User:Sillygoose179/Grimace Shake

Background [Soni]
The character Grimace was first introduced in the McDonaldland media franchise in 1971 as "Evil Grimace". His original character had scales and four arms and would steal people’s milkshakes. McDonald’s soon changed his character to a purple, smiling blob with two arms and a love for milkshakes who accompanied Ronald McDonald and other benevolent characters in advertisements and commercials. Some McDonald’s representatives described Grimace as an "embodiment of a milkshake or a taste bud", but his identity remains up to interpretation for many fans. McDonald’s describes that Grimace is a character who comes from Grimace Island, along with other family members including Uncle O’Grimacey who is known for bringing Shamrock Shakes for Saint Patrick’s Day. The exact date of his birthday is uncertain, though during the Grimace Birthday promotion in June of 2023 he was stated to be 52 years old.

Product description [Vincent]
The Grimace Shake is a purple, berry-flavored milkshake. It is a combination of vanilla and berry flavors. The flavor was not disclosed by the company. Many also reported that they tasted other flavors like Fruity Pebbles or bubblegum. The shake was released as a standalone product and as part of the Grimace Birthday Meal, which consists of the shake, medium fries, and a choice of a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets.

Roll-out [Audrey]
In June 2023, McDonald's announced the release by changing their profile picture on social media to a picture of Grimace looking at the Grimace Shake. On Twitter, McDonald’s posted a picture of Grimace posing with a car and holding the purple shake with the caption, “i finallyy got my own grimace meal and purple shake :)”. McDonald’s revealed one day later that the release of this product was in celebration of Grimace’s 52nd birthday, although his exact birth date is not known. To accompany the release of the meal, McDonald's released a Game Boy-themed browser game, Grimace's Birthday, developed by Krool Toys, and other Grimace-inspired merchandise. McDonald's paid Fandom to replace the article about Grimace on the McDonald's wiki with a promotion for its Grimace merchandise, which led to controversy. McDonald's suggested that people donate to the Ronald McDonald House Charities "in lieu of gifts" for Grimace. The company discontinued sales of the Grimace Shake on July 9, 2023.

Critical reviews [Anna]
Some have been confused as to what the Grimace shake flavors are, with McDonalds employees citing that it tastes like ‘Grimace’ when asked by a client what the flavors are. In addition to this confusion, the Grimace Shake received polarized reviews. Dane Rivera of Uproxx called it the best flavor in the McDonald's milkshake lineup. Delish gave it a positive review, calling it "the sweetest berry smoothie of your life". Reachel Chapman, writing for Elite Daily, was "not a fan of the flavor", which she described as "very fruity and artificial tasting". A review by Insider described the taste as smooth and not too sweet, but also artificial and ultimately underwhelming. Steven Luna of Mashed.com said that despite the shake being "pretty" and "magical-looking", it was disappointing and a "troubling tribute to a garrulous grape-colored goofball who deserves so much better". Despite the shake’s widespread popularity and bright color, there isn’t a consensus on the exact taste or berry flavor of the grimace shake.

Other media [Audrey]
Before the drink's release, users on social media began posting fan art and memes featuring Grimace.

A TikTok trend with the hashtag #GrimaceShake began circulating after the release of the shake, in which users record themselves wishing Grimace a happy birthday while drinking the shake and giving the shake outstanding reviews. Then, the video cuts to a scene of the users finding themselves in unusual positions and in strange locations, or being discovered dead while covered in the drink. The videos are staged to look like a crime scene with the shake splattered around, implying that Grimace is the assassin who is responsible for their transformation. The first instance of this trend was created by TikTok user @thefrazmaz (Austin Frazier). This trend stemmed from a similar trend involving the Whopper released to promote Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse due to both products having unnatural colors. The trend spread to other products, such as Barbie-themed products by Krispy Kreme and Cold Stone, where consumers appear more feminine or "yassified" after consumption. As of July 12, the hashtag had over one billion views.

Guillaume Huin, the social media director for McDonald's, said the Grimace Shake trend was unexpected and described it as "brilliant creativity, unfiltered fun, peak absurdist gen z humor". However, at the time he felt that acknowledging the trend would be risky, as he felt that "the campaign was already wildly successful, both on a social and business standpoint, so why would we take the 'risk' to jump in?".

Response from McDonalds [Anna]
McDonald's later acknowledged the trend in social media. On Twitter, McDonald’s stated (as Grimace), "meee pretending i don't see the grimace shake trendd [ sic]." along with a picture of a surprised looking Grimace. The trend has been noted as an example of viral marketing. McDonald’s also posted a TikTok of Grimace covering his eyes with the caption, “woww lots of peoplee r tryingg the grimace shake”.

Impact on McDonald's [Soni]
The launch of the Grimace Shake and its resulting publicity increased McDonald’s sales in stores open for at least a year by 10.3% in the next quarter. In the April-June period itself, sales rose by 12%, exceeding Wall Street Journal’s estimate of 9.3%. In the quarter after the Grimace Shake release, McDonald’s reported $6.5 billion in sales which beat sales estimates by $0.2 billion. The increased business was a nuisance to some employees, however, as some customers poured the shake on themselves in the store.

Controversies [Vincent]
Many speculated that the Grimace Shake trend on TikTok was an intentional advertising strategy to raise awareness of the McDonald’s brand for younger audiences; its indeterminate flavor and unnatural purple color have garnered significant attention on social media platforms. However, the company has stated that it never intended for the shake to become so viral, with McDonald’s social media director saying “This was a level of genius creativity and organic fun that I could never dream about or plan for — it was all from the fans, and the fans only []”. The virality of the trend on social media also boosted McDonald’s sales as many came to McDonald after seeing the trend on TikTok, with many going just for the drink and some stores even ran out of ice cream early in the day.

However, unexpectedly, some have hypothesized that the TikTok trend could be a message of rebellion by the public to what McDonald intended. Jared Watson, a professor of marketing at NYU, stated that those who are partaking in the trend are completely deviating from what McDonalds intended to do by releasing the Grimace shake and promoting it on social media.