Hamburglar History: What Ever Happened to McDonaldland’s Favorite Hamburger Thief?
Everything to know about the lone jogger and burger gobbler.
If you grew up in the 1970s or 80s, you are probably very familiar with all of the McDonaldland characters that were featured in Mcdonald's play places and seen in commercials. What started out as one main clown-like character, Ronald McDonald, ended up with a whole cast of characters that were mostly lovable. However, one particular villain, the Hamburglar, started out somewhat questionable before becoming more endearing. As we look back at the McDonald's Hamburglar history, we can see that some necessary changes were made.
Hamburglar was revised over the years to make him a much more appealing character. The whole premise of the character is that he loves hamburgers and cheeseburgers so much that he constantly is trying to swipe as many as he can to satisfy his craving. Even when he is not successful, he never gives up his pursuit of tasty burgers.
You may be wondering what happened to Hamburglar. Did he finally get caught and is now paying for his crimes? Or maybe he simply decided to go vegan. We'll give you the full scoop on Hamburglar's history and what happened to the character.
Who Is the Hamburglar?
Hamburglar is a popular character in the McDonaldland crew. He is the masked hamburger thief seen in McDonald's commercials with Ronald McDonald and Grimace. Wearing a black and white striped prison outfit, mask and fedora hat, he tries to steal all of the hamburgers for himself, but Ronald McDonald always bungles his attempts.
The character was developed by the marketing firm, Needham, Harper & Steers, for Mcdonald's to promote their play places. Besides Ronald McDonald and Hamburglar, there were a host of other characters that made up McDonaldland.
Over the years, the Hamburglar's characteristics have changed a little bit going from a full-size creepy old man villain to a more lovable tiny red-haired scoundrel who fans find to be more endearing.
Related: 20 Facts You Might Not Know About McDonald’s + 10 Strange Menu Items From Around the World
Hamburglar History
The Hamburglar first appeared in McDonald's commercials in March 1971 as a creepy villain trying to steal all of the hamburgers. He was one of the first villains in McDonaldland and actually went by the nickname, Lone Jogger, at first. He spoke in gibberish which needed to be translated by Captain Crook, his partner in crime.
In the beginning, his appearance was quite disturbing. While outfitted in prison clothes and a black mask, his stringy gray hair, long nose and menacing teeth were nothing to welcome a child into McDonald's. In fact, his appearance was enough to bring about nightmares instead. Not only were his features less than endearing but this "Lone Jogger" persona was just plain creepy.
For some reason, he also wore a t-shirt depicting his nickname, Lone Jogger, over his prison clothes and under a red cape. He would show off his t-shirt by opening up his cape in a flasher style. This may have been intended to depict the Lone Ranger as he would jog into a scene to steal hamburgers.
Revised Hamburglar Character
Because the Hamburglar's partner in crime, Captain Crook, left the scene in 1980, it made it necessary to change the character, Hamburglar, a bit. Since he lost his translator, he was going to need to learn to talk. What was once heard as unintelligible gibberish was now recognized as "robble, robble."
Then, in 1985, Hamburglar apparently found the fountain of youth. He went from a menacing old man to a more childlike and somewhat friendly version. A mop of red hair replaced the gray and his face was smoothed out to look more cartoon-like. His outfit also got an update with a shorter-brimmed hat, black cape with gold inside and red and white tennis shoes to go with some new red gloves.
Hamburglar's whole mode of operation also changed as he went from a thief to simply a trickster.
The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald
In 1998, The Wacky Adventures Of Ronald McDonald was produced. It was a series of six 40-minute episodes which were produced and released on VHS. Five of the episodes were available exclusively in participating McDonald's restaurants from October 9, 1998, to January 30, 2003.
During this series, Hamburglar again got a makeover that was more sporty. He wore green goggles, a leather jacket, a striped shirt, shorts and sneakers. As always, he still loved burgers and now loved playing tricks on his friends as well.
Related: What Do Willard Scott and Ronald McDonald Have in Common?
The Retirement of the Hamburglar
Mathew Imaging/FilmMagic
In 2002, according to CNN, McDonald's stock fell by 39 percent and lost $435 million dollars. In an effort to promote a new dollar menu, the Hamburglar made a rare appearance in a commercial with Serena and Venus Williams. It was one of the last attempts to make the Hamburglar relevant again.
However, along with the downturned market, McDonald's also started getting some bad press, according to ABC, about the fact that their food was going childhood obesity. It was at this time that they changed their focus from kid-friendly McDonaldland to adult-needs like salads. So, Hamburglar and the rest of the McDonaldland gang were put into retirement.
A Final Theft
The Hamburglar made another appearance in 2015 in an effort to promote McDonald's new Sirloin Third Pound burger. At this point, Hamburglar was again revised—this time into a more adult take on the classic character. He was tall and handsome with a shadow of stubble on his chin. Instead of a cape, the Hamburglar sported a trench coat and a slightly tilted short-brimmed hat. It was a short-lived appearance to appeal to those adults who grew up loving the Hamburglar character.
Then, seven years later, in 2022, the Hamburglar and his friends were offered in the new Happy Meal geared for adults. However, each of the plastic characters had a set of two eyes.
Next: The Shamrock Shake Is Returning to McDonald's Menus Very Soon
