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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Grimace has taken over the internet, thanks to viral memes and his birthday purple milkshake.</li><li>But the backstory of McDonald's mascot is complicated, including changing identities, roles, and appearances. </li></ul><p>If your head has been filled with thoughts of Grimace in the past month, you're not alone: McDonald's bizarre purple blob mascot has <a href="https://www.insider.com/mcdonalds-grimace-marketing-takeover-internet-memes-2023-6">taken the internet by storm</a>.</p><p>Grimace has inspired everything from fan art of him celebrating Pride month to a horrifying TikTok trend where people <a href="https://www.insider.com/mcdonalds-grimace-shake-tiktok-trend-genz-passed-out-random-spots-2023-6">drink his purple birthday milkshake and pretend to pass out or die</a>, possibly because they've summoned a terrifying Grimace to their location.</p><p>He's even wormed his way into the memes of the chronically online with a "Donatella GRIMACE" joke about the missing Titan submersible (don't worry, I'll explain). </p><p>But what's the story behind Grimace? Turns out, it's complicated, a backstory of reworked personas leading him to be the beloved figure he is today. </p><h2><strong>Grimace used to be an evil, nasty hater</strong></h2><div type="image" title="A young Grimace wearing braces at his birthday." height="4492" width="6774" msid="101419271" hostid="261"></div><p>Grimace was first introduced as a new member of the McDonald's mascots in 1971, but his original iteration was much more sinister than the friendly blob of today.</p><p>He was known as "Evil Grimace," a villain who stole people's milkshakes — not unlike the Hamburgular's propensity to steal hamburgers. </p><p>"The original Grimace was scaly, mean-looking, had four arms, and had no charm whatsoever. He scared kids," Roy Bergold Jr., the former vice president of advertising at McDonald's, <a href="https://www.qsrmagazine.com/your-brand-top-mind" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in QSR Magazine in 2012. </p><p>While famed clown Ronald McDonald and other figures such as Officer Big Mac and Mayor McCheese were approachable, Evil Grimace just wasn't bringing in the crowds.</p><p>It was time for his transformation. "We changed him to a soft, plush, two-armed blob of a sweetheart who only wanted McDonald's milkshakes and to hang out with Ronald," Bergold Jr. said. </p><p>He became a jolly purple giant with an extremely goofy disposition — a bit of course-correcting for his previous evil deeds.</p><p>The new and improved fuzzy and friendly Grimace was a successful mascot, quickly joining Ronald McDonald in a variety of advertisements. </p><p>In a 1973 ad, Grimace takes a trip to the beach but is quickly dried out by the sun. Ronald and some children comically revive him with McDonald's frosties, and Grimace vows to only sunbathe near a McDonald's from now on.</p><p>In another commercial from 1977, Ronald and Grimace travel to the land of McDonald's sundaes, sliding down a caramel cave and attempting to climb a fudge mountain.</p><p>They eventually end up back at a McDonald's location for ice cream — after all, these old commercials are still advertising — but Grimace fulfills a playful role as Ronald's sidekick.</p><h2>His lore is surprisingly rich for a mascot</h2><div type="image" title="Grimace receiving his driver's license on his 16th birthday." height="4492" width="5989" msid="101419277" hostid="261"></div><p>Grimace has a pretty well-documented childhood. His teenage years include celebrating his birthday with Birdie the Early Bird and all their McDonald's friends and getting his driver's license, all while rocking a mullet and braces. </p><p>In 2021, a McDonald's Outstanding Manager of the Year <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-grimace-taste-bud-mcdonalds-manager-reveals-2021-9">weighed in, saying that Grimace is a taste bud.</a></p><p>But a spokesperson for McDonald's confirmed to Insider at the time that Grimace's identity is somewhat fluid.