Mac Tonight 

Emple burg er

I legitimately got so wrapped up in the history of the “Mack the Knife” that I was confused for a second as to why you suddenly started talking about hamburgers before thinking “oh yeah, this is a video about a McDonald’s commercial.”

The Moon Man segment of this video feels like the part of a celebrity documentary where they fall into drug abuse and crisis.

It should be noted that as of this year, the Threepenny Opera has entered the public domain. One step closer to bringing the spirit of MacHeath back to the people

As someone who lived through it,I'll offer a less profound take. Big Macs were $.99 during this promo.

Mac's character design is fucking outstanding imo, i've never seen a character as slick, nostalgic, cool, yet utterly terrifying all at the same time

Growing up my parents worked in advertising and graphic design. I remember finding a framed poster of Mac Tonight tucked away in their studio and just being awestruck. I was probably 6 or 7 years old and so confused why this poster was so hypnotic. It was like looking into a reaccuring dream I've never had, so nostalgic, yet so so new. I ended up hanging it in my room. I totally forgot about the poster until seeing this thumbnail, but I've never felt that way about a piece of art since. Looking back now its hilarious that the only time in my life I've had a real deep emotional reaction to art was from a McDonald's poster from the mid 80's.

I went to the Epic McD's in Orlando just a couple weeks ago, ended up sitting right under him by accident. Mac was still there and still playing music. Sadly it's right next to the playplace so his music is drowned out by screaming children, but it was still awesome to see in person. Had a pizza while I was there too, it was great.

"The virtual talking head replaced Bill Cosby as Coca Cola's spokesperson." Boy, what an especially excellent decision that turned out to be in hindsight.

I’m realizing now that the appeal of EmpLemon’s “newer” era is that you know they’re willing to throw RU-vid Poop-esque energy at you out of what initially seems like nowhere; all in the middle of the most dry, documentary-style video. It’s like the true opposite to a horror movie.

So glad emp found a stable channel format. He fits into it so perfectly and I go from wondering "oh cool where did that moon man song come from" to oh wow I have respect for the art that went into Mac the knife. Emp is providing me more culture than my parents ever taught me.

16:50 "Mac finally got to experience what it was like, to be stabbed in the back" *Burger King ad plays right on cue*

i legitimately had never heard of mac tonight before someone explained to me that moon man wasn't actually just a racist meme and that he was a fucking Mcdonalds character

love how everything was tied together

I was not expecting an eighty's McDonald's mascot to have such a long, complex, and rich history.

This is quite a late comment, but Mack the Knife's history does not only continue through Mac Tonight. Due to the widespread popularity of Bobby Darin's song, it inspired many artists around the globe. One of those artists was Ruben Blades, a Panamanian Salsa singer who took inspiration from Mack the Knife to make one of the genre's greatest and most iconic songs of all time: Pedro Navaja. Listen to it!

The fact that there’s a long history of Mac Tonight is astounding, but exactly how far it goes is crazy.

There's a McDonalds in my home town that still had him as of a few years ago. Hope he's still there.

Fun fact: The ThreePenny Opera was also an influence on Watchmen to an extent. “Tales from the Black Freighter” is named after the ship from “Pirate Jenny” Kinda weird that the 80s had two pop culture phenomena with references to this one opera

I have so much respect for Emp, retiring from the thing he was known for and spending his time making lengthy informative videos on whatever topic he feels like talking about. Absolutely respectable.

Can’t wait to watch this half an hour documentary on a singing dude with a moon for a head! But really, EmpLemons docs are always extremely well made.

I was deathly afraid of Mac Tonight as a child. My parents still tease me about this.

The background music is perfect! Tony was the devil, the luxury elite and saint pepsi album, chefs kiss

This is one of my favourite videos on youtube, period. The way you weave a story about counter culture being subsumed into mainstream consumerist Americana culture and then subverted once again back into satire over the course of hundreds of years… I don’t know, but there’s something that always strikes me as particularly profound whenever I watch it. It’s fascinating. Bravo, I wish I could find more videos like this one.

Emp, you are a marketing genius. We basically sat through a 26 minute ad for your new merch. I tell you, GENIUS.

Mac Tonight is so aesthetically perfect, a perfect component of vaporwave visuals

The quality and content in EmpLemon videos is unbelievable! Thanks a lot for sharing!

This is so well written. Such an engaging and informative presentation!

21:52 Scary how accurate this is. When I was a kid starting to browse the internet in the early 2010s, I only stumbled on the so called Moon Man as a racist and edgy meme character. It took me many years to realize that he was supposed to be a family friendly Mcdonald mascot all along.

Mack The Knife has changed political associations so many times it's like a game of Ping Pong being played over a Political Compass

I watched this video like 20 times already, the editing and the dialog is so interesting and I cant get enough of it, I wish Mac Tonight would return.

