From Ronald to Grimace to the Fry Kids and even more obscure characters, a lot of McDonald's mascots have stopped appearing in ads. So what happened to them, exactly?
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00:00From Ronald, to Grimace, and even more obscure characters, a lot of McDonald's mascots have
00:05stopped appearing in ads. So what happened to them, exactly?
00:08Ronald McDonald's colorful costume and joyful demeanor brings joy to millions. Just don't
00:13try to hug him. From a strict rule about touching to his slim, trim physique, these are the
00:18things that only adults notice about the iconic red-haired clown.
00:22Back in the 1960s, Barry Kline was doing advertising for both McDonald's and the Bozo the Clown
00:27show at the same time, when he had the idea. What if he combined the two and got McDonald's
00:32to run ads during the children's show?
00:34The first McDonald's clown was a bit awkward-looking, with a McDonald's cup for his nose and a hat
00:39made out of a cardboard serving tray. Ronald's eyebrows were also shaped like the chain's
00:43iconic golden arches, which is something you may not have noticed as a kid. So the look
00:48hit all the selling points, but it was also a bit too much.
00:51After Washington, D.C.'s WRC-TV canceled Bozo the Clown in 1962, Kline kept the show's Bozo,
00:58played by Willard Scott, and made him the McDonald's mascot. And yes, this was the same
01:02Willard Scott who later went on to become the weatherman for the Today show.
01:06Kline also hired a previous Bozo, Michael Koko Polakovs, as a wardrobe consultant. The
01:12resulting costume kept the big red smile, arched eyebrows, and gloves. It also continued
01:16to feature the restaurant's main colors, red and yellow, while adding the iconic arch
01:21emblems to the ensemble. They also replaced his shag-carpet hair with a bright red wig
01:26to modernize and complete the look.
01:28McDonald's, remember when you see my face, think of your kind of place."
01:33McDonald's eventually dumped the first Ronald McDonald because of his size. The chain worried
01:37that if it kept a bigger mascot on staff, it would need to continue hiring large Ronald's
01:42to keep the image consistent. Is there really a shortage of big men who want to be a clown?
01:47With Willard Scott being 6 feet and 3 inches tall and 290 pounds, maybe so.
01:51Regardless, Scott was heartbroken to learn his size was an issue when it came to continuing
01:56his mascot gig. While the U.S. has laws against employment discrimination based on things
02:01such as race, gender, or religion, only Michigan has laws these days prohibiting employment
02:06discrimination based on weight.
02:08Despite being the mascot for a fast food chain later notorious for supersizing its meals,
02:13McDonald's didn't want a larger Ronald McDonald. Instead, it wanted a mascot who could be spry
02:17and energetic in its television ads. In fact, in 2004, McDonald's started calling him a
02:23Balanced Active Lifestyles Ambassador, dressing Ronald in workout clothes, and turning him
02:27into a soccer and basketball player, according to CNBC.
02:31"'Besides regular exercise, like playing sports, can help you stay healthy. It'll be a kick!"
02:37Ronald McDonald started out as the sole mascot for McDonald's. However, from 1971 to 2009,
02:43other characters joined him in commercials for the fast food chain.
02:46If you missed the comic book series from the early 1970s, you probably felt like you were
02:51missing a backstory and wondered why the storyline included food thieves Captain Crook and Hamburglar.
02:57McDonald's got rid of Captain Crook in 1987 after 15 years of the pirates stealing Filet-O-Fish
03:02sandwiches. However, the despicable Hamburglar continued nabbing burgers until about 2002.
03:08Most of us never had any idea what Ronald McDonald's purple, bell-shaped sidekick Grimace
03:12even was. But it turns out he was supposed to be a gigantic taste bud whose sole purpose
03:17was to remind us how delicious McDonald's food is.
03:21Roy Burgold and A.J. wrote a book in 1972 called Ronald and How? to help standardize
03:27everything about the McDonald's brand mascot. They offered instructions on dress and makeup,
03:32as well as sanctioned behavior. Anyone who has a less-than-savory image of clowns can
03:36rest assured that Ronald is going to remain in character and be the type of happy-go-lucky
03:40clown that puts a smile on most kids' faces. However, one thing that Ronald will never
03:45do is hug you or your child. A brief pat on the back is the most you'll ever experience
03:50from the red-wigged clown. While hugs certainly have their advantages, we don't necessarily
03:54want them from strangers, even one as well-known as Ronald McDonald.
03:58The same handbook that keeps Ronald McDonald from hugging your kids also stipulates what
04:03he can and can't say. For example, if your children want to know where hamburgers come
04:07absolutely not allowed to tell them that the meat comes from a cow. After all, this could
04:12be devastating news to a child who loves animals. Sure, it's the truth, but there are lines
04:16he won't cross, especially if it could result in a child becoming a vegetarian and never
04:21wanting to eat a McDonald's burger again.
04:23In fact, Ronald McDonald has his own type of fast food manual that provides exact answers
04:28to questions that customers might have. For example, if you ask him how much he makes
04:32playing the chain's mascot, he's directed to say that what he's doing isn't work — he's
04:36just having a good time. Additionally, if Ronald McDonald doesn't have a scripted answer
04:41for a tough question, he's supposed to tell you to ask someone wearing normal shoes, according
04:46to Yahoo!
04:47Have you ever noticed that you never see multiple Ronalds together unless they're cosplayers?
04:51You might see 10 Elvises at a time, but you'll never see 10 real Ronalds together. That's
04:56because there are strict rules explaining that only one Ronald can appear at a time.
05:00Being a local Ronald McDonald is actually not a bad gig, and it's far more complicated
05:05than you'd imagine. Once recruited through CW and co-productions, they had to be willing
05:09to relocate to an area that needed a mascot. They often had a chauffeur drive them from
05:14gig to gig, and even had their own bodyguard to help avoid rock-throwing kids and protesters.
05:19Local Ronalds once earned from $40,000 to $100,000 a year, depending on how many appearances
05:25they scheduled.
05:26It might be possible to find multiple Ronalds together to photograph. However, you would
05:30need to know the location of the top-secret McDonald's convention the chain puts on every
05:34other year. Sadly, nobody is leaking that information.
05:38There have been times when Ronald McDonald has appeared in multiple countries on the
05:41same day for special events. But if ever asked how he could be in so many places in one day,
05:46the company will merely insist that perhaps his magical ability is similar to that of
05:50Santa Claus. Because in the eyes of McDonald's, there's only one Ronald McDonald.
