Who could have predicted that a creepy dude approaching strangers while wearing a fedora, mask, and cape was a bad idea? Certainly not the execs at Mickey D's. This is why McDonald's jailed the Hamburglar for good.
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00:00Who could have predicted that a creepy dude approaching strangers while wearing a fedora,
00:04mask, and cape was a bad idea? Certainly not the execs at Mickey D's. This is why McDonald's
00:10jailed the Hamburglar for good.
00:12Come on, hands in! McDonald's on three! One, two, three! That makes sense, you didn't do
00:18that. No, we get it.
00:19For some viewers, watching old McDonald's commercials from the 70s might evoke wistful
00:23feelings of childhood nostalgia. For everyone else, they're nightmare fuel, and or perfectly
00:28emblematic of how much the world and its perception of characters like the Hamburglar
00:31have changed. As CNN Money eventually quoted former McDonald's CEO Jim Cantalupo decades
00:37later in 2003 during the company's attempt to pivot towards a more mature image, quote,
00:42"...the world has changed. We have to change, too."
00:44Well, before he was briefly renamed the Lone Jogger in the mid-1970s â a dead giveaway
00:49regarding the Hamburglar's Lone Ranger inspiration, including his mask and cape â the Hamburglar
00:54appeared in ads with his old-timey black-and-white striped prisoner garb, sweeping into
00:58the frame to tote away McDonald's hamburgers like a swashbuckling ne'er-do-well. Such early
01:02ads featured kids hanging out at restaurant-like set pieces in a fantasy world called McDonaldland.
01:07The Hamburglar, along with other characters like the now-defunct Captain Crook, were developed
01:12as part and parcel of an entire massive ad campaign meant to target kids and draw them
01:16into McDonaldland's deep-fried real-world analog.
01:20In the 70s, these restaurants came equipped with slides, brightly colored kids' tables,
01:24party rides, etc. Such playplaces have dwindled, but still exist. The Hamburglar is just another
01:29character meant to fill out the retinue, like Disney mascots at theme parks.
01:33"...the last fry!"
01:35"...playa for it!"
01:39In a way, the Hamburglar's most famous era presaged his demise, as it highlights a time
01:43when McDonald's pushed harder into the kid-friendly image before kicking it come the early 2000s.
01:48This famous Robble-Robble Hamburglar era â the 80s and 90s â featured the revised, pudgy-faced,
01:53red-gloved version of the Hamburglar. But unlike his predecessor, the Hamburglar of
01:57this era didn't so much purloin the sirloin as obsess over it. Commercials from the time
02:02reveal that the Hamburglar traded in criminal thievery for stacks of legally purchased burgers.
02:07This dream of McDonald's overconsumption came true, as the company saw massive growth and
02:11global domination over the fast food market during the 80s and 90s.
02:15The chain was arguably at its peak during this time, outstripping Burger King, Wendy's,
02:19and other competitors, to the point where it was commonly said that a new McDonald's
02:23opened every five hours worldwide.
02:25McDonald's diversified its menu to appeal to both adults and kids by introducing fish
02:30sandwiches, Chicken McNuggets, a greater variety of breakfast items, and so forth. But even
02:34though McDonald's aimed its sights at all ages, families with kids were the prime target.
02:39This, plus McDonald's juggernaut status, is why the franchise drew the attention of health
02:43organizations. These watchdogs dug into McDonald's poor nutritional profile, even as animal rights
02:48organizations looked into the company's farm practices, and environmental groups criticized
02:53its wasteful production process. Little did the Hamburglar know that he'd become a victim
02:57of McDonald's reforms.
03:00There are people young enough to not realize that the familiar, ba-da-ba-ba-da, I'm Lovin'
03:04It jingle grew out of McDonald's Hamburglar-killing early 2000s reforms. They also might not realize
03:09that Justin Timberlake sang the full version of the I'm Lovin' It track that got converted
03:13into the jingle.
03:14Those reforms came on the heels of a major plummet in McDonald's stock in 2002, as a
03:19CNN Money report shows. The following year, McDonald's announced its grand plan to glow
03:24up its products and services a la the aforementioned The World Has Changed quote. In fact, McDonald's
03:29might have smelled the salad coming, because the preceding years saw them buy out and or
03:33partner up with burgeoning food brands like Chipotle, Boston Market, and largely UK-based
03:38Pret-a-Manger, though McDonald's let all of those go by 2008.
03:42In 2004, the year after the new Timberlake jingle, one of the most monolithically successful
03:46food-related documentaries of all time hit theaters, Supersize Me. Now, folks had visible
03:52evidence of McDonald's' nausea and obesity-inducing fast food fare. The Hamburglar wasn't exactly
03:57responsible for this reputation-damaging nightmare, but he wasn't needed for McDonald's' success,
04:02either. It was time for him, McDonald's, and its burger-consuming public to grow up.
04:07Rubble rubble, America. I am back."
04:12McDonald's quietly stowed the Hamburglar and its other characters in the early 2000s in
04:16an attempt to keep up with evolving consumer trends, an increased public awareness related
04:20to nutrition, and a general desire for more upscale food options. McDonald's never said,
04:25hey, we're breaking up with the Hamburglar. They just stopped doing so.
04:28But the burglar persisted in public consciousness, at least amongst those who'd grown up seeing
04:33him. Enter the suburban dad version of the Hamburglar that looks like he's having a mid-life
04:37crisis, as Slate wrote in 2015. McDonald's marketing VP Joel Yashinsky told Mashable,
04:43We felt it was time to debut a new look for the Hamburglar after he's been out of the
04:46public eye all these years. He has had some time to grow up a bit, and has been busy raising
04:51a family in the suburbs, and his look has evolved over time.
04:54Hence the new aesthetic. Some outlets seemed to be all about the new look, while also acknowledging
04:59that the character didn't really fit with anything related to McDonald's or fast food.
05:03All in all, the revised Hamburglar wasn't exactly a winning marketing strategy. Memes
05:07from the time reveal his grade-A creepo status amongst the general public. And like fries
05:12in a fryer, he was out as soon as he was in.
05:14At present, McDonald's is way past the point of their kid-focused 80s and 90s economic
05:20high, as much as they're past the point of wielding the Hamburglar for marketing purposes.
05:25The Burglar is a legacy character at this point. He'll never be completely abandoned
05:29He even appeared in a few ads in 2024. But he's kind of like that one jar of pickles
05:33you don't eat, don't need, but occasionally remember took up residence in the back of
05:37your fridge.
05:38In 2017, food industry analyst Andrew Alvarez told World Finance,
05:42"[The country may not be getting healthier here in the U.S., but people are clearly more
05:46educated and aware of what they're putting in their mouths for the first time in a long
05:49time. They are not interested in super salty foods anymore in the same way that they were
05:53back in the 1980s and 1990s."
05:56That sums up one part of the equation nicely, along with the rise of more boutique fast
06:00food options like Shake Shack or chains with menus that are simpler and more streamlined
06:04than McDonald's, like Five Guys. And even though McDonald's has faced increasing competition
06:08over the years, it still blows the competition out of the water in terms of money earned,
06:13with Starbucks being a distant second.
06:15More and more competitors continue to rise to power, like Chick-fil-A, but McDonald's
06:19still reigns supreme. We can't say for sure, but maybe the Hamburglar even helped a little.
06:25Don't take burgers, Rappu Rappu.