McDonald's Characters: Who Are Grimace, CosMc, & More?

Ronald McDonald is arguably the most famous of the McDonald's characters. The smiling clown was first introduced in 1963 as the official mascot for the brand. However, he was all but retired for many years due to a growing phobia of clowns by the public and a negative perception of directly targeting minors with advertising. When promoted by the company again, Ronald went through many makeovers. The fast food giant changed his looks to make him friendlier and more appealing to the mass market of consumers.

McDonald's takes a severe stance on this character, refusing to shatter the charade that Ronald is even a character at all. Instead, corporate is insistent, at least to the media, anyway, that Ronald is a real clown and there is just one of him. This has led to some sticky situations for the many actors who have played Ronald over the years. One such incident includes one actor nearly getting arrested because he would not give his government name when involved in a small car accident. He was in costume, so according to his corporate contract, he was Ronald McDonald.

In the 1980s, a new character joined the McDonald's family — CosMc. The loveable alien creature has an extensive backstory with lore explaining every aspect of its behavior, including his eventual disappearance. CosMc would only come to visit McDonaldland on occasion to steal food for CosMcland, his home planet. The idea was that CosMc was trying to replicate the menu and vibe of McDonald's in a far-off galaxy. During one visit in the 1980s, the legend states CosMc finally had done enough research, so it never returned. But things are once again changing in the McDonald's multiverse, as a full side brand inspired by CosMc's exploits began undergoing beta testing in late 2023.

He spoke in a fun mixture of robot sounds and human speech. CosMc also didn't just seem like he took a spaceship to Earth; his outfit might even suggest that he is the spaceship — or at least some sort of astronaut. In fact, McDonald's staff were given strict instructions not to obscure CosMc's planetary shape during any local restaurant appearances he made.

The beloved creations of The Professor first burst onto the scene in the 1980s. They were based on the introduction of Chicken McNuggets in 1983. The chubby, chatty chicken nuggets were meant to promote all the different chicken nugget combo options available at the restaurant. 

The commercials they stared in were often quite slapstick and would have lots of plays on words. The McNuggets often played different sports in these commercials, only further enhancing the silly vibe. They would encourage viewers to try things like the 20-count nuggets instead of smaller options, as well as explore all the different sauces McDonald's had on offer by dunking themselves in the tubs.

Although the puppets have long since been retired from McDonald's, no one has seen them since the early 2000s at least, they were also available as toys during their advertising runs. They often pop up on sites like eBay, where collectors are all too happy to snap them up.

Sundae is a little-known, hardly used McDonald's character. Sundae was a dog with white fur and distinctive blue stripes under his eyes. He also had a tuft of red hair on top of his head to match his owner, Ronald. Sundae could talk just like any other character and was known for his deadpan delivery, which endeared him to some viewers. He was in a few commercials in the early 2000s but is best remembered from the short direct-to-VHS movies "The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald."

The films aimed to bond young diners to the corporate giant. The McDonald's advertising executives hoped to cement brand loyalty by introducing more loveable characters and having them go on adventures that could be viewed over and over again at home. Unfortunately for Sundae, he never appeared too much outside this video project, which was abandoned not long after it started and has since faded into obscurity.

Like many other McDonald's characters, Grimace started with a more negative slant. When he was launched in November 1971, he looked a bit more threatening. His prime activity was stealing milkshakes from citizens of McDonaldland, kind of like The Hamburgler, but for milkshakes. Eventually, Grimace had a redesign that made him a bit more friendly and dopey. He still liked to enjoy milkshakes but acted more like a silly superhero sidekick to Ronald McDonald instead of being a thieving menace.

Grimace has a purple, potato-like appearance. He was originally imagined with four arms so he could snatch milkshakes more easily, but upon redesign, he dropped down to just two. This was a part of fully completing his transformation from the evil Grimace into just Grimace. In 2023, Grimace seemingly got back to his bad roots when McDonald's brought back the berry-flavored Grimace Shake for a limited time. There was a viral social media trend featuring users enjoying the treat, then suddenly finding themselves in scary situations. McDonald's had no official part in the trend, but the sales of the dessert skyrocketed thanks to it.

The Fry Kids first appeared in McDonald's advertisements in 1972. The Fry Kids were a bit like the McNugget Buddies but celebrated french fries instead of nuggets. They look a bit like a colorful Cousin It from "The Addams Family" or rainbow upside-down mops but with large cartoon eyes. When first launched, the critters were called The French Fry Goblins, but later changed their name to Fry Guys, after a lawsuit in the late 1970s. When female characters were added to the bunch in the late 1980s, the name was further rebranded to include them.

The Fry Kids were large puppets who didn't speak much, but when they did, it was high-pitched and squeaky. It was kind of like a chipmunk. They were happy sidekicks to Ronald McDonald, and commercials often showed them singing, dancing, and playing. They encouraged children to associate eating McDonald's french fries with fun and joy. The company retired The Fry Kids in the early 2000s, along with the rest of the McDonaldland characters.

The character of Mac Tonight was an attempt by the fast food giant to make things a bit more suave and grown up. In 1986, McDonald's had succeeded in selling breakfast and lunch to American diners. However, the chain was still struggling to get a handle on the dinner market. Executives drew from the song "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin to create a crooning creature who would encourage adults to stop by for their evening meal.

The character is a human-like creature in a suit, reminiscent of the singers from the 1950s. However, one distinctive feature sets him apart: His giant mood-shaped head. This strong visual link between McDonald's and nighttime was a pointed attempt to get the public to associate fast food with dinner. Mac Tonight was a popular feature at McDonald's restaurants from the late 1980s well into the 1990s. He was eventually retired as McDonald's dinner caught on, and the company moved away from mascots in general.

Captain Crook was the loveable pirate of McDonaldland. He was introduced in the 1980s as a part of the original trio of bad guys, along with The Hamburglar and Evil Grimace. He has the classic cartoon pirate look. Captain Crook wears a billowing white pirate shirt along with a red naval jacket and pirate hat. McDonald's drew on existing pirates that appealed to kids, like Captain Hook from "Peter Pan," to make sure he looked the part perfectly.

Captain Crook was obsessed with the Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. His commercials were often nautical-themed, so his interest in the food makes sense. While other characters promoted hamburgers, nuggets, or french fries, the captain shined a light on a menu item that often didn't get a lot of love. In early commercials, the captain tried to swipe the Filet-O-Fish for himself, while later media showed him making sure everyone had one to try.