05:55Back in 1963, when Ronald McDonald was still in need of a makeover, a disturbing commercial
06:01on television screens across the U.S. In it, Ronald convinces a little boy to go with him
06:05to McDonald's, even though the boy knows he shouldn't talk to strangers or accept gifts
06:10from them. However, since Ronald could produce hamburgers from his magic belt, the boy assumes
06:15he must be safe.
06:16"'Cause you're no stranger, you really are Ronald McDonald."
06:20A commercial where Ronald McDonald kidnaps a kid certainly wouldn't go over very well
06:25today. Plus, more people have started to view clowns as creepy. When McDonald's surveyed
06:29test audiences in 2011 about commercials it was thinking of airing on television,
06:34more and more reviewers used the word creepy to describe their feelings toward Ronald McDonald.
06:38It certainly made McDonald's rethink its clown-based marketing.
06:42But is Ronald really creepy? McDonald's has been extremely strict about who could represent
06:46the chain. While the company vets each Ronald with a comprehensive background check, at
06:50least one creep has slipped through the cracks and into the role. In 1998, Joe Maggard, a
06:56substitute for Ronald for one of the chain's commercials, turned out to be a bad hiring
07:00choice. Maggard was arrested on a weapons charge and went to court again the next year
07:04for making prank calls as Ronald McDonald. While Maggard certainly falls under the creepy
07:09category, he's definitely not the norm.
07:11"'I don't have much hair. Ronald's got great hair.'"
07:14Unfortunately for Ronald's reputation, sinister clowns started appearing in random locations
07:18worldwide in 2016. The first reports came from South Carolina in August, and before
07:24long, disturbing clowns were popping up everywhere. People were seeing them walk down deserted
07:28stretches of road, into the countryside, or through city lots both day and night. While
07:33many were just dressing up for fun, others tried to lure kids into the woods, ran at
07:37people, or brandished real weapons to incite terror. As a result, there were several clown
07:42arrests in 2016.
07:44However, the only Ronald McDonald believed to have been arrested that year was a statue
07:48version that was blocking foot traffic in Guangzhou, China. If you started to notice
07:52Ronald McDonald disappearing from sight in 2016, it's because of all the rampaging clowns.
07:57Terry Hickey, a spokeswoman for McDonald's, told CNN,
08:01"[McDonald's and franchisees in local markets are mindful of the current climate around
08:05clown sightings in communities, and as such, are being thoughtful with respect to Ronald
08:10McDonald's participation in community events for the time being."
08:12However, Hickey also went on to assure fans that Ronald McDonald wasn't going anywhere,
08:17telling CNN,
08:18"[This does not mean that there will be no appearances by Ronald McDonald, but that we
08:21are being thoughtful as to Ronald McDonald's participation in various community events
08:26at this time."
08:271974 marks the year when McDonald's first joined forces with a children's hospital in
08:35Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to provide a place for families to stay while their sick children
08:39received medical care. Today, Ronald McDonald houses are in 60 countries and regions worldwide
08:45to help relieve some of the emotional and financial stress for the worried parents of
08:49ill children. Even though Ronald McDonald hasn't shown up in McDonald's commercials
08:53since 2016, he still remains the face of Ronald McDonald House. Representatives for Ronald
08:58McDonald House call him,
09:00"...the CEO of happiness."
09:02In this role, Ronald McDonald still visits ailing children in hospitals to try to bring
09:06brightness and cheer to them as they undergo treatment. Plus, many of the fundraising efforts
09:10the charity uses to raise money each year, like Red Shoe Day, continue to use Ronald
09:15McDonald mascots. So, if you see a Ronald on a street corner asking for money for Ronald
09:20McDonald House, you know he's there for a good cause.
09:24McDonald's has certainly changed quite a bit since its humble California beginnings in
09:28the 1950s, and a great deal of that change has happened just in the last decade or so.
09:33They've removed many of their playgrounds, spent $6 billion on making their restaurants
09:37more high-tech and sleeker-looking, and done everything under the sun to create a menu
09:41that appeals to fast, casual, loving millennials.
09:45One of the more nostalgic aspects of McDonald's that's faded away has been the burger chain's
09:49long-standing clown mascot, Ronald McDonald. The absence of Ronald McDonald is bound to
09:55split people into two groups. There are those who will view Ronald's firing from the McDonald's
10:00of today as yet another piece of their childhood gone forever. On the opposite side of the
10:04coin are those with more of a good riddance attitude about it.
10:08So why, after so many years of promoting Happy Meals, did the Golden Arches finally pull
10:13Ronald McDonald from its promotions?
10:16"'McDonald's' hamburgers? And some French fries?"
10:22Ronald McDonald has been McDonald's main mascot since the 1960s, but his presence was wearing
10:27thin before those terrifying clown sightings of 2016. Various watchdog groups had been
10:33criticizing Ronald's marketing of unhealthy fast food to impressionable kids for years,
10:38drawing comparisons to the long-retired cigarette mascot Joe Camel.
10:42Long before the creepy clown incidents, former CEO Don Thompson attempted to defend Ronald
10:47as a mascot, saying in 2014,
10:50"...you don't see Ronald McDonald in schools. You don't see him eating food."
10:54Basically, the message seemed to be that Ronald doesn't eat McDonald's food. He just sells
11:00Many observers thought the defense didn't do much to help Ronald as a mascot or McDonald's
11:05as a place to eat. That same year, the company redesigned the clown with a cooler, more sophisticated
11:11look, but whatever they were shooting for, the rollout was a flop.
11:16McDonald's has been going through a makeover to make its restaurants more appealing to
11:19adults for years. The company started this makeover in 2012, and they're still in the
11:24process of updating its 5,000-plus locations.
11:27This means self-order kiosks, refreshed exteriors, and dining rooms that take inspiration from
11:33cafes and coffee shops. But the turn away from the kid-friendly burger joint design
11:37is a problem for Ronald, whose loudly-dressed cardboard cutouts don't really fit in with
11:42a new modernized aesthetic.
