McDonald’s legendary Grimace mascot is grabbing the attention of the world’s most popular fast food chains after relaunching on June 12, 2023. The release of the character was a celebration of Grimace’s birthday, along with the launch of the Grimace Birthday Meal, including a milkshake, a limited edition of purple merchandise inspired by Grimace, and the choice of 10-piece Chicken McNuggets or a Big Mac and fries.
McDonald’s has not only launched Grimace, an iconic character. Several characters, such as Ronald McDonald, Hamburglar, Birdie the Early Bird, Fry Guys, etc., have also previously been released as promotional media. Well, every McDonald’s character has a purpose for why they were created, including Grimace.
But people don’t yet know what Grimace was supposed to be. If you want to figure out the story behind Grimace, let’s discover its meaning, history, evolution, and presence in pop culture. Okay, here’s everything you can know about Grimace!
What is a Grimace?
Grimace is a large, fat, purple McDonald’s character of unknown species. Initially, Grimace was made with two legs and four arms, but after evolution, he was equipped with two short arms and legs, making him more plush and kid-friendly.
Grimace is the embodiment of the purple milkshake, a sweet berry-flavored drink, cited from McDonald’s Wiki. Grimace’s mouth was made to grin, and many people generally interpret this as a taste bud.
According to a McDonald’s statement in June, Grimace came from Grimace Island from a large extended family, including Grandma Winky, Uncle O’Grimacey, and aunts Tillie and Millie.
Due to his friendly and cheerful personality, Grimace’s character seems timeless and has become a fan favorite, known for his signature purple look. His slow but optimistic attitude is a plus for Grimace. Sometimes he stays silent without speaking, and he always says “duh” every time he speaks.
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What is the Grimace’s History and Its Evolution?
Grimace was first introduced in 1971 as a sinister character called Evil Grimace. That said, he tended to steal people’s milkshakes, like his friend, Hamburglar, who always stole one’s hamburgers.
The former vice president of advertising at McDonald’s, Roy Bergold Jr., noted on QRS Magazine that the original Grimace was scaly, cruel, mean-looking with four arms, and had no appeal whatsoever, let alone being liked by children.
Then, Bergold and McDonald’s promotion team changed him into a soft-hearted friend with two arms who only wanted milkshakes and to hang out with his friend, Ronald McDonald. Well, the evolution made the character more kid-friendly.
While other McDonald’s characters were approachable, Evil Grimace really didn’t sell, but after the first campaign, he was reintroduced in a more modern form, and Good Grimace has become a favorite furry friend among McDonald’s lovers.
Grimace’s presence in modern advertisements was packaged very well, showing him as a well-meaning fool. With his clumsy behavior, Ronald McDonald really gives a comical impression.
After the streamlining of the characters in the 1980s, the character of Grimace was retained, and he was one of the few members to also be retained until the end of McDonald commercials. In the early days, Grimace was used to advertise the happy meal.
However, Grimace disappeared after an appearance at Dodger Stadium on July 18, 2012, against the United States. The Philadelphia Phillies danced to Ram Jam’s Black Betty (1977).
After that, Grimace disappeared from the public and was never released again after several years, except for Malaysian Happy Meal toys. Grimace finally made his first public appearance in 2012 at the 2020 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade alongside Ronald McDonald.
On X, Grimace also appeared in a parody cryptocurrency tweet, known as “Grimace-Coin,” and also in a 2022 Super Bowl commercial. After being relaunched on June 6th, 2023, in celebration of Grimace’s birthday, he took over all McDonald’s social media accounts, including X, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
McDonald’s Sales Increase During the 2023 Grimace’s Birthday Celebration: How So?
Since Grimace has a quite large fan base, it’s no wonder that he’s all over McDonald’s social media. McDonald’s profile photos on Instagram, X, and TikTok were changed in early June to a Grimace’s photo that showed him staring at a pale purple shake topped with whipped cream and a straw.
The following days, McDonald’s announced that special meals to celebrate Grimace’s 52nd birthday would be available starting June 12.
After the day of “Grimace’s Birthday” came, McDonald’s may not believe that this product went viral on social media, especially TikTok, making sales soar by 11.7% globally, and total sales rose 14% in the quarter. Reportedly, sales in the United States McDonald’s stores jumped 10.3% in the quarter ended June 30, which was open for at least 13 months prior, cited from CBS News.
This success is certainly thanks to McDonald’s, which continues to strive to keep up with digital developments, especially its promotions on social media. Currently, McDonald’s social media is an important part of how McDonald’s drives sales every month.