</p><p>"Whether he's a taste bud, a milkshake, or just your favorite purple blob — the best part about Grimace is that he means different things to different people," the spokesperson said.</p><p>But if you want to trace Grimace's history back even further, you'll find surprising origins: He's not a unique unknown being, but rather, just one example of a species.</p><p>In a 2001 episode of "The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald," Ronald, Grimace, and their friends travel to Grimace Island, a strange place inhabited by a Grimace tribe of various purple shades. </p><p>The island feels inspired by an Australian outback or grassland, with wild vegetation and Grimaces wearing grass skirts and beaded necklaces. There's a special Grimace Island treasure, too, and the tribe is very protective of it. </p><p>Grimace also has family members, including <a href="https://mcdonalds.fandom.com/wiki/Uncle_O%27Grimacey">Uncle O'Grimacy</a>, a green Grimace who brings Shamrock Shakes to McDonald's for St. Patrick's Day like an Irish capitalist Santa Claus. </p><h2>Grimace's birthday meal has brought him back into the spotlight</h2><div type="image" title="Grimace celebrating his birthday." height="4492" width="6774" msid="101419281" hostid="261"></div><p>McDonald's released Grimace's birthday meal — and an accompanying GameBoy Color video game — in early June.</p><p>Grimace got his own <a href="https://www.insider.com/mcdonalds-grimace-milkshake-review-flavor-2023-6">bizarre purple milkshake</a>, he took over <a href="https://twitter.com/McDonalds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">McDonald's social media</a>, and people online loved it. </p><p>But celebrations of Grimace have spiraled out of control. TikTokers call him <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@spookyquill/video/7244000153852562731?embed_source=121352282%2C121351166%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&amp;refer=embed&amp;referer_url=www.pride.com%2Fpride%2Fgrimmace%23rebelltitem3&amp;referer_video_id=7244000153852562731" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Mother Grimace,"</a> someone <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@dustsac/video/7248662922040184107" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dressed up as him</a> at St. Louis PrideFest, and art of him <a href="https://twitter.com/piophany/status/1668499641573474304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1668499641573474304%7Ctwgr%5E70e510b5ee1aabffbaaa41f6ab3b7d2ad697d702%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pride.com%2Fpride%2Fgrimmace" target="_blank" rel="noopener">celebrating both his birthday and LGBTQ+ pride</a> is all over the internet. Grimace — like the Babadook before him — has achieved unexpected queer icon status. </p><p>Memes about Grimace's shake leading to unconsciousness are even more unhinged. Grimace <a href="https://twitter.com/McDonalds/status/1673732508503138304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">himself responded</a>, posting a photo on Twitter of his blank staring eyes and the line: "pretending i don't see the grimace shake trendd."</p><p>And his name has even been absorbed as the <a href="https://twitter.com/theerkj/status/1674197133996466176">latest iteration of the "Donatella Versace" meme</a>, referencing an off-topic comment where the fashion designer shouted her name and added a heart emoji on an Instagram post about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p><p>So if you see people announcing "Donatella GRIMACE!" (pronounced like the designer), don't be concerned. </p><p>As far as marketing campaigns go, Grimace's comeback is quite genius. Take an amorphous purple blob with a fascinating history and make him ideal meme material, and you can be sure everyone online will take it to the extreme.</p>

A history of Grimace, the bizarre McDonald's mascot now making a comeback as a queer meme icon