11:44McDonald's could always bring Ronald McDonald back whenever it likes, but these days, if
11:48you look through the company's social media accounts, you'll see that they're almost totally
11:51Ronald-free. This doesn't mean that Ronald McDonald has been 100 percent erased from
11:56the brand. You can still see Ronald McDonald representing the Golden Arches at least one
12:00day out of the year in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
12:04McDonald's has been flying a giant Ronald McDonald balloon in the parade for years,
12:09and it continued to do so at the parade in 2019. Ronald's parade appearance that year
12:14wasn't exactly smooth sailing, though. Poor Ronald suffered a gash in his leg after being
12:18blown into a tree branch. The deflation got so bad that NBC cut away to pre-recorded footage
12:24from an old parade to save Ronald the embarrassment.
12:28Anyone who grew up in the 1970s and beyond probably remembers McDonald's colorful, McDonaldland-themed
12:34advertisements. What you might not know is that McDonald's essentially stole the entire
12:38idea for their fantasy land.
12:40By the late 1960s, people realized that children were a perfect target for advertising, as
12:45their undeveloped brains could be easily manipulated for quick bucks. So in early 1970, McDonald's
12:51came up with the idea of using the popular characters from Sid and Marty Krofft's hit
12:54TV series H.R. Puffinstuff in order to sell fast food to kids. Phone calls were exchanged
12:59and the Kroffts received an official letter saying the deal was going forward, and that
13:03they would be paid for their work. However, later that year, the Kroffts were abruptly
13:07told that the plan had been scrapped. Except, of course, it hadn't been.
13:12In 1971, McDonald's unveiled their wildly popular McDonaldland, a fantasy realm filled
13:17with weird burger-themed creatures and puppets. The ad campaign was a massive success, leading
13:22to McDonaldland-themed playgrounds around the country and a surge in sales.
13:26One problem, though. The concepts and characters in McDonaldland were almost completely ripped
13:30off from H.R. Puffinstuff. Especially egregious was Mayor McCheese, whose design was almost
13:36identical to H.R. Puffinstuff's titular dragon other than having a fluffy bun for a head.
13:41Needless to say, the Kroffts sued, and that's when things really got interesting.
13:46As the lawsuit played out, the depth of McDonald's perfidy became apparent. Not only did McDonald's
13:51appropriate the basic concepts of the H.R. Puffinstuff characters, they actually hired
13:55away the Krofft employees who had designed and built the H.R. Puffinstuff characters
13:58to begin with. In fact, McDonald's went so far as to even recruit the voice talent from
14:03H.R. Puffinstuff to do the voices for the McDonaldland characters, too.
14:06The Kroffts' lawsuit wasn't just about the theft of intellectual property, though. Thanks
14:10to the massive McDonald's marketing machine, the McDonaldland characters quickly became
14:14so popular that they pushed H.R. Puffinstuff out of the market. The Kroffts lost a number
14:18of merchandising and licensing deals as companies turned to McDonald's instead. Case in point,
14:23the Ice Capades, which replaced the Puffinstuff characters with the McDonaldland gang.
14:28Once the lawsuit went to court, one of the more unique aspects of the trial is the fact
14:32that it was more about how children perceived things than how adults did. The Kroffts argued
14:36that while adults might know the difference, little kids being marketed to wouldn't understand
14:40that the McDonaldland gang wasn't actually part of their beloved Saturday morning H.R.
14:45Puffinstuff show. So the usual legal burden of copyright infringement was superseded by
14:49something far less common in lawsuits, common sense.
14:52Even though McDonald's argued that they had changed enough small details to make their
14:55characters legally different, the courts didn't buy it. As the text from the case notes,
15:00"...we do not believe that the ordinary reasonable person, let alone a child, viewing these works
15:04will even notice that Puffinstuff is wearing a cummerbund while Mayor McCheese is wearing
15:08a diplomat sash."
15:09In 1977, six years after the battle started, the courts found McDonald's guilty. But did
15:15they really lose?
15:17In the end, McDonald's was forced to pay the Kroffts more than $1 million in damages, including
15:21$6,000 per commercial, $5,000 for each promotional item made, and $500 for other infringing acts.
15:28They were also ordered to stop using certain characters and to stop airing commercials,
15:32running promotions, or selling items that featured those characters.
15:36Over the following years, the McDonaldland characters began to fade in popularity, but
15:40by the time the lawsuit was finally completed in 1977, the goal had already been accomplished
15:45and the damage done.
15:47H.R. Puffinstuff has been relegated to a footnote of history, mostly notable for sneaking references
15:52to hippie drug culture into kids' television.
15:54"...Jump a jahassaphan. We've been drugged."
15:58Characters like Grimace, the Hamburglar, and Mayor McCheese, on the other hand, are still
16:01part of America's cultural lexicon, and helped turn McDonald's into a worldwide phenomenon.
16:06"...Ha! Rubble, rubble. Lame is a rubble, rubble."
16:14And when you put it that way, $1 million seems like a bargain.
16:18He was a burger-loving, moon-headed man who enticed you out into the night on top of his
16:23flying piano. And for a time, he was loved by many. So why did McDonald's send him packing?
16:29Mac Tonight was a character featured in McDonald's commercials from 1986 to 1989. Despite his
16:34brief stint in the limelight, the moon-headed singer, with his trademark sunglasses, beaming
16:39smile, and stylish tuxedo, has left an indelible impression.
16:43"...Check out those shades."
16:46The Mac Tonight character and campaign was an innovative and memorable part of McDonald's
16:50advertising history. The surreal-looking mascot has been portrayed seated at a piano on top
16:55of a giant Big Mac, atop a cloud, and even on a roller coaster. These dreamlike settings
17:01coupled with catchy jingles added to Mac Tonight's appeal, and helped to cement him as a beloved
17:06icon of America's 1980s fast food culture. Mac Tonight was retired just a few years after
17:11he hit the spotlight, but he remains one of the most fascinating fast food mascots out
17:16there.
17:17Since McDonald's characters like Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar are typically aimed at
17:22McDonald's, Mac Tonight was an anomaly. Instead of advertising the chain's fare to families,
17:26the moon-headed crooner promoted the idea that McDonald's was about much more than just
17:30daytime dining.
17:31"...I love Maccas every night."
17:32"...And we all love the nighttime value."
17:33"...McDonald's $2 dinner deal."
17:34"...That's value!"
17:38Mac Tonight was one of only a few McDonald's mascots that didn't appear in McDonaldland,
17:43a series of commercials in a colorful, fictional universe. Used by the chain's advertising
17:48between 1971 and 2003, older McDonald's fans might remember Speedy, who came before Ronald,
17:55and younger fast food fans will be familiar with Happy, the Happy Meal box.
