The top 10 fast food mascots

These mascots have been helping sell copious amounts of fast food for years.

Some of these mascots scared the living daylights out of us; others perhaps even gave us a craving for the food they represented, but whether we loved them or hated them, at the end of the day, their faces and likenesses became synonymous with the food we grew up loving.

And boy did we love the food, despite a few of the aforementioned creepy characters that lingered around on posters and at birthday parties.

Which fast food mascots made the cut?

10. Mayor McCheese / McDonald’s

Okay, I’ve got to be honest, Mayor McCheese always creeped me out when I was a kid (okay, okay, even now, all these years later when I think of him), but I think it was that cheeseburger head with a nose and eyes on it that really did it.

He was introduced in 1971 but he was removed from the bunch of characters at McDonald’s in 1985. I cannot say that I wasn’t relieved.

9. Chuck E. Cheese

Now here was a guy I could really get on board with. I was always a fan of cartoon mice, and really he looked friendly enough. I mean for a restaurant to go with a mascot mouse when mice are usually associated with dirty restaurants is a pretty gutsy move on the franchise’s part.

His first appearance seems to have come in 1977 and believe it or not, he was known as a rat back then, which is probably worse if you ask me, but it was in 1992 that he was referred to as a mouse instead. Hey…mice and rats like cheese, right? We can kind of see what they did there.

8. Little Caesar / Little Caesars

“It was the wont of the immortal gods sometimes to grant prosperity and long impunity to men whose crimes they were minded to punish in order that a complete reverse of fortune might make them suffer more bitterly.”

Oh no wait, that was the real Caesar. What was the slogan for Little Caesars?

“Pizza, Pizza!” That’s it. Not as profound but perhaps just as influential in scope. This little guy in a toga first appeared in the 70s but he was slightly adapted over the years, as per a piece at fabrikbrands.com.

7. Jollibee

Now here’s another creepy character if ever there was one, but just you wait, as there are a few more of these on this list; a cast of characters that would look quite at home in some horror flick.

Jollibee would be alright if he had the colors of a real bee, but they had to make him red. And those eyes…OMG, those eyes!

6. Wendy & Colonel Sanders / Wendy’s & KFC

I had to add these two because out of all of them, these are essentially caricatures of real-life people and these caricatures became the universal symbol for each of these respective franchises over time and either company wouldn’t be the same without them.

The Wendy’s logo is based on founder Dave Thomas’ actual daughter, Melinda Lou “Wendy” Thomas-Morse, as Wikipedia states. And of course good old Colonel Sanders was based on the actual founder of KFC restaurants. His likeness is perhaps one of the most recognizable in the entire realm of fast food and rightfully so.

5..Jack Box / Jack In The Box

Now about the aforementioned horror movies…if ever there was a perfect cast member for the next blockbuster or streaming horror hit, it would be this guy.

I can see it now…this creepy character chasing badly behaving teens in the darkness of your neighborhood patch of forest.

He’s been around since 1994 and for crying out loud they put the guy in a suit and tie, and all because they want to give off the impression that he’s a big tycoon business man, which by the way I have no idea what it has to do with the food at Jack In The Box, but whatever…. With a face like that, he looks like anything but a businessman. Sorry, Jack.

4. The Burger King

Now here’s yet another face that surely speaks of horror movie nostalgia. Does that face remind anyone else of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface?

But at the same time, his royal highness does make me think of whoppers, which is weird and unsettling all at the same time…that something can remind me of a psycho horror movie character and one of my favorite sandwiches of all time. I need therapy folks.

3..The Hamburglar / McDonald’s

He too was one of McDonald’s many characters and was featured on the promo posters for the restaurant throughout my childhood. He was introduced in 1971 and the true story behind him is that he wanted all of the hamburgers for himself.

2. Chihuahua / Taco Bell

Oh man. For a long time there, whenever I saw a Chihuahua I got hungry, and all because of that darned Taco Bell Chihuahua. For a long time there, these adorable dogs made me think of beef tacos and burritos. Truthfully, they still do and it’s all because of this little guy. He was first introduced in 1997 and boy did he do his job well.

1. Ronald McDonald /  McDonald’s

Ronald McDonald was first portrayed by a weatherman and entertainer, Willard Scott. Over the years many have worn the clown makeup and clown suit at many a child’s birthday party at McDonald’s.

Really the familiar face earns good old Ronald the top spot on this list, but really in the end despite the fact that he is a clown, he was never all that creepy to me, and perhaps that has a lot to do with the shape of his painted smile and the fact that as a child, I always also associated him with Ronald McDonald House, and perhaps that goes for many of you as well, dear readers, which of course is the company’s charitable organization. I’d say that earns him that number one spot.

Who are some of your favorite fast food mascots, dear readers? Are you a fan of any of these mascots?