1. Mayor McCheese (McDonald’s)
Back when McDonaldland was a thing, it had its own government, complete with a mayor. And that mayor? None other than Mayor McCheese, a politician with a giant cheeseburger for a head. He wore a sash, a top hat, and always spoke with a friendly but bumbling voice, as if he were running for re-election in an endless burger-based democracy.
Mayor McCheese was a staple of McDonald’s commercials in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, but legal trouble got him impeached from McDonaldland. The character bore an uncanny resemblance to the talking characters from H.R. Pufnstuf, a popular kids’ show at the time. The show’s creators sued McDonald’s, and while the lawsuit dragged on for years, Mayor McCheese was quietly phased out. By the ‘90s, he was gone completely, never to return—just another victim of fast food politics.
2. Speedee (McDonald’s)
Before Ronald McDonald, there was Speedee. In the 1940s and ‘50s, he was the original McDonald’s mascot, a chubby little chef with a burger-shaped head and a perpetual wink. His whole deal was speed—he symbolized how fast McDonald’s could serve up a meal, back when the concept of “fast food” was still pretty new. He even had his own logo, complete with a neon sign that welcomed diners to the first-ever McDonald’s restaurants.
But when Ray Kroc took over the company in the 1960s, Speedee got the boot. Kroc wanted a more modern mascot, and soon after, Ronald McDonald was born. Speedee faded into obscurity, though you can still spot him in old McDonald’s memorabilia. While Ronald is now semi-retired too, Speedee remains a ghost of the brand’s earliest days.
3. Mac Tonight (McDonald’s)
If you were watching TV in the late ‘80s, you definitely saw Mac Tonight, the crooning, moon-headed mascot for McDonald’s. With his slick sunglasses and piano-bar vibes, he was supposed to make McDonald’s feel like a hip, late-night hangout. The commercials featured him singing a jingle to the tune of “Mack the Knife,” encouraging night owls to grab a Big Mac after hours. It worked—Mac Tonight made McDonald’s seem cooler than ever, and he became huge for a while.
But by the early ‘90s, Mac Tonight started to fade. Lawsuits over the use of “Mack the Knife” didn’t help, but what really did him in was an unfortunate online twist. In the 2000s, internet trolls turned him into a racist meme, completely ruining his once-beloved image. McDonald’s has since distanced itself from Mac Tonight, and he’s now just a relic of an era when fast food mascots didn’t need to play it safe.
4. The Burger King (Burger King)
Before Burger King had its unsettlingly silent, plastic-faced monarch in the 2000s, they had an actual, more human-looking Burger King in the ‘70s and ‘80s. This earlier version was a friendly, live-action character who performed magic tricks and granted Whopper-related wishes to kids. He was the face of the chain’s “Have It Your Way” campaign, and for a while, he was the brand’s signature mascot.
But by the ‘80s, the original Burger King had vanished, replaced by a rotating cast of animated characters. Then, in the mid-2000s, Burger King resurrected the idea with a new, much creepier version—the plastic, grinning king that stalked unsuspecting people in commercials. This eerie reboot became a viral sensation but was eventually phased out for being too weird. Today, Burger King is more focused on rebranding, and their mascots—past and present—have mostly been retired.
5. Officer Big Mac (McDonald’s)
Another lost relic of McDonaldland, Officer Big Mac was supposed to keep order in the burger-filled world of McDonald’s commercials. Sporting a giant Big Mac for a head, he was basically a goofy, fast-food-themed police officer. He worked alongside Mayor McCheese and the Hamburglar, enforcing the very serious laws of McDonaldland.
By the ‘80s, though, McDonald’s phased him out, likely due to concerns about using police imagery in advertising for kids. Plus, with Ronald McDonald taking center stage, there wasn’t much room for all these side characters. Officer Big Mac was quietly retired, and today, only hardcore fast-food history buffs remember his time as McDonaldland’s law enforcement.
6. Grimace’s Evil Twin (McDonald’s)
Everyone remembers Grimace, the lovable purple blob from McDonald’s, but did you know he used to have an evil twin? In the early ‘70s, Grimace was actually The Evil Grimace, a four-armed villain obsessed with stealing milkshakes. He wasn’t the friendly, dopey character we know today—he was a full-on menace, constantly foiling Ronald McDonald’s plans.
McDonald’s quickly realized that scaring kids wasn’t a great branding move, so they rebranded Grimace as a friendly character, removing his extra arms and villainous tendencies. The Evil Grimace was quietly erased from history, and today, most people have no idea he even existed. But for a brief moment, Grimace wasn’t your friend—he was your milkshake-stealing nightmare.