17:59Mac Tonight had a smooth and enigmatic demeanor, and he was definitely a departure from the
18:03typical colorful style of McDonald's advertising.
18:07Mac Tonight was the brainchild of an L.A.-based advertising agency, Davis, Johnson, Mogul,
18:14also known as DJMC, which created the character after McDonald's executives asked the firm
18:19to help them increase the chain's evening sales.
18:22The first four advertisements featuring Mac Tonight cost $500,000 to make, and while the
18:27spots initially only aired only in California, the advertising proved highly effective and
18:32was soon expanded to Oregon, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
18:35The Mac Tonight marketing campaign was so successful that McDonald's executives decided
18:39to roll it out across the country in 1987.
18:42The launch of the nationwide campaign was marked by the mascot's appearance at a McDonald's
18:47restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida, where he performed on the building's rooftop.
18:51AdWatch reported that consumer recall of McDonald's advertisements doubled in the month after
18:56Mac Tonight hit the national airwaves.
18:58"...at McDonald's all over the Bay Area. The Moon Man will be serving up fun for everyone.
19:03Maybe he'll even teach you to dance the Mac Tonight pride."
19:07Before Doug Jones appeared in things like Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, and Star Trek Discovery,
19:11he portrayed Mac Tonight.
19:13Doug Jones wore the huge, moon-shaped mask and played the character in several advertisements
19:18that ran on American television.
19:20Peter Kutrulis, former creative director at DJMC, told Mel magazine that Jones was chosen
19:25for the role because he was tall and thin, and he had mime experience.
19:30"...like my nephew, the mime. Hello?"
19:36He was highly animated, which was essential for the Mac character, making Jones a perfect choice.
19:41Jones credits his stint as Mac Tonight with paving his way to success in movies like Hocus
19:46Pocus.
19:47In 2013, Jones told Collider that he played Mac Tonight in 27 commercials over a three-year
19:53period, which led to several referrals.
19:55Perhaps this is why Jones ended up coming back to do two Mac Tonight commercials in
19:59the mid-1990s, during a short-lived revival of the character.
20:04McDonald's Mac Tonight campaign was set to the melody of Mac the Knife, which is a pretty
20:08unusual choice considering that the song's original lyrics are about violence and murder.
20:14The song was first written for the Three Penny Opera, a 1928 German number about a man named
20:19McHeath and his violent acts.
20:21In 1959, a version of the song by Bobby Darin became a number one hit in the U.S.
20:27Since it was the song's catchy tune that played a role in its selection for the Mac Tonight
20:31advertising campaign, the song's lyrics were repurposed into a PG-rated jingle.
20:36And instead of talking about bloody murder, the new lyrics celebrated the joys of late-night
20:40snacking.
20:41McDonald's rejected the accusation that Mac the Knife was not suitable for use in advertising.
20:46The corporation's national marketing vice president, David Green, defended the chain's
20:50decision to use the tune, saying that it was just representative of the music of the
20:5460s.
20:55Mac the Knife was definitely well-known by baby boomers who grew up in the 1950s and
21:001960s, when it was a chart-topping hit.
21:03Ironically, the catchy melody of Mac the Knife also may have ultimately led to the character's
21:07downfall.
21:08In 1989, McDonald's discontinued the campaign after the son of the late Bobby Darin sued
21:13the fast food franchise for over $10 million.
21:16The lawsuit alleged that the Mac Tonight marketing campaign had infringed on Bobby
21:20Darin's singing style and mannerisms.
21:23While the lawsuit was unsuccessful, Mac Tonight never regained his former level of popularity
21:27after taking a break.
21:29Peter Kuchelis summed this idea up best for Mel magazine, saying that while McDonald's
21:33had the rights to the song, the brand didn't really put up a fight.
21:37According to him, if Mac had been as popular and lucrative as Ronald McDonald, the company
21:41may have fought harder.
21:43Decades after the popularity of Mac Tonight had dwindled in the U.S., the character resurfaced
21:48on the opposite side of the globe.
21:50In 2007, the crescent-faced musician started appearing in McDonald's ads in Malaysia, Singapore,
21:56Indonesia, and the Philippines.
21:58This time around, however, the mascot was no longer an actor in a foam mask, but rather
22:02a CGI character.
22:04The chain's Southeast Asia campaign was short-lived, ending in 2010.
22:08In the newer commercials, Mac Tonight exchanges his piano for a saxophone, which he can be
22:13seen playing on the rooftop of a McDonald's store, and sometimes playing soccer, or in
22:18other unusual situations.
22:21Mac Tonight, just like Ronald McDonald, was more than just a television character.
22:25The dreamlike mascot also sometimes made appearances in stores to the delight of McDonald's customers.
22:31When the Mac Tonight advertising campaign went nationwide, the character appeared in
22:35front of 1,000 people at a McDonald's store in Florida.
22:38To satisfy the demand for Mac Tonight, McDonald's started placing animatronics of the mascot
22:43in some of their restaurants.
22:44Just like the original Mac Tonight, the animatronics would usually play the piano and sing.
22:49However, maintenance of these animatronics ceased after the mascot was retired by the
22:53franchise, leaving motionless figures at various outlets.
22:57One of the last Mac Tonight animatronics can be found in a McDonald's outlet in Orlando.
23:02Visitors report that the robot still plays music, but no longer works.
23:06Despite his short tenure as a slinger of late-night beef treats, Mac's impact on pop culture is
23:11pretty legendary.
23:13In an episode of The Simpsons entitled Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore, Homer enlists the help
23:17of a Mac Tonight cardboard cutout to watch over his family after he's transferred to
23:22India for work.
23:23Mac also makes an appearance in Burger King's, where he sings in Homer's dreams to persuade
23:28him to take a stance against a fast food restaurant owned by Mr. Burns.
23:32His memory has also lived on in NASCAR.
23:34At least twice, NASCAR teams adorned their cars with a Mac Tonight paint scheme.
23:39The first instance occurred back in 1997 with driver Bill Elliott, who was sponsored
23:44by McDonald's for five years starting in 1995.
23:47The NASCAR Hall of Famer's blue-clad No. 94 car featured Mac Tonight and the McDonald's
23:52logo on the hood.