<ul><li>Dunzo has launched two new queer mascots named Carelines Ringaraj (She/Her) and Jusmeet (They/Them).</li><li>No matter your background, there should and will always be a place for you within the Dunzo community, says Dunzo.</li></ul>Dunzo takes another step forward towards diversity and <keyword id="528822" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Inclusion">inclusion</keyword>. While the end of June marks the end of Pride celebrations for some, for Dunzo it's a moment of new beginnings as it unveils the newest mascots of the Duniverse, Dunzo’s Mascot Universe. Introducing two new characters who are proud members of the LGBTQIA+ community, will continue Dunzo’s tradition of representation across its platform and another step in ensuring that everyone in the community has a place at Dunzo.<br />       <div type="image" title="Jusmeet" msid="83978747" hostid="261"></div><br />“As a three-sided platform, we have always been conscious of representing the different voices in our community. Our ethos reflects the people we work with on an everyday basis and we strongly believe #VarietyMakesUs. With the inception of the Duniverse, we wanted to capture the many stories and faces that make Dunzo the platform so loved by users. We’re so excited to introduce the newest members of the Dunzo Mascot Universe — Careline Ringaraj (She/Her) from Chennai, and Jusmeet (They/Them) from Jalandhar who are proud members of the LGBTQIA+ community and will represent Dunzo all year round, year after year,” says Sai Ganesh, Head - Brand at Dunzo.<br />      <div type="image" title="Careline" msid="83978709" hostid="261"></div><br />"With the addition of the two LGBTQIA+ characters to our mascot universe, our intention is to promote inclusiveness and widen our horizons to include all sections of our society as equals. It is to value representation and celebrate all colors of the rainbow with equal vigor. There are miles to go before we rest, but we hope that this little step helps open up some hearts and minds to embrace variety with Pride," read Dunzo's blog. <br /><br />Diversity and inclusion have always been a part of the Dunzo DNA — whether it’s in the services that it delivers or the community it serves. Taking a stand for Diversity &amp; Inclusion, Dunzo has also initiated several <a href="https://blog.dunzo.com/hereforpride-b0f32e093c30" data-type="tilCustomLink">programs </a>internally such as the Women@ Dunzo initiative which aims to create conversations around policies and workplace practices that impact the culture and emotional health of the organization. As part of <keyword id="168821" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pride-Month">Pride Month</keyword>, Dunzo hosted notable LGBTQIA+ advocates such as Vasu Primlani and Pooja Sampath and got conversations going around identity and pride. <br /><br />As Dunzo continues to build more initiatives around Diversity and Inclusion, it's building a place for all members of the community. With the addition of the two LGBTQIA+ characters to its mascot universe, Dunzo will continue to advocate for inclusiveness and widen acceptance to include all sections of our society as equals.<br />

Indian advertising industry's first ever queer mascots are here as Dunzo introduces two new characters to its Duniverse

From the iconic Amul Girl to India’s first queer mascots, here are the most popular Indian mascots

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Don't be alarmed if you see a strange purple blob named Grimace on social media this week.</li><li>McDonald's is celebrating the iconic mascot's birthday with a new meal and a social-media campaign.</li></ul><p>It's Grimace's world now, we're all just living in it.</p><p>If you're chronically online — or even just scrolling TikTok or Twitter for a couple of hours before bed — then you've probably noticed a recent surge of memes featuring McDonald's strange purple blob monster.</p><p>He (I guess Grimace has a gender) has taken the internet by storm after McDonald's released a <a href="https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/grimace-purple-mascot-big-mac-birthday-meal.html">milkshake, a meal, and a GameBoy Color video game</a> to celebrate his birthday this week.</p><p>The birthday celebration has capped off a rather bonkers marketing campaign, with Grimace taking over McDonald's social-media accounts to share selfies and tweet like a Gen Zer.