I was born in '05, so I never saw any Mac Tonight advertising in the wild. I however did have one of those model/collectible things of Bill Elliott's car with the special mac branding (My dad is a nascar fan) as a child. I grew up wondering why the 'Mcdonald's car had a moon on it', lol. So seeing you mention Bill Elliott's car was neat! I like that you included it.

Everything's Borrowed, Nothing's Original, Make it an Emp Tonight.

The real lesson here, which surprisingly hasn't been replicated since, is that you can effectively meme corporate IP out of existence. We should be doing this today, on purpose.

I get this video in my recommendations like every 2 weeks...and I watch it all the way through every single time...it's so good.

I absolutely love Mac Tonight. Because it works. I legit wanted McDonald’s after it. Just something about it to have a burger, fries and your choice of soft drink listening to big band music makes it a very good commercial.

7:48 I have to admit, the "separated" golden arches of the early McDonald's restaurants looks really cool.

I love how you used Saint Pepsi in the background music, a vaporwave artist who has become heavily associated with the image of Mac Tonight in the last decade. A subtle nod to another chapter of Mac Tonight's legacy that wasn't explicitly mentioned in the video.

I just brought this commercial up to my sister and my mom a few weeks ago and both of them looked at me like i was from another planet .... i was super super young when this came out and they were both older. I should be able to say the McDonald's commercial with the moon singing and playing the piano and be understood .... it is one of those commercials that was played often and was the "meme" of its time .... but nope ... they thought i made it up. I had to look it up bc maybe i had imagined it .... that is how i landed here where you are proving my memory of this was not imagined. THANK YOU!!!

This is probably one of your best videos, all the way down to the thumbnail. So stoked for future videos!

I work at Mc Donalds and for the new year celebrations they gave us a pin to put in our shirts, it was a collection of various old iconic campains and out of all the different pins i chose one that really called my atention. Yes, I have a pin o Mac Tonight and is today, 3 months later that I discover the truth about all its story. From tomorrow I will start using it, this is awesome.

The fact that Doug fucking Jones was the guy who played Mac Tonight is the most earth-shattering revelation that will have absolutely no effect on my life.

I love this documentary so much, it covers so many angles of this subject, and yet it almost seems to tease with the absence of a vapourwave section. Like we have to play it backwards to find it or something

This is a really great video, I wish I could like it several more times!!! You are a narrative genuis.

EmpLemon is the only dude who can make a half hour long video about a single advertisement and make it incredibly interesting

The line about advertising "redefining the meaning of want" is one of the most insightful lines I've heard in some time Also- Mac Tonight's whole aesthetic was my everything when I was like 4 or 5. I loved it

From an old counter culture opera icon, to a pop song, to an 80s TV Mascot, to a dank AF racist meme and to a vaporwave star. Truly Mac has evolved in so many ways! 🙏

As a person born juuuuust too late to be online in the mid to late 2000's I'm glad I'm only learning about Mac's darkside at 20, and not like 7. Also nice New Nexus Shirt

I love your videos. The stories you choose to tell have such interesting histories and you explain them in such a nice and entertaining way

There are two things in life we can't predict - When we'll die - What topic Emplemon is going to make his next video on.

Masterpiece of a video. The information, visuals, and music really makes this a true Emplemon hit. Keep up the amazing work man.

love this vid man, I rewatch this 10 times already. Perfect go-to vid for food time

"The anthropomorphic crescent moon was a surreal window into the soul of American Enterprise." A bold and profound statement Mr lemon. Bravo

Mac literally just went and had a 300+ year character arc with some of the most ridiculous, sometimes backwards character development lmao.

you’ve made me learn of what ads are watched this before, and now I’m watching it again… thank you very much

My dad, born 1970, saw a Max Headroom ad with me in a youtube video (after having seen the OG airing as a young person) and realized how it just has no impact in the modern age. I had said how I just do not get the ad, how it really just goes over my head and I do not see why it was so iconic. He understood when I said that why all of the interesting and novel traits of the ad that stood out when it was released are entirely normal and easily reproducible now. Nothing about an uncanny semi AI talking head even registered on my radar as being novel. But when it came out he told me how every aspect of the ad was new and mysterious. It is crazy how that mystique is entirely lost now, in the same way any poster printed with a printer would have been amazing in and of itself in the 1500's, but now would be just as mundane as any other normal medium.

"Why is Mac Tonight green?" To understand this, we need to know why Mac Tonight is white

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain... and if you survive that, you become a meme"

This is such a rollercoaster. Great video

This is unironically one of the best videos on this entire website.