23:53Elliott would go on to drive the vehicle in a handful of races that year.
23:57Nearly 20 years later, the Mac Tonight car came back.
24:00In 2016, driver Jamie McMurray adopted the same paint scheme for his No. 1 car when he
24:06raced in the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
24:10The vintage design choice was not entirely out of the blue, as the race took place during
24:14the venue's second annual Throwback Weekend.
24:17Remember Pogs?
24:18Mac Tonight also appeared on a series of Pogs distributed by McDonald's restaurants.
24:22Mac Tonight masks were sold, as well as finger puppets and Happy Meal toys.
24:27Unfortunately, Mac Tonight fell victim to the darker side of the internet in 2007,
24:39when racist images and videos featuring Mac, now referred to as Moon Man, started appearing
24:44online.
24:45Moon Man was appropriated to propagate hate, and the Anti-Defamation League has classified
24:50the Moon Man as a potential hate symbol when used in a racist context.
24:54They caution, however, that Mac Tonight shouldn't automatically be construed as a symbol of
24:58hate, since he has such a long and mundane legacy as a burger mascot and 80s icon.
25:04Sometimes we just can't have nice things.
25:07Why did McDonald's decide to ditch the beloved character Captain Crook?
25:12Did he steal one too many fish sandwiches?
25:15Did his abrupt 1980s makeover come under fire?
25:22We know you have questions about Captain Crook, and we have answers.
25:26Here's everything we know about his disappearance.
25:29Avast!
25:30I'll fix the rascal's…
25:32Stop!
25:33That's not the way!
25:34Hold it!
25:35I'll put it under a rap!
25:36As you can clearly see, Captain Crook was a pirate through and through.
25:39With his puffy shirt and lavish purple hat, he gravitated towards a very classic, very
25:44casual pirate look, and as you can see for yourself, he wore it very well indeed.
25:49Of course, he didn't happen to have a peg leg or wear an eyepatch, but hey, nobody's
25:53perfect.
25:54I'll trade you two big lads for a Captain Crook!
25:57You're not worth it!
25:59Oh yeah?
26:00When your name's Captain Crook, you're probably not going to grow up to become a beacon of
26:04respectability.
26:05Oh my!
26:06Wow!
26:07He was searching for a great treasure.
26:12Oops!
26:13My mistake!
26:15This particular captain had a voracious appetite for mischief, a hunger only exceeded by his
26:20love of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich.
26:22Well, someone out there had to be eating them.
26:25Without a doubt, Captain Crook hung with a rough crowd.
26:28First there was the Hamburglar, who devoted his life to stealing hamburgers and cheeseburgers.
26:33Then there was the evil Grimace, he of the craven and insatiable thirst for milkshakes.
26:37Meanwhile, Captain Crook himself was a force to be reckoned with, demonstrating with every
26:42sly move that one man's fish sandwich is another man's buried treasure.
26:47If Captain Crook looks familiar, it might be because he looks an awful lot like Captain
26:52Hook, the villain in Peter Pan.
26:54You know the one we're talking about.
26:56The similarities are impossible to ignore.
26:58They both had a penchant for wearing large, floppy hats, velvety red jackets with lace
27:02popping out of their collars and cuffs, and of course, the obligatory curly mustaches
27:06that are always so fashionable among the villainous pirate set.
27:10He even warped the plank!
27:12Bosh!
27:13This looks like a good spot!
27:16However, it's worth noting that Captain Crook wasn't missing a hand, unlike the iconic villain
27:21who liked to give Peter Pan such a hard time.
27:23We can't help but wonder whether Captain Hook would have also enjoyed the Filet-O-Fish had
27:27he been born into a different era.
27:29What do you think?
27:31In the 1980s, McDonald's gave Captain Crook quite the makeover.
27:35Let's both work together and get this boat in the water!
27:38Right!
27:39But first, a Filet-O-Fish sandwich!
27:40Seemingly overnight, Captain Crook transformed into a far sillier pirate with a much more
27:46bushy mustache.
27:47He looked less like a villain and more like someone's cuddly, vaguely swashbuckling second
27:52uncle.
27:53For reasons we'll probably never understand, the powers-that-be at McDonald's decided to
27:57drop Crook from the pirate's name, and he was promptly renamed The Captain.
28:02Instead of being psychotically obsessed with Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, he spent a good chunk
28:06of time enjoying pleasant lunches with Ronald McDonald, or hanging out on his pirate ship's
28:11lifeboat.
28:12For a minute back there, it looked like the Captain had finally come into his own.
28:16But fate is some cruel stuff.
28:19Sadly, this revamp wasn't enough to save him from a massive overhaul of the McDonaldland
28:24cast of characters in the 1980s.
28:27In the middle of the decade, many beloved residents of McDonaldland were dropped from
28:31the chain's advertising campaigns, including Captain Crook.
28:34"'Tis I!
28:35It's a different kind of sandwich!
28:37And a great treasure!"
28:38"'How's the story end?'
28:40So why did McDonald's let the Captain go?
28:43Perhaps it was a simple and dispassionate marketing move?
28:46We've reached out to the pirate for a statement, and we'll update this story as soon as more
28:49information becomes available.
28:51"'Ahoy!
28:52How about a cheeseburger for me?'
28:55"'Oh no, Captain Crook, not till you learn to smile!'
28:58"'Oh, really?
28:59Watch this!'
29:01Ronald McDonald's greatest nemesis, the Hamburglar, was a fast food icon.
29:07So why did this cheeseburger-stealing villain suddenly disappear from McDonaldland?
29:11Let's find out why this bamboozling burger bandit was ultimately relegated to the pop
29:15culture dustbin.
29:16"'Good morning, class!'
29:17"'Good morning, Ronald!'
29:18"'Today's subject?
29:19The Hamburglar.'"
29:20As you can see, the original Hamburglar wasn't particularly appealing.
29:26No wonder he was revised in 1985 and given red hair and smoother facial features to make
29:31him look more childlike and cartoonish.
29:33"'Touch!
29:34Cheeseburger!
29:35Touch!
29:36Grab a big cheeseburger!'
29:40Nope.
29:41Still creepy."
29:42In 2002, the Hamburglar made a rare appearance in a McDonald's commercial that wasn't specifically
29:48tailored to kids.
29:49He popped up in an ad alongside tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams to promote the chain's
29:53dollar menu offerings.
