{{refimprove|date=October 2009}}

[[File:Mac Tonight.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Mac Tonight [[animatronic]] at Solid Gold McDonald's in [[Greenfield, Wisconsin|Greenfield, Wis.]]]]

'''Mac Tonight''' was a [[sunglasses]]-wearing, [[Lunar phase|crescent moon]]-faced [[mascot]] introduced by [[McDonald's]] restaurants in 1986.

==History==
The campaign was created locally for California McDonalds franchisees by Los Angeles firm Davis, Johnson, Mogul & Colombatto.<ref name="NYT">
{{cite news |title=The Making of 'Mac Tonight' |last1=Prescott |first1=Eileen |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/29/business/the-making-of-mac-tonight.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 29, 1987 |accessdate=February 28, 2015}}</ref> Intended to increase the after-4pm dinner business, the first 4 spots were shot in late 1986, with the first airings in early 1987. With the success of these spots on the west coast, McDonald's spread the campaign nationwide in the U.S. in the summer of 1987, and shot 2 more spots to add to that run. With more success nationwide, more and more spots were shot, and the campaign went throughout all McDonald's territories worldwide by 1988.

This initial blast lasted over 3 years through spring of 1990, with a re-visit to the character, including newly produced commercials in 1996 and 1997. He had a crescent moon for a head, wore a suit and [[sunglasses]], and was depicted as being a jazzy [[lounge singer]], also partially inspired by the 1980s television character [[Max Headroom (character)|Max Headroom]].<ref name="NYT"/> The name was a play on words of the song "[[Mack the Knife]]", made popular in [[United States|America]] by [[Bobby Darin]]. The song that played over the advertisements, called "It's Mac Tonight", was also a variant on that song, but with McDonald's-themed lyrics, such as those featured in the original 1986 commercial:

::"''When the stars come out to play, babe''
::''A twinkling show, ooh -- dinner! -- out of sight''
::''Yeah, the night time is golden light time -- big dipper!''
::''At McDonald's (showtime), it's Mac Tonight!''"

Other lyrics include this set from a 1987 commercial:
::"''When the clock strikes half past 6, babe''
::''Time to head for golden lights''
::''It's a good time for the great taste -- dinner!''
::''At McDonald's, it's Mac Tonight''
::''Come on, make it Mac Tonight!''"

Mac Tonight is the only character in the McDonald's world to not appear in the [[McDonaldland]] advertisements.

In 1989 Bobby Darin's son, Dodd Mitchell Darin, claimed that the song infringed upon his father's trademark without prior permission and filed a lawsuit as well as an injunction for the song to be removed from both TV and radio ads.<ref name="injunction">{{cite web|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/68596/DARINS-SON-SUES-MCDONALDS.html?pg=all|title=Darin's Son Sues McDonald's|work=Deseret News|date=October 15, 1989|accessdate=August 30, 2012}}</ref>

Mac Tonight no longer appears in commercials in the United States, as a result of the injunction, but pictures of him can still be seen in some [[McDonald's]] restaurants, and on some smaller signage by some restaurants' drive-through entrances/exits.

==Advertising campaign==
[[File:Bill Elliott Mac Tonight Thunderbird Richmond September 1997.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bill Elliott]]'s Mac Tonight car in 1997]]
The campaign included 29 commercials, initially airing from 1986 to 1988. [[Doug Jones (actor)|Doug Jones]] played Mac Tonight in 27 of them. A number of 3-inch hard plastic Mac Tonight toys were available in [[Happy Meal]]s. Mac Tonight also was a cameo in a Big Mac commercial in 1988, as a costumed greeter when the woman entered McDonald's.

During the late 1980s through the early 1990s, people in Mac Tonight costumes used to greet McDonald's customers, along with [[Ronald McDonald]], [[Grimace (character)#Characters|Grimace]], etc.

In 1997 and 1998, McDonald's sponsored [[Bill Elliott]]'s #94 [[NASCAR]] car, with Mac Tonight featured on the hood artwork.

==Return==
In 2007, Mac Tonight was given a [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] makeover and starred in a new commercial in [[Singapore]], [[Malaysia]], [[Indonesia]], [[South Africa]] and The [[Philippines]]. He is no longer seen flying over Earth or a city with a piano, but instead he dances on top of a McDonald's store singing and playing a saxophone. He also has a different, slightly gruffer voice, and new lyrics. All references to "Mack the Knife" have been removed, partially because Bobby Darin's estate didn't approve of the re-working.{{citation needed|date=January 2011}}

<blockquote>
::"''All day and all night, step out for a bite.''
::''Oh for treats that delight, --24 Hours a day!''
::''Come down to Mac Tonight, hey!''
::''[Plays a Short Piece on a Saxophone]''
::''Chill out, ''(name of country)'', McDonald's is 24 Hours''
::''Come down to Mac Tonight, -24 Hours 'round the clock.''
::''Come on down to Mac Tonight!''"
</blockquote>

Recently, Taiwan has begun to run Mac Tonight ads with Mac speaking [[Mandarin Chinese]]. Similarly, Hong Kong has a new commercial featuring the character, in which Mac Tonight is voiced by singer [[Eason Chan]], in order to promote local branches' new 24-hour operation schedule.{{citation needed|date=January 2011}}

==In popular culture==
* Talk-show host (and onetime McDonald's employee) [[Jay Leno]] often referred to his resemblance to Mac Tonight, and in promos for his show during the credits of [[NBC]] programming his face was depicted as a moon.

* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore]]" featured a cardboard cutout of Mac Tonight.

* [[Steam Powered Giraffe]] liberally referenced Mac Tonight in their cover of "Mack the Knife," only seen performed in street venues around California. The band attempts to sing Bobby Darin's hit but frequently revert to singing the McDonald's jingle, ending with a version of "Old MacDonald" sung to the tune of "Mack the Knife."

* The flash-based cartoon website, ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', used Mac Tonight as a costume worn by [[Strong Bad]] for their Halloween cartoon in 2014. Homestar mistakenly refers to it as a "Jay Leno costume" (see above).<ref>http://www.homestarrunner.com/ween14.html</ref>

* A villain in issue 4 of the 1996 "[[Flex Mentallo]]" mini-series, written by [[Grant Morrison]] and illustrated by [[Frank Quitely]], wore a Mac Tonight costume.

*Mac Tonight is used as the basis for [[YTMND]] Internet meme character [[YTMND|Moon Man]], a white supremacist rapper voiced by [[AT&T]]'s "Mike" [[text to speech]] program.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Burke|first1=Timothy|title=Rape, Murder, Violent Racism: The Weirdest McDonald's Ad Campaign Ever|url=http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/rape-murder-violent-racism-the-weirdest-mcdonalds-ad-1673970057|accessdate=28 July 2015|publisher=[[Deadspin]]|date=22 December 2014}}</ref>

*racist

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{More footnotes|date=February 2008}}
* [http://www.advertisingiconmuseum.com/inside/c01/3237050.html Information on Mac Tonight at Advertisingiconmuseum.com]
* [http://www.thedougjonesexperience.com/mactonight.htm Doug Jones as 'Mac Tonight']


{{McDonaldland}}

[[Category:Moon in fiction]]
[[Category:1986 introductions]]
[[Category:McDonald's characters]]
[[Category:Corporate mascots]]
[[Category:Internet memes]]
[[Category:Fictional musicians]]
[[Category:Fictional singers]]