7. The Noid (Domino’s Pizza)
Back in the ‘80s, Domino’s Pizza had a simple message: Avoid the Noid. The Noid was a weird little man in a red jumpsuit whose only goal in life was to ruin your pizza by making it cold, soggy, or otherwise inedible. He was part villain, part nuisance, and Domino’s built entire campaigns around customers needing to “outsmart” him. The character even got his own video game for the NES, Yo! Noid, where players battled the pizza-ruining menace.
Despite his popularity, the Noid was retired in 1989 after a really dark real-life event. A mentally ill man named Kenneth Noid believed the ads were personally mocking him, leading him to take employees at a Domino’s hostage. After that tragedy, the company quietly pulled the character. Though the Noid has made brief comebacks in recent years, he’ll never again dominate pop culture like he did in the ‘80s.
8. The Quiznos Spongmonkeys (Quiznos)
Okay, technically the Spongmonkeys weren’t mascots in the traditional sense—but if you were alive in the early 2000s, you definitely remember these horrifying little creatures. Quiznos, a relatively small sandwich chain, decided to go all in on weirdness by featuring these nightmare-fuel rodents in their commercials. They had bulging, bloodshot eyes, weird human-like teeth, and shrieked in high-pitched voices about how much they loved Quiznos subs.
The campaign was bizarre, and while it got people talking, it definitely didn’t make people want to eat more sandwiches. Quiznos quickly realized that terrifying your customers isn’t a great long-term strategy, and the Spongmonkeys disappeared almost as fast as they arrived. Today, they’re mostly remembered as one of the weirdest advertising misfires in fast food history.
9. The Taco Bell Chihuahua (Taco Bell)
“¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!” If you were around in the late ‘90s, you heard that phrase everywhere. Taco Bell’s little chihuahua, voiced by comedian Carlos Alazraqui, became an instant pop culture sensation. The dog was in commercials, on T-shirts, and even had talking plush toys sold at Taco Bell locations. People loved him, and for a while, he was the face of the brand.
But by 2000, the campaign had run its course, and Taco Bell decided to retire the chihuahua. Some people claimed the ads were racially insensitive, while others just thought they had become stale. On top of that, Taco Bell faced a huge lawsuit from a group of ad executives who said they had pitched the idea first. The company ended up paying a $42 million settlement, and the chihuahua was put to rest. While he’s still fondly remembered by many, Taco Bell has never tried anything like him again.
10. The Dairy Queen Lips (Dairy Queen)
In the mid-2000s, Dairy Queen introduced one of the strangest mascots in fast food history: a pair of floating, disembodied lips. That’s it. No face, no body—just a smug-looking mouth that spoke in a sarcastic, deadpan tone about how great Dairy Queen’s food was. He (or it?) mostly appeared in commercials, hovering over burgers and Blizzards like some kind of ghostly fast-food critic.
The lips were divisive—some people found them funny, while others found them unsettling. Eventually, Dairy Queen decided that maybe a floating mouth wasn’t the best way to sell ice cream, and the mascot was retired. These days, the brand has moved on to more traditional advertising, but if you ever see a random pair of lips in your nightmares, you’ll know where they came from.
11. Rodney Rooster (Hardee’s)
Before Hardee’s became known for its over-the-top burger ads, it had a much more family-friendly mascot: Rodney Rooster. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Rodney was a cheerful cartoon rooster who represented Hardee’s breakfast menu. He appeared in commercials, kids’ meal toys, and even on signage in some locations.
But as Hardee’s shifted its branding to focus on bigger burgers and edgier ads, Rodney Rooster became irrelevant. By the ‘90s, he was gone completely, replaced by marketing that leaned more into indulgence than nostalgia. Today, hardly anyone remembers Rodney, but for a time, he was the early morning face of Hardee’s.
12. The Jack in the Box Clown (Jack in the Box)
Before Jack Box—the snarky, suit-wearing mascot with the ping-pong ball head—there was the original Jack in the Box clown. Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Jack in the Box locations featured a literal jack-in-the-box figure on their signs, complete with a big, goofy clown head that would talk in commercials. It was very much a product of its time, leaning into the idea that fast food should be fun and whimsical.
But in the ‘80s, Jack in the Box wanted to rebrand itself as more modern, so they literally blew up the clown. In a now-famous commercial, they showed the company’s executives detonating the mascot, signaling a new era for the chain. It was a bold move, but it worked—Jack in the Box successfully reinvented itself. Eventually, they brought back the new Jack Box, who was much cooler (and much less creepy). But that original clown? He’s gone forever, and honestly, that’s probably for the best.