29:55As The Atlantic reports,
29:56"...this was the last commercial to feature the Hamburglar mascot as we knew him."
29:59What a bummer.
30:00The Hamburglar's unceremonious end may have reflected an overall downturn in fortune for
30:05McDonald's.
30:06In 2002, the company's stock fell by 39 percent, and the chain lost more than $435 million
30:11in value.
30:12McDonald's responded to the stock tumble by closing numerous locations and cutting a large
30:16swath of jobs.
30:17The next year, the fast food chain set out to thoroughly rebrand itself as an establishment
30:21that offered more sophisticated and refined fare.
30:24In order to make that happen, something evidently had to give.
30:27Around the same time, McDonald's conspicuously began downplaying its McDonaldland characters,
30:32including the Hamburglar.
30:33"...I don't know what you are."
30:34"...Well, I don't know about you either, I'm breaking up with you."
30:37"...What'd you say about my mama?"
30:38"...Huh?"
30:39By their very nature, ad campaigns tend to have a rather limited shelf life.
30:43After all, companies certainly don't want to run the risk of their products seeming
30:46old-fashioned, outdated, or woefully out of touch.
30:49"...The last fry!"
30:50"...Playa for it."
30:55"...You better catch up!"
30:56"...That was so funny I forgot to laugh."
30:58With that in mind, the Hamburglar had a good, long life.
31:00He somehow managed to terrorize our television screens and steal an ungodly amount of burgers
31:05for 30 solid gold years.
31:07But near the end of his illustrious career, he was starting to seem rather old hat, particularly
31:11since it could be argued that he was dressed to somewhat resemble The Lone Ranger, a radio
31:15and TV show that was popular with kids back in the 1950s.
31:18As Time Magazine reports, a generation of viewers that came of age in the early 2000s
31:23may have just found the character to be straight-up creepy, which, of course, he was.
31:26"...Royal, the Hamburglar's got the cheeseburgers!"
31:29"...Got a train to catch, I'll head him off for the first!"
31:33By the 2010s, the Hamburglar was gone, but not forgotten.
31:37In fact, the character eventually re-entered our lives, though in a freshly updated form.
31:41When the Hamburglar re-emerged in 2015, he was suddenly a tall, handsome, stubbly gentleman
31:46who looked rather fetching in his Hamburglar-inspired threads.
31:49There was the long trench coat, the striped shirt, the eye mask, and the brimmed hat.
31:53So what was this all about?
31:55As a McDonald's marketing exec told Mashable,
31:57"...we felt it was time to debut a new look for the Hamburglar.
32:00After he's been out of the public eye all these years, he's had some time to grow up
32:03a bit and has been busy raising a family in the suburbs."
32:06And his look has evolved over time.
32:08Not only had the Hamburglar grown up, but so had his tastes.
32:11McDonald's used the updated character as an attention-getting, limited-time-only mascot
32:15in order to promote its adult-oriented, sirloin, third-pound burger in a series of online advertisements.
32:20Who could ever get enough of that sweet little face?
32:22"...why it's that crafty old Hamburglar stealing all those delicious McDonald's hamburgers.
32:27What do we do?"
32:29You may not know that Ronald McDonald's big purple pal Grimace was once named Evil Grimace
32:34as he roamed around McDonaldland hoarding milkshakes and other beverages before taking
32:39on a more friendly demeanor.
32:41Here's the dark truth behind this creepy character.
32:46Even a marketing juggernaut that can convince kids that prefab hamburgers are better than
32:49fresh ones can still be prone to mistakes.
32:52And one of those mistakes was the four-armed Evil Grimace.
32:55As former McDonald's creative officer Roy Bergold wrote in QSR Magazine in 2012,
33:01The original Grimace was scaly, mean-looking, had four arms, and had no charm whatsoever.
33:07He scared kids.
33:08We changed him to a soft, plush, two-armed blob of a sweetheart who only wanted McDonald's
33:13milkshakes and to hang out with Ronald.
33:16Evil Grimace was obsessed with stealing milkshakes from children.
33:19If you're an adult, you might find that darkly funny.
33:22But when you were a little kid, you might have actually believed that your frozen treat
33:26would be stolen by a four-armed purple blob.
33:29The historical record has not been kind to Evil Grimace.
33:32Business Insider dubbed him a total failure, while the Think Tank YouTube channel made
33:37an astute point in a 2016 video by noting,
33:41They realized that, in a story, you have heroes and villains, but in ads, you don't necessarily
33:46want people to be scared of being killed by a monster when they go to your place.
33:51First impressions really are a big deal, and the first impression we get in one particular
33:56commercial of four-armed Evil Grimace is a scene of him standing in a dark cave, surrounded
34:01by McDonald's cups, asking the camera,
34:04Who's the… where's the Coke?
34:07If this were a person that you were meeting for the first time, you would probably immediately
34:11delete his number from your phone and avoid him in social situations at all costs.
34:16But in McDonaldland, this first impression is a reason to invent a fake beauty contest
34:21to lure this Coke-hoarding monster out of his cave, and then take all the Coke back
34:25while he's gone.
34:26Actually, now that we think about it, this scheme might work in real life as well.
34:31The entire point to this story is that in addition to stealing milkshakes, Evil Grimace
34:35was also a Coke fiend, which created gloomy days in McDonaldland.
34:40They were so gloomy, in fact, that the first scene of this ad features a couple of kids
34:44sitting in a field of hamburgers with Ronald McDonald, whining about how they have no Cokes
34:49and no shakes.
34:50And by the tone of their voices, it sounds like they've lost their entire will to live.
34:55No Coke and no shakes.
35:01Evil Grimace wasn't the most intelligent citizen of McDonaldland, case in point.
35:05In most of the commercials he appeared in, he was duped by a giant clown with simple
35:09disguises.
35:10In one of them, Ronald McDonald throws on a hat that says Mailman and puts a bag of
35:15letters on his shoulder, thereby posing as a mail carrier to deliver Grimace a fake letter
35:20inviting him to participate in a beauty contest.
35:23You might protest that that's a federal crime, but in McDonaldland, it's just a crafty method
35:28to get your triple-thick shakes and ice-cold Coca-Cola back to McDonald's.
35:33Not one to learn from his mistakes, Evil Grimace is again bamboozled in another ad when Ronald
35:38spots him absconding with four arms full of Coke and milkshakes.