</p><p>And the people love Grimace. Some TikTokers <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ugh_madison/video/7243861181629336875?embed_source=121352282%2C121351166%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_share&amp;refer=embed&amp;referer_url=www.polygon.com%2F23761120%2Fmcdonalds-grimace-shake-game-boy-birthday-pride-memes&amp;referer_video_id=7243861181629336875">donned insane cosplay to get the meal</a>, and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@spookyquill/video/7244000153852562731?embed_source=121352282%2C121351166%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&amp;refer=embed&amp;referer_url=www.polygon.com%2F23761120%2Fmcdonalds-grimace-shake-game-boy-birthday-pride-memes&amp;referer_video_id=7244000153852562731">one even got a tattoo in honor of the purple furry creature of indeterminate origin</a>.</p><p>Grimace has even been named a queer icon. Social-media users shared fan art of Grimace attending Pride events with the Hamburglar while wearing heels and a fluffy boa scarf.</p><p>A <a href="https://twitter.com/raspbearyart/status/1668689216635797504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1668689216635797504%7Ctwgr%5E23cbc7c5a9b4b77d2733ec16d461925729c96e82%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.polygon.com%2F23761120%2Fmcdonalds-grimace-shake-game-boy-birthday-pride-memes">"fierce lil freak,"</a> if you will.</p><h2>So what is Grimace anyway?</h2><p>Grimace wasn't always the bizarre furball we know and love.</p><p>In 1971, he was introduced as "Evil Grimace," a monster with four arms that stole milkshakes, <a href="https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/06/13/grimace-shake-what-is-grimace-happy-birthday-grimace/">according to the Washingtonian</a>.</p><p>He joined a roster of other McDonald's characters, such as the Hamburglar, Officer Big Mac, and Mayor McCheese.</p><p>Grimace's original design was too scary for children, so Grimace was rebooted, the Washingtonian reported. He became a goofy, fuzzy purple blob with a long line of family who all live on Grimace Island.</p><p>He's even got an Irish relative: <a href="https://mcdonalds.fandom.com/wiki/Uncle_O%27Grimacey">Uncle O'Grimacey</a>.</p><p>But even with all of this lore, it's unclear what exactly Grimace is. Is he an alien blob of fuzz? Is he a humanoid creature or a previously undiscovered species?</p><p>Some, like a McDonald's manager from Canada, say he's a tastebud, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-grimace-taste-bud-mcdonalds-manager-reveals-2021-9">Insider previously reported</a>.</p><p>In 2012, McDonald's tweeted that Grimace was "the embodiment of a milkshake, though others still insist he's a tastebud."</p><p>But perhaps he's both — or none of the above.</p><p>A spokesperson for McDonald's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-grimace-taste-bud-mcdonalds-manager-reveals-2021-9">previously told Insider</a> Grimace's identity was much more fluid than a tastebud or milkshake, saying: "The best part about Grimace is that he means different things to different people. Whatever he is, we're just proud our bestie makes people happy."</p><h2>The purple blob makes a comeback</h2><p>Grimace's Birthday Meal was released on June 12, supposedly Grimace's birthday. Yes, he's a Gemini.</p><p>The meal went viral for its inclusion of a purple-colored milkshake, which led to a host of questions: What's in the shake that makes it purple? Probably food dye, but you can't help but wonder if it's actually made of Grimace himself.</p><p>The internet has totally lost it over the promotional meal. One artist made a parody ad featuring a disgusting McGrimace sandwich made of actual Grimace meat.</p><p>Fanart of Grimace has flooded the internet.</p><p>Some said the Grimace shake had some sort of mystical power.</p><p>Others questioned why McDonald's most famous figure, Ronald McDonald, did not attend Grimace's birthday celebrations. Do they have beef?