According to a survey conducted in May involving more than 2,200 U.S. consumers, reported in the June edition of PYMNTS’ Connected Dining exclusive, “Connected Dining: Word of Mouth in the Digital Age,” it was revealed that approximately 37% of consumers search for restaurant information by accessing content from the brand’s social media page, starting from the menus, prices, and ongoing promotions to the location of the restaurant. And that number jumped from 37% to 42% for Gen-Z and 46% for the millennial generation.
Ian Borden, the Chief Financial Officer of McDonald’s, stated that the Grimace campaign was one of McDonald’s most socially engaging campaigns of all time, garnering “millions of reactions” on the restaurant’s posts. Borden also added that these improvements helped the brand achieve “strong double-digit comparable sales growth” in the United States.
What Do People Say About Grimace Shake?
When it comes to Grimace Shake’s tastes, it will bring up varied testimonies. Since this is a kind of drink, people will actually have different tastes—some may say it’s delicious, while others say “no” to repurchase.
Talking about the price of the Grimace package, it costs around $15. If you only buy the shake, the medium-size costs $4.99, excluding tax. But the price may differ from one location to another.
We have discovered reviews from people regarding Grimace’s special birthday menu consisting of fries, a purple milkshake, and the choice of a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets. And what really stole people’s attention was the milkshake, called the Grimace shake.
As we’ve mentioned earlier, people will review it from different perspectives. People who love fruit-flavored drinks will enjoy it, but those who prefer coffee may not. We’ll show you some reviews that we obtained from any sources, including blogs, forums, comments on social media, and also YouTube.
Emmymade, a YouTuber, posted a Grimace Shake review video on June 16, 2023. She thought that the taste of the Grimace shake was not surprising; it is like other fruit drinks, and it tastes like sweetened breakfast cereal. This is more of a fruity variety, but it is vaguely fruity. She thinks the taste feels like the grapes’ since Grimace’s taste is not specific.
She says that the taste of the Grimace shake is as sweet as ice cream. But the shake is very much an artificially flavored fruit, with some vanilla flavor. She also suggests to her viewers that they can make it a home by simply combining a little grapefruit flavor with a slice of birthday cake. And mash them together, and they can get a Grimace shake.
Another review came from the comments on NBC Chicago Facebook post, where someone revealed that the shake is really delicious. Its taste is more vanilla than berry and, of course, sweet.
Last, Erin McDowell and Chris Panella, the Insider’s reporters, have tasted the Grimace shake and given a review.
According to them, the taste of the milkshake is sweet and not too strong, has a smooth texture, and is easy to sip through a straw. Like Emmymade, it is also quite difficult to distinguish specifically what berries taste like. However, after a few sips, the distinctive blueberry taste begins to be felt, but it is not the fresh blueberry taste of summer.
McDowell thought that this milkshake had a slightly artificial taste, only enhanced by flavors like vanilla extract running through it. It tastes more like a birthday cake.
The point is, to know how Grimace shake really tastes, yes, of course, you have to buy it, right? But Grimace’s birthday was over. Now, you can only know how it tastes from people’s reviews. So, when McDonald’s makes a big deal with Grimace again, you already have the taste spoiler.
Why Does Grimace Go Viral, Especially on TikTok After Re-Launched?
In addition to other McDonald’s social media, TikTok in particular becomes a powerful tool for reaching consumers, which is supported by research that revealed that 47% of visitors from the millennial generation use TikTok to search for restaurant information, as do 63% of Gen-Z.
@thefrazmaz R.I.P Grimace (and me) #mcdonalds #grimace #milkshake #grimaceshake #birthday #fakedeath #yummy
Grimace went viral on TikTok with #GrimaceShake after many creators made a short video showing them wishing Grimace a happy birthday before tasting his shake. After drinking this purple milkshake, they pretended to be poisoned or dead, causing the liquid to flow from their head, nose, and mouth.
The trend was a joke that if people drunk Grimace’s shake, he would come to kill them in gruesome ways—some survive but some don’t—that’s what Grimace really wants. In this TikTok trend, Grimace seems to be shown as a cruel, evil icon and looks more like a vengeful, murderous monster. That’s what is shown in several viral videos related to the hashtag #grimaceshake.
The first TikToker to popularize this trend was @thefrazmaz, who posted a joke video on June 14, 2023, citing KnowYourMeme.com. On his video, he says that he just got the Grimace shake from McDonald’s, and of course, he is so excited to try drinking it.
After drinking it, he immediately lay on the floor, looking dead, with a spilled cup of shake on his head. Until now, his video has been played more than 3.7 million times, with over 450,000 likes.
Following the popularity of Fraz’s content related to the Grimace Shake, many more videos with the same trend quickly went viral on TikTok. However, many people also find this viral content a bit disgusting. As of this writing, the hashtag #grimaceshake has been viewed more than 3.9 billion times.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