35:42The clown throws on a beret and a pair of oversized sunglasses, grabs a fake movie camera,
35:47and follows Grimace to Filet-O-Fish Lake.
35:50He then convinces Grimace to pose for some shots, getting him to slowly back up before
35:55falling into the water.
35:57You might think that Ronald should now be tried for attempting to kill Evil Grimace,
36:01but in McDonaldland, it's perfectly justifiable to behave this way if you're rescuing milkshakes
36:06and fountain soda.
36:09Although most of us probably remember Grimace as purple, he was also known for becoming
36:13green on March 17th.
36:15This was at least the case for the lone St. Patrick's Day that four-armed Evil Grimace
36:19was with us when he starred in a Shamrock-themed commercial.
36:23In the ad, a couple of concerned children notice that Grimace is turning green and ask
36:27him why his hands and feet are severely discolored.
36:30Grimace, who looks a little like a scientific demonstration on the progressive effects of
36:35frostbite, then tells the kids that he often turns green this time of year, thanks to McDonald's
36:40Shamrock shakes.
36:42The little girl asks Grimace if she can have one, as she's never had a green shake before,
36:47to which Grimace replies that she sure can.
36:49For a brief moment, it appears that the four-armed villain will actually show some compassion
36:53for the kids, who seemed so concerned for his health.
36:56But he then reveals his true colors when instead of handing her a triple-thick Shamrock shake,
37:01he instead shakes her hand and yells,
37:03"'Sure!
37:04Shake!'
37:05Ha ha ha!"
37:06Despite the evil moniker, the original four-armed version of Grimace wasn't so much evil as
37:11he was just kind of dumb and hungry.
37:14In a way, he was like a dog who rips the Christmas roast off the counter while it's defrosting.
37:18He's not trying to ruin Christmas, he's just looking for some lunch.
37:22This is clear in the movie director commercial, in which Grimace repeatedly says how thirsty
37:27he is, and this is ostensibly why he's running off with four armloads of beverages.
37:33Evil Grimace is a fairly big guy, after all, so he probably needs more hydration than the
37:37average seven-year-old.
37:38Similarly, when he's spotted turning green from Shamrock shakes, the poor dumb oaf doesn't
37:44even realize that his body is changing color until the kids tell him.
37:48And perhaps he actually did think that the little girl was asking to shake his hand instead
37:52of asking for a Shamrock shake, as his brain was both frozen and addled with sugar.
37:57In that sense, he wasn't evil, he was just too dumb to know any better.
38:02Though this personality trait was never publicly cited as a reason for his name change, we
38:06can't help but think McDonald's ultimately figured out that they got the evil part wrong.
38:12Once upon a time, a playground at McDonald's was as much a part of the Golden Arches' experience
38:18as a burger and a Happy Meal toy.
38:20The McDonaldland Play Place debuted in 1972 at the Illinois State Fair and expanded to
38:25McDonald's locations nationwide, with everything from Officer Big Mac climbing structures to
38:30Captain Crook spiral slides.
38:33The pieces were designed by Don Amend, who was previously a set designer at Disney before
38:37working for McDonald's.
38:39By the early 90s, the playgrounds branched off into an independent concept called Leaps
38:44and Bounds, an indoor play center where parents paid $4.95 to let their kids immerse themselves
38:49in McDonaldland.
38:51There's no evidence of evil grimace at Leaps and Bounds, but he was part of the original
38:55lineup that debuted at the Illinois State Fair.
38:58The playscapes included the Evil Grimace Bounce and Bend, a 10-foot structure on which children
39:03could hold onto the bars while the cage shook back and forth.
39:07According to a post on the Dinosaurs & Dracula blog, the Bounce and Bend attraction was still
39:11at some McDonald's restaurants into the 1980s.
39:15The McDonaldland characters were naturally enough turned into toys, and most of the original
39:20ones featured poseable limbs and changeable cloth clothes.
39:24Many also included accessories like Officer Big Mac's badge and Mayor McCheese's sash.
39:30They also had levers in their backs that allowed kids to move their heads in four directions.
39:34Alas, this wasn't the case with the Evil Grimace toy, as his design lent itself more
39:39readily to cuddling.
39:41Its innards were similar to the material found inside a beanbag, and it was covered in purple
39:45fur to make him especially cuddly.
39:48Grimace wasn't winning any action figure fights, but he was perfect for sleeping next to in bed.
39:53If you want one of these cuddly Evil Grimace dolls now, that's probably going to set you
39:57back a pretty penny.
39:59A recent asking price on eBay for a rare, Comic-Con-exclusive stuffed four-armed Evil
40:04Grimace that's still in the box was $129.99.
40:07But hey, free shipping was available.
40:10Who's to say if it was actually worth that much, but either way, it would definitely
40:14be a nice conversation piece to have sitting on your living room sofa.
40:18And it's way cooler than an enamel pin, which you can find on eBay or Etsy for about $15.
40:25Though there are no public records of parents avoiding the Golden Arches because of the
40:29imminent threat of a four-armed monster, in 1972 McDonald's decided to figuratively
40:34amputate two of Evil Grimace's arms.
40:38Also removed was the evil part of his name, as he henceforth became known as simply Grimace.
40:43He retained the dopey persona, as he still began each sentence with a duh and maintained
40:48his unhealthy obsession with milkshakes.
40:51As Grimace went from foil to cartoon clown hanger-on and gave up stealing from kids,
40:56he turned into Ronald's best friend and got all the Coke and shakes he could by hanging
41:01out with a guy who had them in abundance.
41:03His story is actually a decent life lesson, as Grimace's new lifestyle was certainly better
41:08than pursuing a life of crime.
41:10Also, we'd argue that a two-armed purple blob is much more aesthetically pleasing than a
41:15four-armed monster.
41:17Grimace, we're late!
41:18But the dinner is great!
41:22Why did McDonald's get rid of Officer Big Mac?
41:25Was there a beef between him and Mayor McCheese?
41:28Did he have to turn in his badge?
41:30All these questions and more are about to be answered.
41:33Here's the real reason McDonald's left Officer Big Mac in the dust.
41:37Even in McDonaldland, there was a need for law and order.
41:41It came in the form of one man, a certain Officer Big Mac.
41:45You'd often find him patrolling the streets of McDonaldland, making sure everyone was
41:48kept in line.