</p><p>To celebrate Grimace's birthday, McDonald's handed the purple being the keys to their social-media accounts, letting him tweet and post as he pleases.</p><p>It's resulted in some hilarious Grimace selfies.</p><p>The Grimace birthday celebrations have also come with a <a href="https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1669151737587040256?s=20">GameBoy Color video game</a>.</p><p>The vintage game follows Grimace skateboarding through McDonaldland searching for his friends and collecting purple milkshakes before his big birthday bash.</p><p>It can also be played on <a href="https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1669151737587040256?s=20">desktop</a>, too, because Grimace's birthday party is open to everyone.</p><p>McDonald's has also released a variety of <a href="https://goldenarchesunlimited.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grimace-inspired merch</a>, including T-shirts, socks, and a bucket hat, according to a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/youre-invited-mcdonalds-celebrates-grimaces-birthday-with-special-meal--shake-301842941.html">press release</a>.</p>

McDonald's brought back its iconic mascot Grimace for an unhinged marketing scheme that's taking the internet by storm

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>The organizers of Boston's Straight Pride parade, an anti-LGBTQ group called Super Happy Fun America, <a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/07/09/corporate-sponsors/">listed Netflix on its website</a> as a "prospective corporate sponsor" of the event, along with 24 other companies.</li><li>Netflix sent the straight pride organizers <a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/07/17/netflix-hates-the-straight/">a cease-and-desist letter,</a> ordering them to remove the company's logo from all materials associated with the event.</li><li>In the email to the parade's organizers, Netflix said: "Our legal department is here, it's queer, and it's telling you to steer clear."</li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>Netflix has declined to sponsor a Straight Pride parade <a href="https://www.insider.com/straight-pride-parade-boston-in-august-2019-6">taking place in Boston this August</a>, and told organizers <a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/07/17/netflix-hates-the-straight/">in a scathing email</a> that their planned event "is about hate-not pride."</p><p><a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/">Super Happy Fun America</a>, the anti-LGBTQ nonprofit organization behind the parade, recently posted <a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/07/09/corporate-sponsors/">a list of "prospective corporate sponsors"</a> for the parade to its website. The 25 companies in the list include several tech companies, including Netflix, Google, Twitter, Amazon, Facebook, Lyft, and Yelp. </p><p>The streaming service wrote in an email to Super Happy Fun America that the organization was not allowed to use Netflix's logo in any of its materials, and that it viewed doing so as "spreading misinformation about Netflix's involvement or sponsorship" of the parade.</p><p>"You should know that we're unafraid of bullies," Netflix wrote in the email, which parade organizers <a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/07/17/netflix-hates-the-straight/">posted on its website</a>. "Our legal department is here, it's queer, and it's telling you to steer clear."</p><p>Netflix has confirmed to Business Insider that the email posted on the organizers' website is legitimate. <span>In its email, Netflix threatened to take "further legal action" within 24 hours if the organizers did not stop using its trademarked logo and intellectual property "immediately."</span></p><p>In its blog post, Super Happy Fun America said that "<span>it is Netflix that is acting like a bully."</span></p><p><span>"We have every right to inform the public about our attempts to gain sponsors for our parade and their hate will not stop us," it said in its blog post.