Before Ronald McDonald, Speedee was the mascot for the fast food chain, and now he’s back for a limited time. 

These days, you can find McDonald’s stores right across Japan, but back in July 1971, there was only one branch in the whole country, when the fast food chain made its grand debut on the first floor of the Ginza Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza district.

Now, to celebrate the chain’s 50th anniversary in Japan, the fast food giant is going back to its humble beginnings — waaaaay back, when Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald first opened a burger restaurant in California in 1940, calling it the ‘Speedee Service System‘, with a mascot called Speedee at the helm.

▼ Speedee, the first McDonald’s mascot, was replaced by Ronald McDonald in 1967

Image: Wikipedia/Chris Light

Speedee is now bringing its retro U.S. diner-like look to Japan to mark its half-century anniversary here, with the cute, round-faced chef set to appear on special limited-edition packaging for the following menu items:

▼ Chicken McNuggets (Five and 15 pieces)

▼ McFry Potato (small, medium and large sizes)

▼ Cold drinks (small, medium and large sizes) and hot drinks (small and medium sizes)

▼ Hashed Potato (Hash Browns)

▼ Hot Apple Pie

▼ And takeout paper bags

Given the tiny images they’ve teased us with in their press release, we’ll have to get our hands on these in real life to really get a good look at them! We’ll be able to do just that when the new packaging becomes available at the end of the month.

The retro designs will only be available for a limited time, but with five new teriyaki items currently on the menu in Japan, including two new Teriyaki McBurgers, now’s a great time to enjoy a taste of Japanese McDonald’s, with a side of the retro Speedee Service System.

Source, images: McDonald’s Japan press release
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