Why did McDonald's get rid of Officer Big Mac? Was there a beef between him and Mayor
McCheese? Did he have to turn in his badge? All these questions and more are about to
be answered: Here's the real reason McDonald's left Officer Big Mac in the dust.
Even in McDonaldland, there was a need for law and order. It came in the form of one
man – a certain Officer Big Mac. You'd often find him patrolling the streets of McDonaldland,
making sure everyone was kept in line.
"Do you really think he’ll make it to McDonald’s?"
"I hope so."
Was he a good cop? Unconfirmed. He was pretty effective at keeping the Hamburglar and Captain
Crook at bay, so there's that.
Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, shared a philosophy with Walt Disney: He believed
brand loyalty could be established in 2-year olds. As the '70s began, the hamburger chain
sought to hook kids early. McDonald's beckoned them under the Golden Arches with a cast of
theoretically lovable characters, collectively known as McDonaldland. The lineup featured
characters like legendary clown Ronald McDonald and a four-armed purple blob named Evil Grimace.
Also among the McDonaldland gang was, yes, a cop with a Big Mac for a head… a clever
marketing campaign for a sandwich that had been introduced only four years earlier. Officer
Big Mac was somewhat reminiscent of the Keystone Kops, an inept, purely fictitious police force
from the silent movie era.
Where there's a cop, there are criminals. Enter the Hamburglar, a confirmed dirty dealer
who loved to steal McDonald's hamburgers. He was originally named "The Lone Jogger,"
and looked absolutely terrifying. Though his look was softened several times over the years,
his M.O. remained the same.
"Your honor, the accused Hamburglar was caught red-handed, sneaking off with a big bag of
McDonald's delicious cheeseburgers."
Then there was Captain Crook, a pirate who spent his days chasing Filet-o-Fish sandwiches.
It was up to Officer Big Mac to keep these crooks in line… but did he succeed? Hard
to say.
Prior to launching the McDonaldland campaign, ad firm Needham, Harper, and Steers reportedly
approached the creators of children's show H.R. Pufnstuf about collaborating on a McDonald's
campaign. The firm then told creators Sid and Marty Kroft that the plan wasn't happening.
Well. Not long afterward, McDonald's launched McDonaldland, featuring a cast of characters
that looked suspiciously like the gang from H.R. Pufnstuf. A lawsuit followed, and one
of the allegations suggested that Mayor McCheese and Officer Big Mac looked almost identical
to H.R. Pufnstuf himself, which… I mean, we can kinda see it. Ultimately, McDonald's
lost the lawsuit and was ordered to pay over $1 million in damages.
Miami was a rough place in the 1980s. The international drug trade had made the city
the murder capital of America, and the rampant crime inspired classics like Miami Vice and
Scarface. Even Officer Big Mac fell victim to the seedy city.
According to Thrillist, a five-foot fiberglass version of Officer Big Mac mysteriously went
missing from a Miami McDonald's in 1983. A group called NPLO claimed responsibility for
the crime. Perhaps NPLO was a ruthless drug cartel. Perhaps the name stood for "No Pickles,
Lettuce, Onions." Details have been lost in the sands of time. The ransom note demanded
40 billion Big Macs and 40 billion plus one French fries. The request was ignored, though
it sounds very delicious.
This particular statue of Officer Big Mac was never seen again, but we imagine that
someone out there knows something. If you or someone you know have any details about
the missing Officer Big Mac statue, please notify your local McDonald's at once.
One of Officer Big Mac's more memorable relics was his playland structure, widely known as
the Big Mac Climber. According to a 1999 story from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, over
400 children were injured as a result of this thing, which led to skull fractures, broken
bones, and concussions. McDonald's reportedly didn't report the injuries and instead just
phased out the Big Mac Climber, and the chain was investigated by the U.S. Consumer Products
Safety Commission. The result was a $4 million fine, the largest fine the CPSC had ever assessed
at the time.
In the mid-'80s, McDonald's phased out some of the lesser-known McDonaldland characters.
One of the casualties was Officer Big Mac. No official reason for the move was given,
but theories abound.
Some people suspect that McDonald's axed the characters that most closely resembled the
creatures from H.R. Pufnstuf. According to the TV Tropes website, the 1985 discontinuation
of these major characters were the result of the lawsuit we mentioned earlier. Whatever
the reason, Mayor McCheese, Officer Big Mac, Captain Crook, and The Professor were no longer
welcome in McDonaldland. We do wish them the very best of luck in their future endeavors,
and please contact your nearest McDonald's if you have any questions.
Have you ever checked the Officer Big Mac entry in the McDonald's Fandom Wiki? We check
it first thing in the morning for updates, and we can confirm there's one great theory
as to why the character was ultimately retired, which says:
"He was a crooked cop, often letting Hamburglar and Captain Crook go due to them paying bribes
to him. It is believe[d] that he started a sentient burger trafficking ring."
The post goes on to say that the death of Officer Big Mac was the result of an unfortunate
shootout with Mayor McCheese, allegedly the result of a bad trafficking deal. He's listed
as survived by a widow and 58 children, all of whom we presume are absolutely devastated...
and absolutely delicious.
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