There's something about the McDonald's characters that ring all of my bells. A purple blob with a shake habit, a politician with an oversized burger head, a Greek chorus of adorable processed chicken bits – all are deeply pleasing to me. And what's up with those names? Grimace, Hamburglar, Captain Crook. It's a true testament to the power of advertising, a calculated blend of nostalgia, camp, and iconography, that could make my vegetarian ass still want to camp out in the hamburger patch spooning a Fry Guy forever.
Filming in McDonaldland is a gallery on social media compiled by a former art director from Needham, Harper, and Steers, the ad agency responsible for inventing McDonaldland in the '70s (with help from Sid & Marty Krofft). These collections offer a rare glimpse at the behind-the-scenes puppetry, forgotten characters (like Uncle O'Grimacey and Vulture), concept sketches, and other ephemera from 1970 – 2001 that made shilling burgers seem like so much fun. Why couldn't this have been my life?