</span></p><p>News first spread at the beginning of June, also known as Pride Month, that <a href="https://www.insider.com/three-men-want-to-host-straight-pride-march-in-boston-2019-6">a group of men were trying to organize</a> a Straight Pride parade in Boston. The group <a href="https://www.insider.com/straight-pride-parade-boston-in-august-2019-6">has since secured a city permit</a> to <a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/parade/">hold the event on August 31</a>, with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australia-officially-bans-milo-yiannopoulos-after-comments-on-christchurch-shooting-2019-3">controversial</a> right-wing writer <a href="https://www.superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/06/07/milo-yiannopoulos-replaces-former-mascot/">Milo Yiannopoulos </a>acting as the parade's grand marshal and mascot.</p><p>Netflix's logo in the list has been crossed out from Super Happy Fun America's list of sponsors since the e-mail was apparently sent, but nonetheless <a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/07/09/corporate-sponsors/">still appears on the website</a>. At the time of publication, Tumblr was the only other other tech company whose logo has been crossed out on the list.</p>

'Our legal department is here, it's queer, and it's telling you to steer clear' - Netflix orders Boston's Straight Pride to stop listing it as a 'prospective corporate sponsor'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Grimace, the purple blobby McDonald's mascot, has ignited a recent storm of memes and fanfare.</li><li>People are now selling their 'vintage' Grimace T-shirts, toys, and other merchandise for high prices.</li></ul><p>Over the last few weeks, the McDonald's character Grimace — the beloved furry purple blob that made its debut in 1971 — has <a href="https://www.insider.com/grimace-mcdonalds-mascot-turned-queer-meme-icon-history-2023-6">taken over the modern internet</a> after the fast food chain released a signature purple milkshake for the mascot's birthday.</p><p>The shake has inspired a tsunami of <a href="https://www.insider.com/grimace-mcdonalds-mascot-turned-queer-meme-icon-history-2023-6">articles and memes</a> and become the center of a somewhat baffling viral trend involving people <a href="https://www.insider.com/mcdonalds-grimace-shake-tiktok-trend-genz-passed-out-random-spots-2023-6">pretending to pass out</a> after drinking it (the drink is <a href="https://www.insider.com/mcdonalds-grimace-milkshake-review-flavor-2023-6">completely safe to consume</a>, by the way).</p><p>The drink, and all of its fanfare, have also seemingly increased the value of older Grimace merchandise. Internet users on various marketplace websites, like eBay and Grailed, are selling Grimace-themed merch from the '80s and '90s for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.</p><p>On the fashion resale site Grailed, there are multiple Grimace shirts listed for <a href="https://www.grailed.com/listings/39613851-cactus-plant-flea-market-cactus-plant-flea-market-mcdonalds-grimace-tee-2xl?g_aidx=Listing_production&amp;g_aqid=9a2a8999269b0cd2220d094af17108db" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$200 or more. </a>One user listed <a href="https://www.grailed.com/listings/46794604-other-grimace-mcdonald-s-toy?g_aidx=Listing_production&amp;g_aqid=9a2a8999269b0cd2220d094af17108db" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Grimace happy meal toy</a>, which has four bulging eyeballs and a menacing smile, at $300.</p><p>Many of the more expensive items are described as "vintage," including <a href="https://www.grailed.com/listings/46711925-streetwear-x-vintage-vintage-90s-mcdonalds-grimace-pocket-tee-shirt-xxl-2xl" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">a white t-shirt</a> with a cap-wearing Grimace peeking out of the chest pocket. The description says it's from the 1990s.