He was a burger-loving, moon-headed man who enticed you out into the night on top of his
flying piano, and for a time, he was loved by many. So why did McDonald's send him packing?
Mac Tonight was a character featured in McDonald's commercials from 1986 to
1989. Despite his brief stint in the limelight, the moon-headed singer,
with his trademark sunglasses, beaming smile, and stylish tuxedo, has left an indelible impression.
"Check out those shades!"
The Mac Tonight character and campaign was an innovative and memorable part of McDonald's
advertising history. The surreal-looking mascot has been portrayed seated at a piano on top of
a giant Big Mac, atop a cloud, and even on a rollercoaster. These dreamlike settings,
coupled with catchy jingles, added to Mac Tonight's appeal and helped
to cement him as a beloved icon of America's 1980s fast-food culture.
Mac Tonight was retired just a few years after he hit the spotlight,
but he remains one of the most fascinating fast food mascots out there.
Since McDonald's characters like Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar are typically aimed at kids,
Mac Tonight was an anomaly. Instead of advertising the chain's fare to families, the moon-headed
crooner promoted the idea that McDonald's was about much more than just daytime dining.
"I love Macca's every night!" "And we all love the nighttime values!"
"McDonald's $2 dinner deal!"
"That's value!"
Mac Tonight was one of only a few McDonald's mascots that didn't appear in McDonaldland,
a series of commercials in a colorful, fictional universe used by the chain's
advertising between 1971 and 2003. Older McDonald's fans might remember Speedee,
who came before Ronald, and younger fast food fans will be familiar with Happy, the Happy Meal box.
Mac Tonight had a smooth and enigmatic demeanor,
and he was definitely a departure from the typical colorful style of McDonald's advertising.
Mac Tonight was the brainchild of an L.A.-based advertising agency, Davis, Johnson, Mogul &
Colombatto, also known as DJMC, which created the character after McDonald's executives asked the
firm to help them increase the chain's evening sales. The first four advertisements featuring
Mac Tonight cost $500,000 to make, and while the spots initially only aired only in California,
the advertising proved highly effective and was soon expanded to Oregon, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
The Mac Tonight marketing campaign was so successful that McDonald's executives
decided to roll it out across the country in 1987. The launch of the nationwide campaign
was marked by the mascot's appearance at a McDonald's restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida,
where he performed on the building's rooftop. Ad Watch reported that consumer recall of
McDonald's advertisements doubled in the month after Mac Tonight hit the national airwaves.
"At McDonald's all over the Bay Area, the Moon Man will be serving up fun
for everyone! Maybe he'll even teach you to dance the Mac Tonight Trot!"
Before Doug Jones appeared in things like Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, and Star Trek:
Discovery, he portrayed Mac Tonight. Doug Jones wore the huge moon-shaped mask and played the
character in several advertisements that ran on American television.
Peter Coutroulis, former creative director at DJMC, told Mel Magazine that Jones was
chosen for the role because he was tall and thin, and he had mime experience.
"Like my nephew, the mime. Hello?"
He was highly animated, which was essential for the Mac character, making Jones a perfect
choice. Jones credits his stint as Mac Tonight with paving his way to success in movies like
Hocus Pocus. In 2013, Jones told Collider that he played Mac Tonight in 27 commercials over a
three-year period, which led to several referrals. Perhaps this is why Jones ended up coming back to
do two Mac Tonight commercials in the mid-1990s during a short-lived revival of the character.
McDonald's Mac Tonight campaign was set to the melody of "Mack the Knife," which is a
pretty unusual choice considering that the song's original lyrics are about violence and murder. The
song was first written for The Threepenny Opera, a 1928 German number about a man named Macheath
and his violent acts. In 1959, a version of the song by Bobby Darin became a No. 1 hit in the U.S.
Since it was the song's catchy tune that played a role in its selection for the Mac Tonight
advertising campaign, the song's lyrics were repurposed into a PG-rated jingle. And instead
of talking about bloody murder, the new lyrics celebrated the joys of late-night snacking.
