In 1971, McDonald’s decided it needed characters to attract more children to its restaurants. Then came McDonaldland, a magical world that had Hamburglar (Papa-Búrguer, in Brazil) and Grimace (Shake), in addition, of course, to Ronald McDonald, created in 1963. In 1980, Birdie joined the group.
The fast-food chain only decided to retire the mascots in 2003. Since then, it has focused on campaigns for an older audience – it’s the “I love this so much” era. But even off-TV, the characters can still appear in older restaurant decor.
SHAKE
– (McDonald’s/reproduction/)
Initially thought of as a milkshake-stealing villain, he had to turn good when McDonald’s marketing realized that the four-armed, scaly purple monster scared kids. Thus, Shake changed form and became a harmless and smiling animal. In this video, you can see how it originally looked.
RONALD MCDONALD
The clown, in his original version, had a tray-shaped hat, a plastic cup on his nose and a magic belt with infinite food. Today, to avoid criticism that children are being influenced, Ronald does not appear eating in any of the company’s advertisements. In 1963, he was bizarre:
BIRDIE
The brand’s first female character was created to promote a new breakfast menu (in the US, early risers are called «early birds», hence the name). Despite being a canary dressed as an aviator, she was a bit clumsy when flying, as this 1980 commercial shows.
BURGER FOOD
It has changed a lot over the decades. In the beginning, he was an ugly burger-obsessed villain (pictured above). Afterwards, it was softened for greater acceptance. In 2015, a US campaign resurrected the character in a flesh-and-blood version that looked like a heartthrob and humorless Zorro. It didn’t work out very well.