed they are still going strong to day, so appealing are the superhero teens to youngsters. The burger franchise popped figurines into Happy Meals, and to this day they’re popular with collectors. An individual Power Ranger could scoop you $35.

Kids love to collect, but when McDonald’s put Berenstain Bears in Happy Meals, the fun seemed like it would end quickly. There were only four toy figures: Papa, Mama, Sister and Brother. But the collectors weren’t daunted by the lack of variety. Instead, they simply racked up huge gangs of the same figurines.

Where else would Officer Big Mac put the Hamburglar but in the hamburger jail? These delectable-looking jails were a staple of playgrounds that were based on the McDonaldland concept, which the firm introduced in the 1970s. These jails were debuted in 1970s commercials, but their successors continued all the way through to 2003. And McDonaldland was – as you might expect – a magical land, filled with a whole host of burger-based characters. Accordingly, restaurants had playgrounds that featured elements of McDonaldland. Today, this fanciful landscape is gone, but you still see one of the leading characters from time to time: one Ronald McDonald.

Owner Ray Kroc did not like a bad boy. In fact, he considered them terrible for a family business. Consequently, he forbade jukeboxes, phone booths and cigarette machines from restaurants. Jukeboxes were particularly unwelcome – along with carhops and tipping, they were part of the three big nos for Kroc.

There have been many giveaways in Happy Meals that kids have loved, but one stands out as the greatest: the Halloween pails. There were actually three of them, although we’re not sure that anyone carried all three at once. They looked close enough to be triplets, but each had its own name: McBoo, McPunk’n and McGoblin.