- McDonald's Grimace Birthday Meal, released on June 12, has brought back the furry purple mascot.
- Recently, TikTokers have been obsessing about the purple milkshake in the viral #GrimaceShake trend.
It's been more than a week since McDonald's released a special birthday meal for its beloved furry mascot Grimace, but the internet is still not over it. And it's not the under-eight-year-olds — who Happy Meals typically target — who are obsessing. Rather, it's Gen Z TikTokers who seem to have taken to the purple milkshake.
Many users of the short-form video app have hopped onto the viral #GrimaceShake trend — the hashtag boasts more than 263 million views as of June 27 — to film themselves trying out the Grimace shake and pretending to pass out afterward.
The TikTok user @ruiz_alv04 posted a video of a young boy excitedly sipping the viral purple drink before quickly cutting to a shot of the boy sprawled across the road with the milkshake spilled everywhere.
@ruiz_alv04 RIP lil bro ️ma boy mc diedHe was only 13 yoLLK #mcdonalds #grimaceshake #grimacesbirthday ♬ original sound - nukyduky07
"RIP lil bro. ma boy mc died. He was only 13 yo. LLK," the video's caption read interspersed with emojis. The five-second clip has garnered more than 7.5 million views and 1.4 million likes as of June 27.
"Just got the new Grimace shake, I'm gonna give it a try," the TikToker @_loganross said in another video before sipping the special milkshake. The video then immediately cut to them pretending to be unconscious, sprawled face-forward against a purple-liquid-covered wall, while he coughed and sputtered out the drink.
@_loganross @abby tried the grimac eshake too !! said it was not too very good, 4/10 because it at least taste dlike bluedberry✌️‼️#fyp #grimaceshake ♬ original sound - Lil’ Rizzy
TikTok users are seemingly amused with his video, which has garnered more than 6.1 million views as of June 27. "Grimace is inside you," a top comment with more than 34,300 likes read. "Best outcome of getting a grimace shake," another comment said.
Grimace was originally introduced in 1971 as part of McDonald's retired collection of characters, including icons like Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar.
It's unclear clear what the furry mascot embodies — he's been said to represent a milkshake, a giant taste bud, and just a friendly purple blob — but it seems that he's loved nonetheless, and we'll continue to live in Grimace's world for a while more.
Insider has reached out to McDonald's US for comment.