</p><p>eBay is also packed with sellers hawking Grimace apparel and toys to feed the milkshake mania. One user is offering a <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=9c72eaa8b4843fa47156a052f2c32d4153bebfec88b1e1d0c69e19fb68cb449e&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F314231401853%3Fhash%3Ditem4929a6ad7d%3Ag%3AL0YAAOSwRx1jcu24%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA4Ob84VYWGD8mZqRzr%252BNZ4O0UTcJL2quiRhxbhr2AeMGWeHPrcpU6zBH44pssDMkb0yq0HS7BsieXnYpMvvbR32n9Ynh%252B9uUKNlnm5s2UNipqNvtxBRhL2vxuMp44PA3iQj%252BtkbCLiR6OAY%252FPkCR77D3noLNtPrpANP1Dv3FYUSTT8SNHG5Wr4iBz9SVf6zKfDLkQR2GuX2lrhXYjh9N4gBq8Ra8REdOUbDPXmDTm23EacAhaH39bMu9AI8TNOPOpAljxD%252F2tton3f8cWEKVQHVNdw3QvrphBWtel9s6BfIKI%257Ctkp%253ABFBM9qad96Ri" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grimace party costume</a> for $257 (which has 44 people watching the bid, at least at the time of this writing).</p><p>In addition to clothing, eBay sellers are offering almost every kind of Grimace-themed paraphernalia imaginable: <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=1c2fb63e6d4cccfbd6c10b00daa2aa614fa397a8ff80dfd269cbd92b7ccf0f6f&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F334937127918%3Fhash%3Ditem4dfbcefbee%3Ag%3AerIAAOSwttlkpEvh%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA4NBiVuVWIFcXKuEtRZEUhWaO0%252F2eUVcVNX4lJfpBiAirlNOaciZBsq6KW15p0qGHxbhAxcfs10e6wHWhZjcvTjIEuexSJyPYxRN6aZwe3ZmsJQhe%252BbPH3NftepDRwU2RWzkYEW4UBpEXK%252Bl0yz%252FJ%252FB%252BsgewCGreOzR9ku9I36gU7We6fZq5%252FaafpwG2IeTkP0sqHSxPpbuhozqapvR8e%252BySpKmjqyuTkreC%252BeDRL8%252FgnJlW44XubssByTNfGqVBfBkmBKlM4pJLTIDagY0BQwT4ugXnwKBSMtOwwytA4VL%252Fg%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR-TexfukYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plush toys</a>, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=303639770a63f917362a520d38cecf6fde8549da270ab68ea1849b30dcca0e6d&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F225359585861%3Fhash%3Ditem34787a6245%3Ag%3AK50AAOSwpcljxzrD%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA4CSHIFvovlqOCHgsDsOYZ5lW3aH8aO5L0kIr5tbVvzf3ZXhu5xHS9ZF4M%252Fp5F7rwHd6zTTWvo3OEpU6awaVARcldLQIainSeAfhNxUMymCzw8h9v9sqxRmAk%252FxM0mkb1mWJFLw%252BljKKt7X6hmqnPj5H0WhFlCVjzMneEAkO3MUKAx1G3voFCbWADbSE%252F0H0ubPEqRDUw%252BBvkoJiM3dY0fKkcAxU1K1ek1w9bzH%252BMDaRkoOVk5Si%252FYzqeVAi7BtpHsz4No1cAu7BITsA3TVFvKUTPbM8Pb7L80xK%252BCHu9AKWj%257Ctkp%253ABFBM5sO7-6Ri" target="_blank" rel="noopener">soap dishes</a>, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=593578c71349ba549dc65050eb2debafb6674bc6d1ca3751934bbf3a99cf3cd2&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F304995816849%3Fhash%3Ditem47032ad591%3Ag%3AIcAAAOSwm1pklmta%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA4OJ7xcLbUY19fgF9q%252Bl5l5TE6dl%252BpSQ%252BqzEfVKukUMPg%252Bp65gq5N1ZoXt0kTv88SZrh5fajLfclBE2g3o2NI0nub3inYgFZtOheDiPXRstGpP5QByH%252F6dBogNUxjiS%252BPaPbvSNWHUXsWpYgUstAI7xy9y%252BKFAsPR1LswquebUtoDoZ6BiXCDEJCLuh1hL30N7wKmxWdaXeW2A%252BG0mimCMkbnLBexuyWZlozvWIbCCd88i7JOV6CL0u5sIeUvg7lLyaqAbd0CQlLSgVpCKni7i3uriEnPUFiCuTaOda4jlQNK%257Ctkp%253ABFBM4vDU-6Ri" target="_blank" rel="noopener">beanies</a>, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=76e918efc52128f8d290873c45ea3b2de9eb30ac81dea7ed1e0fffc306ba6de7&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F394708568189%3Fhash%3Ditem5be676c87d%3Ag%3AdAAAAOSw38lkkEPA%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA4ITVG9mHrevhYQkaImhSlxuLEfUl%252B6G0xAokm7oUu%252FbXuWmH9zc2yshLhEy2%252BUhf3FnsdjkwfAXPqyqeNGvHGF5J0bGFQYzpYS4lbyCkxo0NDCwwwJTI4lYnPMlToTJ7VV9%252BkvIa8cDB1BAT2ewrZPAJhBJQHD6nmKon3qgb1ennrqjZwCBcy66WGerejHI%252BGaQE2xbt2cTaBnz1KYtWRATNit7VSq%252BDh%252F3sR54W2ypzKi1qfrhjqnvMw7ybqhV2hEDJDgqn%252FjdSXg3mRLmNnv6dAfdpawCwPeGS21us1c%252F7%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR4CixfukYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">combs</a>, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=b1e6108431f53bc0c9c55f9864742f2e75f3eab8801a7b84f169b1882da53447&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F314690071060%3Fhash%3Ditem4944fd6a14%3Ag%3AbJcAAOSweAhkpO40%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA4DtpUcYMuksqnT4bQ7%252Bd4V1Q%252Fc%252Fui5PiHmYHgmgJa4cUzRCoF43g1T28TnXi4K0iVGb%252B5419YZ2EP5%252Fj4YsIulGOfZ%252B5gsb8VIYD%252Bn9vmkLKIRUDAfIhs8f9nSUKVqujknNm015rYU1%252FgtEuJ9Rv65zY1UOCcNwu2SNw0oomBr3gpNRj4sHzLHtxAP5Sf6B4QV67jyztaolkEchfvPlz2zgOE4qKCto1rLCyfYuX1OaLH9gmFRl3e3MrjyD77Fd%252BNKhuJ%252FwQcFz63Q