McDonald's rejected the accusation that "Mack the Knife" was not suitable for use
in advertising. The corporation's national marketing vice president,
David Green, defended the chain's decision to use the tune, saying that it was just
representative of the music of the '60s. "Mack the Knife" was definitely well-known
by Baby Boomers who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s when it was a chart-topping hit.
Ironically, the catchy melody of "Mack the Knife" also may have ultimately led to the character's
downfall. In 1989, McDonald's discontinued the campaign after the son of the late Bobby
Darin sued the fast food franchise for over $10 million. The lawsuit alleged that the Mac Tonight
marketing campaign had infringed on Bobby Darin's singing style and mannerisms. While the lawsuit
was unsuccessful, Mac Tonight never regained his former level of popularity after taking a break.
Peter Coutroulis summed this idea up best for Mel Magazine, saying that while McDonald's had
the rights to the song, the brand didn't really put up a fight. According to him,
if Mac had been as popular and lucrative as Ronald McDonald, the company may have fought harder.
Decades after the popularity of Mac Tonight had dwindled in the U.S.,
the character resurfaced on the opposite side of the globe. In 2007,
the crescent-faced musician started appearing in McDonald's ads in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia,
and the Philippines. This time around, however, the mascot was no longer an actor in a foam mask
but rather a CGI character. The chain's Southeast Asia campaign was short-lived, ending in 2010.
In the newer commercials, Mac Tonight exchanges his piano for a saxophone,
which he can be seen playing on the rooftop of a McDonald's store… and sometimes,
playing soccer or in other unusual situations.
Mac Tonight, just like Ronald McDonald, was more than just a television character. The
dreamlike mascot also sometimes made appearances in stores to the
delight of McDonald's customers. When the Mac Tonight advertising campaign went nationwide,
the character appeared in front of 1,000 people at a McDonald's store in Florida.
To satisfy the demand for Mac Tonight, McDonald's started placing animatronics of the mascot in some
of their restaurants. Just like the original Mac Tonight, the animatronics would usually
play the piano and sing. However, maintenance of the animatronics ceased after the mascot
was retired by the franchise, leaving motionless figures at various outlets.
One of the last Mac Tonight animatronics can be found in a McDonald's outlet in
Orlando. Visitors report that the robot still plays music but no longer works.
Despite his short tenure as a slinger of late-night beef treats,
Mac's impact on pop culture is pretty legendary.
In an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore," Homer enlists the help
of a Mac Tonight cardboard cutout to watch over his family after he's transferred to India for
work. Mac also makes an appearance in "Burger Kings," where he sings in Homer's dreams to
persuade him to take a stance against a fast food restaurant owned by Mr. Burns.
His memory has also lived on in NASCAR. At last twice, NASCAR teams adorned their cars with a
Mac Tonight paint scheme. The first instance occurred back in 1997 with driver Bill Elliott,
who was sponsored by McDonald's for five years, starting in 1995. The NASCAR Hall
of Famer's blue-clad, No. 94 car featured Mac Tonight and the McDonald's logo on the
hood. Elliott would go on to drive the vehicle in a handful of races that year.
Nearly 20 years later, the Mac Tonight car came back. In 2016,
driver Jamie McMurray adopted the same paint scheme for his No. 1 car when he raced in the
Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The vintage design choice was not entirely
out of the blue, as the race took place during the venue's second annual "Throwback Weekend."
Remember pogs? Mac Tonight also appeared on a series of pogs distributed by McDonald's
restaurants. Mac Tonight masks were sold, as well as finger puppets, and Happy Meal toys.
Unfortunately, Mac Tonight fell victim to the darker side of the internet in 2007 when racist
images and videos featuring Mac, now referred to as Moon Man, started appearing online. Moon
Man was appropriated to propagate hate, and the Anti-Defamation League has classified the Moon
Man as a potential hate symbol, when used in a racist context. They caution, however, that Mac
Tonight shouldn't automatically be construed as a symbol of hate, since he has such a long
and mundane legacy as a burger mascot and '80s icon. Sometimes, we just can't have nice things.