Mayor McCheese was phased out of McDonald’s marketing and promotional materials due to legal disputes and a shift in advertising focus.
Mayor McCcheese, a character once prominent in the McDonaldland advertising campaign for McDonald’s, was a burger-headed mayor who represented the franchise’s burgers. Introduced in the early 1970s, he was part of a whimsical cast of characters created to appeal to children. However, in the 1980s, McDonald’s faced a lawsuit from Sid and Marty Krofft, television producers who claimed that the entire McDonaldland concept was a direct copy of their show, “H.R. Pufnstuf.” The Kroffts won the lawsuit, and McDonald’s was ordered to pay for damages.
Following the lawsuit, McDonald’s gradually began to phase out many of the McDonaldland characters, including Mayor McCheese, to avoid further legal issues and to modernize their brand image. By the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, Mayor McCheese and the other characters were largely retired from McDonald’s advertising campaigns. The company shifted its marketing strategy to focus more on the food itself and on new characters, such as Ronald McDonald and the Happy Meal Gang.
The retirement of Mayor McCheese also coincided with a broader change in how companies marketed to children, with an increasing emphasis on health and nutrition. As a result, the fantastical and whimsical elements of McDonaldland were replaced with more straightforward and product-focused advertising. While Mayor McCheese is no longer an active part of McDonald’s marketing, he remains a nostalgic figure for those who grew up during the height of McDonaldland’s popularity.