McDonald's reintroduces the Hamburglar as a strangely attractive suburban dad

Quarter Pounders aren't the only things McDonald's serves hot.

The fast food giant unveiled a new look for one of its classic characters, the Hamburglar, on Wednesday with a TV spot and promotional images showing off his new image as a suburban dad with questionable fashion sense.

In the photos, the new Hamburglar is seen wearing a rumpled black coat, his trademark black-and-white striped shirt, red gloves, a comedically-oversized burger-pattern neck tie, an large fedora and a domino mask.

The commercial, which McDonald's shared on its Twitter account, shows a suburban dad grilling burgers while wearing a striped apron. His face isn't seen, but he gets a strange urge when he hears a radio ad for — what else — a new line of McDonald's burgers called the sirloin third-pounders.

This redesign was publicized just days after the corporation announced it would be stripping away the excess fat in its bureaucracy after seeing profits drop 15 per cent last year with sales dipping in regions around the world.

"He's had some time to grow up a bit and has been busy raising a family in the suburbs and his look has evolved over time," McDonald's' Vice President of U.S. Marketing Joel Yashinsky told Mashable, in a distressingly earnest effort to talk about the character as if he were a real person.

The original Hambuglar was one of the costumed characters in the McDonaldland series of commercials and merchandise that centred around its clownish mascot, Ronald McDonald.

Introduced in the 1970s, the Hamburgler became known as a childish scamp who was always out to steal hamburgers.

The character faded from McDonald's advertising in the early 2000s, along with other characters like Grimace and Mayor McCheese.

​Ronald still makes appearances in promotional material today, he himself having undergone a makeover of sorts last April.

Social media users fond of the Hamburglar (née Hamilton B. Urglar) had strong feelings as soon as the revamped character was revealed.

His well-coifed beard, stoic eyes and — dare we say it — dadbod-like physique pulled the internet echo chamber into a moral quandry over whether he was looking hot or looking like some creepy dude in a stock image.

Some compared the new design to a comic books-like gritty reboot, comparing the Hamburglar to the likewise trenchcoated vigilante Rorscach from Alan Moore's Watchmen.

Others said he bore a striking resemblance to another kleptomaniac from years past, the WWE wrestler Repo Man.

Of course, Ottawa Senators fans had some fun with the announcement, thanks in part to goalie Andrew Hammond, who is nicknamed the Hamburglar for stealing away goals and games from the opposing team.