Top 20 Weirdest McDonald's Commercials

A cute little girl interacting with Ronald McDonald doesn’t sound at all like a weird McDonald’s commercial. However, what if we told you that cute little girl ran into Ronald as she was walking down the street with a suitcase thinking about running away from home? Everyone keeps telling her she’s too little so she wants to run away to McDonaldland. Now, to be fair, Ronald does convince the girl to go back home - but he does so using reverse psychology and magic. It’s done in a sweet heartwarming way - but part of us can’t get over the fact that they used a runaway child to sell the brand.

For the first 45 seconds of this minute-long ad, you’d be more likely to think you were watching a trailer for a film by François Truffaut than a McDonald’s commercial. But this isn’t French New Wave cinema, this is an attempt to get you to go to Mickey D’s. So, after watching a six-year-old boy experience the trials and tribulations of being a kid, there appears in front of him the saving grace of all the tough times… McDonald’s. And as the boy bites into his hamburger, the title cards tell us that Happy Meals are “compensation for being six.”

Many of us have had the experience of making funny faces at a little kid as a way to make them laugh. However, we’ve never - and we hope the same can be said for you - gone so far as to stick our tongue out and scream at them. Also, while the whole making-faces thing begins as an attempt by the woman to inform the kid that he has chocolate on his face - that premise seems to evaporate rather quickly as the face-making intensifies. Maybe the McDonald’s ice cream in Korea is just so good that one can’t control their exaggerated reactions to it? Or maybe this is just a weird commercial…

Everyone loves a good origin story, but did we really need to know about the origin of the Ronald and Grimace friendship? Well, back in 1981, McDonald’s thought we did. And apparently, the two friends have known each other since they were babies (albeit large babies in oversized McBuggies). When baby Ronald sees what he thinks is an out-of-control buggy, he races off in his buggy to stop it and save the “purple kid” inside. Yada, yada, yada, and of course, it’s McDonald’s that finally saves the day and begins a lasting friendship. Is there any problem McDonald’s can’t solve?

This one looks like you’re watching some kind of ‘try on haul’ hat video - and actually that’s pretty much what you are watching. It literally is just Japanese model Yuri Ebihara trying on various white hats. Known by her nickname Ebi-Chan in Japan, Ebihara skyrocketed to popularity in the 2000s, when the ad aired. But we’re still not sure what trying on hats has to do with McDonalds. Ebihara did several McDonalds ads, but at least the others featured actual McDonalds food in them. Shouldn’t this ad be for hats? A version was uploaded to YouTube featuring haunting music, racking up 1.4 million views; this was not the original, although it certainly puts a new spin on things.

We’re not sure how many of the kids singing along in the commercial are aware of the 1963 song, “Da Doo Ron Ron” by the Crystals. But, that sure doesn’t stop them from belting out the “we do Ron Ron Ron” in this Australian McDonald’s ad. Now, on the surface, there’s nothing super weird about Ronald McDonald dancing around and singing with a bunch of kids as a way to sell the brand. However, did you happen to pick up on the fact that an older man in a clown costume is asking a bunch of kids to “do Ron Ron Ron?” Feel free to cringe now.

Getting the kids to say “cheeseburger” rather than just “cheese” to get them to smile for a photograph seems like an obvious move for this McDonald’s commercial from the 1970s. But then Captain Crook shows up. For the younger generation - Captain Crook was a Filet-O-Fish-loving pirate character who made his first appearance in 1971 and was last seen in 1987. While his appearance was eventually changed, in order to look less mean - his OG look was definitely sinister and definitely wasn’t smiling. We’re not sure what’s weirder about this ad: the fact that saying “cheeseburger” makes him smile, or the fact that we never actually see him smile - just Ronald and the kid’s reaction to it. Yeah, you’re right... Probably the latter.

We can’t imagine McDonald’s in North America wanting to be associated with a young couple getting busy while the girl’s father is out of the house. But, apparently in Germany, the company’s image isn’t as wholesome as it is here - and what initially looks more like a condom commercial than one for fast food, takes a rather funny turn at the end. While we definitely appreciate the joke, we’re not sure we’re buying the message that McDonald’s food is so delicious it’s worth revealing your half-naked self to your girlfriend’s dad in order to get some. Although, those fries are really good right?

The ‘talking about McDonald’s’ scene is one of the most iconic moments from “Pulp Fiction” - and it was only a matter of time before McDonald’s made a commercial parodying it. Well, that time was the mid-aughts and the place was Israel. Two guys, who look like they could be stand-ins for John Travolta and Sam Jackson, reenact the scene - only in this case they reference the fast food chain in Israel rather than France. They even get in a little regional dig at the end about how Israelis don’t say “please.”

We assume there are probably laws in place prohibiting a sitting American President from doing a McDonald’s commercial - or at least it would be heavily frowned upon. But, getting a presidential look-a-like to do a McDonald’s commercial in Israel… that’s all good. We will admit that this commercial - with the Secret Service rushing to secure a drive-thru meal for the second President Bush - is good. We’re also pretty sure that, for a very brief moment when that limo window rolls down - more than a few people watching thought that it was actually George Bush in the car.