41:49Do you really think you'll make it to McDonald's?
41:53I hope so!
41:54Was he a good cop?
41:55Unconfirmed.
41:56He was pretty effective at keeping the Hamburglar and Captain Crook at bay, so there's that.
42:01As the 70s began, the hamburger chain sought to hook kids early.
42:06McDonald's beckoned them under the golden arches with a cast of theoretically lovable
42:10characters.
42:11Among the McDonaldland gang was, yes, a cop with a Big Mac for a head.
42:15A clever marketing campaign for a sandwich that had been introduced only four years earlier.
42:20Officer Big Mac was somewhat reminiscent of the Keystone Cops, an inept, purely fictitious
42:25police force from the silent movie era.
42:28Miami was a rough place in the 1980s.
42:31The international drug trade had made the city the murder capital of America, and the
42:35rampant crime inspired classics like Miami Vice and Scarface.
42:40Even Officer Big Mac fell victim to the seedy city.
42:42According to Thrillist, a five-foot fiberglass version of Officer Big Mac mysteriously went
42:47missing from a Miami McDonald's in 1983.
42:50A group called NPLO claimed responsibility for the crime.
42:54Perhaps NPLO was a ruthless drug cartel.
42:57Perhaps the name stood for No Pickles, Lettuce, Onions.
43:00Details have been lost in the sands of time.
43:02The ransom note demanded 40 billion Big Macs and 40 billion plus one French fries.
43:07The request was ignored.
43:09Though it sounds very delicious.
43:11This particular statue of Officer Big Mac was never seen again, but we imagine that
43:15someone out there knows something.
43:17If you or someone you know have any details about the missing Officer Big Mac statue,
43:21please notify your local McDonald's at once.
43:25One of Officer Big Mac's more memorable relics was his playland structure, widely known as
43:30the Big Mac Climber.
43:31According to a 1999 story from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, over 400 children were injured
43:37as a result of this thing, which led to skull fractures, broken bones, and concussions.
43:42McDonald's reportedly didn't report the injuries and instead just phased out the Big Mac Climber,
43:47and the chain was investigated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
43:51The result was a $4 million fine, the largest fine the CPSC had ever assessed at the time.
43:58In the mid-'80s, McDonald's phased out some of the lesser-known McDonaldland characters.
44:03One of the casualties was Officer Big Mac.
44:05No official reason for the move was given, but theories abound.
44:09Some people suspect that McDonald's axed the characters that most closely resembled the
44:13creatures from H.R. Pufnstuf.
44:15According to the TV Tropes website, the 1985 discontinuation of these major characters
44:20were the result of the lawsuit we mentioned earlier.
44:23Whatever the reason, Officer Big Mac, Captain Crook, and the Professor were no longer welcome
44:28in McDonaldland.
44:29We do wish them the very best of luck in their future endeavors, and please contact your
44:33nearest McDonald's if you have any questions.
44:36Have you ever checked the Officer Big Mac entry in the McDonald's fandom wiki?
44:41We check it first thing in the morning for updates, and we can confirm there's one great
44:44theory as to why the character was ultimately retired, which says,
44:48"...he was a crooked cop, often letting Hamburglar and Captain Crook go due to them paying bribes
44:53to him.
44:54It is believed that he started a sentient burger trafficking ring."
44:58The Post goes on to say that the death of Officer Big Mac was the result of an unfortunate
45:02shootout with Mayor McCheese, allegedly the result of a bad trafficking deal.
45:06He's listed as survived by a widow and 58 children, all of whom we presume are absolutely
45:12devastated — and absolutely delicious.
45:15After 26 whimsical seconds of children running hand-in-hand with Ronald McDonald through
45:20a forest of trees filled with eyes and apple pies, one 1970 commercial from McDonald's
45:25colorful McDonaldland gives a nod to the head honcho, Mayor McCheese.
45:30Mayor McCheese's character is exemplified in a 1971 McDonald's commercial about him
45:34running for re-election.
45:36In his bumbling speech, he consistently requires Ronald McDonald to correct him.
45:40Ronald has to recommend the word trustworthy instead of Mayor McCheese's strange use of
45:45self-winding to describe cheeseburgers.
45:48Ronald also shoots down his idea for a cheeseburger in every glove compartment.
45:52Well, McCheese has been re-elected.
45:54Thank you, thank you, thank you!
45:57By the late 80s, however, Mayor McCheese had disappeared while Ronald McDonald enjoyed
46:01popularity into the next generation.
46:03The only time the beefy politician is seen again in McDonald's approved media is in the
46:082001 time-traveling episode of the direct-to-video miniseries, The Wacky Adventures of Ronald
46:13McDonald.
46:14In the episode, Have Time, Will Travel?, the gang finally manages to arrive at a McDonaldland
46:19after bouncing around several different eras — except it's the McDonaldland in 1975.
46:25Upon seeing them, Mayor McCheese presents the latest dance craze, The Hustle.
46:29After this brief dancing cameo, Mayor McCheese is left behind as Ronald McDonald, Grimace,
46:34and the Hamburglar return to the then-present year of 2001.
46:38Despite McDonald's deposing him from office, Mayor McCheese as a character has enjoyed
46:42his own status as a pop culture figure within the demographic of people who were children
46:46in the 70s.
46:47He appears on Family Guy a few times, always making fun of the fact that his head is a
46:52cheeseburger.
46:53He also appears in a robot chicken sketch as a sordid politician.
46:56Plus, he was a guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, playing a Scientologist who defends
47:01his beliefs while denouncing both psychology and antidepressants.
47:05Although the intended humor of these appearances varies, it's interesting how the bumbling
47:09politician from the childhood of the people who wrote this material has become an icon
47:13separate from the rest of the McDonald's party.
47:15Ronald McDonald is inseparable from McDonald's to this day, but when Patton Oswalt shouted
47:20on Twitter that he'll support Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, or Mayor McCheese in the
47:242020 presidential election, it highlighted the enduring memory of the incompetence associated
47:29with this retired mascot.
47:31Still, fans remain fond of the iconic McDonald's character years later.
47:35McDonald's seems to still harbor affection for Mayor McCheese, too.
47:38In August of 2020, McDonald's approved a Funko Pops figure of Mayor McCheese.
47:43Apparently, legal troubles don't plague McCheese's memory, as long as it's packaged as nostalgia.