"The hamburgers were quickly picking up steam in the US" while you show the steamed ham bit from the simpsons. Brilliant writing and editing 👌 Dont think we missed it 😉

“Before we talk about Mac Tonight, we must first go back to where it all started… In 1728…” Better strap ourselves in for this one

Moon man has a great design, when I first saw him i instantly remember him, now your video brought ir back from my memories

6:54 yeah I call the steamed hams

"It was the greasy, delicious future that all of us needed, but none of us deserved." You waited over thirteen minutes into the video to drop that line on us. Bravo.

Not only in internet culture, but Mac Tonight being a prominent vaporwave figure is so perfect because it brings him right back around to where he started-a satire of capitalism and consumerism

A 30 minute ad that got me engaged and I won't forget, you really know your stuff

great full circle video, keep up the good work :)

I'm 12 minutes in and I realized that the greatest part about Emp's writing is how he can connect tangents like nobody else Like something goes from 1700s Opera to 1930s Germany to 1960s America back to Hamburg, Germany to go forward to 1980s America WHERE THE SONG FROM THE 1930s PLAY COMES BACK IN. It keeps me absolutely engaged wondering "Woah, how is this gonna connect back???" I love it

There is something to be said about the optimism of the 80s and ads like Mac Tonight. My college class recently reemed on an 80s romance movie for having a happy ending because the couple had conflict in it. It was so cynical, I get it everything is these days. I didn't even grow up through that but it's an attitude that needs to come back in some form. Amazing as always.

I love the music in this video. Late Night Delight is one of my favorite albums for doing homework

Fantastic analysis. Thanks for sharing

EmpLemon has the unique ability to make me care about literally anything. His videos are just so well put together.

im surprised there's no mention of vaporwave's fascination with mac tonight which seems like a resurgence for the character that was actually positive

This is a phenomenal piece of journalism. I had no idea of this song, nor its impact. Fascinating - this is RU-vid at its finest.

This is a weirdly compelling 29 minutes of luring and baiting for a traced over merchandise on a t-shirt. I’m lovin’ it.

As a 2000's baby, if i hadn't watched this video I would've never even known moon man was a mcdonalds ad!

Based on his past commentary on the state of the copywrite hounds, I'm sure emp is creaming his pants over the fact he can make money selling T-shirts featuring a greenified Mascot who used to belong to the clown. They literally won't touch it cos of the moon-man incident. 200 IQ play

When he said the hamburger was "picking up steam" with Skinner in the back-drop, the stupidest grin spread across my face. What an excellent throwaway joke.

wow first example is toxic poop and that's the same ad I got at the beginning of this video. Now that's a good documentary!

I find Moonman to be hilarious. Turning a wholesome mascot made to sell you burgers into the most racist man imaginable is so funny to me. It's not the racism itself that's funny, it's that it's a man with a moon for a head originating from a McDonald's commercial that's doing it and that this wholesome mascot is as unabashedly and offensively racist as possible.

"At the turn of the 20th Century an new food item was quickly picking up steam." Fucking brilliant writing, Emp.

I like the philosophical conversation near the end. I like it especially as it comes near the end of a video about a McDonald’s meme.

This is an amazing essay. Well done

The casual reveal that Mac was played by Doug Jones is truly one of the great twists of cinema history

Enjoyed the references to mac’s vapor wave presence, which is where a lot of people know him from now

I think Donald Draper said it best when he said "the purpose of advertising is to confirm that whatever you are doing right now, is okay."

ur talking pace and tone are perfect i can watch these all day

Gotta say, whoever put together the old song "Mac the knife" and thought to change it to "Mac Tonight" is an absolute galaxy brain.

I just wanna know where Emp finds these topics. He went from story villains you can sympathize for, to Hollywood, to rare collectibles, to Mt. Everest, to now a commercial LOL. I'm guessing his next topic is gonna be on challenges or something. Like the cinnamon challenge or knife game song XD

Such a unique video idea, well put together!

Damn, Emp Lemon makes some very well made videos. Good job.

28:37 I love how the McDonalds "M" was rotated 90 degrees to become an "E", very clever.

Saint Pepsi’s “Enjoy Yourself” was the first Vaporwave song I ever heard, and the first time I had ever seen Mac Tonight. I’m glad you included it

“My life used to be a McDonalds commercial and now im the grand wizard of the Tripple K Mafia” -Mac Tonight/MoonMan

As a marketer, I’m in awe. This is such an amazing video 👏👏👏 Thank you for sharing

My dream, above everything, is to one day walk into a McDonalds, order and receive a shamrock shake and McRib at the same time, served by Mac Tonight himself. Thank you for this video.

Honestly it seems Moonman is closer to the original Mack the knife persona than the Mac Tonight version. A heinous, evil character who hates everything around him

Moonman is a classic.

One of the McDonald’s near me still had a Mac Tonight neon sign up to about 2010, it was by the drive-thru speaker. They finally got rid of it when the restaurant remodeled.