It’s surreal to think that the 45th President of the United States was in a McDonald’s commercial way back when. What makes this even more unbelievable... is that he starred alongside Grimace. Donald Trump is completely blown away upon learning that McDonald’s only charges $1 for a Big N’ Tasty. And Grimace is apparently the mastermind behind this amazing deal, although even he seems unclear on how exactly McDonald’s pulled it off. Nevertheless, Trump is eager to join forces with the purple monster. Maybe he’ll make Grimace part of his legal team. Let’s be honest, weirder things have happened.

This commercial opens with a family sitting at a fancy dinner table in formal attire, which is ironic considering they’re eating fast food. Seriously, how many grown men do you know that eat Micky D’s while wearing a white collar and vest? Then out of nowhere, a kid emerges with a boombox playing DJ Casper’s “Cha Cha Slide.” The hip-hop kid dips some apple slices while simultaneously dancing along to the music. The family isn’t sure what to make of this at first, but dad eventually gets into it. It might be random, but this ad is undeniably funky, encouraging us all to play with our food.

Some McDonald’s commercials feel like mini episodes of “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.” They’re wacky, colorful, and literally anything can be a character. For example, this commercial centers on sentient wastebaskets. It begins with Ronald McDonald reminding us to feed the hungry trashcans your wrappers, cups, and bags. The bowtie-wearing bins then spring to life and sing an empowering jingle about wastebasket awareness. As if that’s not weird enough, McDonald’s also gave out wastebasket toys around the same time this commercial came out. Yeah, because that’s what every kid wants to play with… trash bins! Still, it’s hard to fault an advertisement that encourages proper waste disposal and gets its message across in a creative way.

Many villains have visited the psychedelic McDonaldland over the years... but Captain Crook is definitely among the strangest. This recurring character looked a lot like Captain Hook… except with googly eyes and an expressionless face. In this especially bizarre commercial, Captain Crook arms himself with a wooden sword and tiny canon. The diabolical pirate won’t let Ronald and little Jimmy cross the bridge unless they fork over some apple pies, and so Ronald devises an elaborate ruse to best the pirate. He supplies Crook with a phony apple pie treasure map, sending him on a wild goose chase. Yep, it’s just another day in McDonaldland.

The Professor is another obscure McDonald’s character that hit the scene in the early 70s. In this zany commercial, the Professor shows off his latest invention, the dinner gong. Of course, this isn’t the most innovative invention, since gongs have been around for a few millennia. On top of that, his dinner gong still has a few bugs to work out. Ronald and the Professor even enlist Mayor McCheese for help. Once they finally get the gong working, they treat themselves to a meal at McDonald’s and go out on a cheesy pun. By the way, are we the only ones who find it disturbing Mayor McCheese is eating at a restaurant that sells hamburgers?

Hailing from Turkey, this commercial imagines what the world would be like if the Turks had created several inventions first. They cover everything, from the first fire, to man’s first walk on the moon, to the first robot. Finally, they imagine a world where the Turks made the first hamburger. In a nutshell, you’d get the MaxBurger, a spicy Turkish delight. We have a feeling that you probably need to be Turkish to understand all the jokes here. Even if some of the humor throws you for a loop, though, it’s hard not to laugh at just how odd this commercial is.

As a tie-in for “Sonic Heroes,” McDonald’s released several handheld electronic games with Happy Meals. Just as the games were pretty cheap, the same can be said about this abnormal commercial. Just look at how lifeless the animation is. It’s like they started rendering some early test animation and then gave up halfway through. Rouge the Bat isn’t even wearing any clothes. Maybe this would’ve been acceptable during the 90s, but this ad came out in the early 2000s! This is definitely one of Sonic the Hedgehog’s most awkward moments, which is saying a lot given some of his recent games.

Sporting red hair, Hungarian model Agota Varga stars in this Japanese commercial for the Tomato McGrand. Her costumes, which were designed by Yohji Yamamoto, clearly resemble Ronald McDonald’s wardrobe. Do we even need to explain why this is weird on so many levels? Ronald McDonald has got to be the least sexual being in existence. The idea of the character inspiring a hot female equivalent is simply mind-boggling. As a result, this commercial isn’t as stimulating as the advertisers likely intended it to be. Let’s just hope this doesn’t become a trend at cosplay conventions. Happy Meals aren’t sexy… and that’s just the way we like them.

Commercials featuring Ronald McDonald rarely make sense, but this particular one raises numerous questions. Looking at a photo album, Ronald reminisces about losing his first tooth. He naturally leaves it under his pillow for the tooth fairy, who kind of looks like Berta from “Two and a Half Men.” The following morning, Ronald doesn’t find money, but does find a pair of red clown shoes. Why does she leave him shoes? What’s the connection between teeth and footwear? We don’t know, but Ronald has collected enough shoes to last a lifetime. Oh, and did we mention the shoes are living creatures that Ronald keeps prisoner in his closet? And we thought the wastebaskets had a bleak existence.

Created to help increase business around dinnertime, this outlandish character came complete with a crescent moon head and a crooner persona. This sunglasses-wearing oddball could often be found playing his piano on clouds, singing a variation of Bobby Darin’s classic interpretation of “Mack the Knife.” In fact, Mac tonight shared so much in common with Darin, that McDonald’s faced a lawsuit from his estate. These ads were trippy to say the least, but that’s largely why they continue to stick with us. Plus, this was a breakthrough role of sorts for performer Doug Jones, who went on to appear in multiple Guillermo del Toro movies. Isn’t that weird?