14q8dSuZFsvAMu6CYJYCL3fGk3cFNP%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR-jexfukYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posters</a>, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=12a75e342bb7c9f3be70bacf25f1a40d32e1e761e58afd0332bb0185cbe21cc2&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F225646666138%3Fhash%3Ditem348996e19a%3Ag%3AT7UAAOSwI6Nklax2%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA4HFdBwHsDTOXaBPK8UmNWv2jaJlnRTPI%252Fv%252BaG2a3NTUi7qf1f1MWvPW0wdiqO4c10lXdqKvEwMpqyzxiRUanRn1xwDfbJjOdowIFaqRDPaWIwnd2twB0Y%252FZ84d90XX%252BKr1tCCgZEaycJZeNxdtIBrVXGLqNa3hNYzaNnlu9uIYGivPcSPqI4VlF8mgJwhRFkCRSqXKTlF%252BvuLvJRhqD3CgTdZH2nSAIurdE3FU12yHUGI9fQ4hw8c16XaVS%252B6kBgogPPN9hBhk6zfy9aLskIVWflIVlNmTXgz6%252BtCLPHXbpv%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR-jexfukYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">penances,</a> and <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=d06d90a64e2ec57a26ccdbb6803bd35e77228d6eeae0d43092d5bff5390cff52&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F115793040752%3Fhash%3Ditem1af5cd9570%3Ag%3Ai~EAAOSw4DRkUpsa%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA4Ej0pArsTmJiCWOp13DS0sSaRBO5vfNFpGFUYb77IHgxRgNf1YZu2vFpd65bHpYrCcpTC7%252BP1o3W4UvMUoM0Ak1rczIyPZ0oYXrI3Wo7JhFnJCkFA%252B%252FTkelnW9YB%252BIvDoaMalDcz2s8EicW0AjrY%252FkH%252FYQTgvm9IR6G4yrtF1T79ggt65vBldjoLXVGvuEDuhPQBtUvxE3Gtbcz1pGbhVG%252FxKjkBRgZmssTa9SHidbOSii1DM18s%252B0%252FnZ%252BY8V1g9bkxSqG4NSG6OtGz1%252BGKbBHaL1aur%252FwKd8moBshmHZfwB%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR7CN0PukYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pool floats</a>. There's even a backyard installment that the seller is calling a<a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=183abcff80dba68d183234ba3bbb12bd786b3cf1ed1670716254713e8e20686c&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F393438288604%3Fhash%3Ditem5b9abfdadc%3Ag%3Agj8AAOSwU95g68oV%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA4PcKlh48EDL9gIH9vbwmZa8YC9uISbK75hUqykbCfVxsV4e8lytYyk7ourt%252BcEmSKrPbTMlh%252FbZMVXQDElGQS74SWG06%252BxgoohLtSc68W8m1Z4wXuhpCtNDqHrRa4gMPtchXN9Y4gh7qw3EgG202xE03IzaTKwY4PvMfU5Dniyh1%252FjKc28tz%252BAtuygJPDMxpY7IOKkUpTflcPvSm8NF8tbuE27k%252BugJPb%252B1x5afi6knGLI2zk3dppbyYJ0X6BX70Z2DajuYFaHf%252FpetMmAd8%252B5v%252FxTmeUjN4iDTRbNbjsvUK%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR_imnfekYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> "Grimace bounce house"</a> on sale for $3,000.</p><p>There have already been some big sales on the platform. On Tuesday, a vintage Grimace stuffed animal was <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=2252850886e2a5f6c6464166d88fad44a9611fcf5c72141d12864d9525ab7468&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F266311654797%3Fhash%3Ditem3e01695d8d%253Ag%253AGJkAAOSw-h5kl6tn%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAA0M%252BihZlPw4vw2BGnVRYOZAopdlzLYgZdOamjiLc%252Fv6gXvt4gOEQUnlZfCPYxfL%252BCbAbotJOqCDEhpTDxIw6pY2h3lJrWrVT6JGeJP%252BiRUbRtzTPuwPhZlmYpuQUSrGKDaNeosvOqJON%252Fy%252B5ul4252mcZ2EU8tD1YsQ0YWAcoMyEoiBlPMgtsDkw16yiP7CpXN9JWhogfTlPv7OjpBWIR3vKtcTcVNrGvOOAp3E4o0FSN9%252FdcMx9qFzv8gaMJkYvaQ8Lm4BDrZ%252FWn5lU5HSJH3NU%253D%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR8LP1fekYg%26nma%3Dtrue%26si%3DLxxnumU2B8ZpKrKp%25252BXo2jA0lTSg%25253D%26orig_cvip%3Dtrue%26nordt%3Dtrue%26rt%3Dnc%26_trksid%3Dp2047675.l2557" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sold for $720</a> after 123 bids were placed. <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=48c554c30d954efcd8b22b9a9dc61c382a13023b39d9849753dc63f18d696c04&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F185952941546%3Fhash%3Ditem2b4ba8b5ea%3Ag%3A1aEAAOSwpO9kGfUD%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAAwNYbMzT1YRq8AV2feY%252Bj0LebqFt1vU4dkqycMJ75r65Ccr0cHvD1ll98dN2NQZWyw%252BdPZXo6hAjCFjUicN0DdpPDlC7wW0G7tiBNLrP%252BMXwwwxCgew%252BNNO%252BKi9Fo1be2YFgv%252B7e%252BySzvdn%252BT2AafsH2tHX1UuQ75c92tQkG7Eo6PnQW8%252FqBmgNd9JgyDzH%252FYllnLNBmdd%252FNiMkGmcE%252Bq%252B0cuSyldGq%252Fu%252FWIylyMsFEdtcTBFFUbZENoSnV%252BIGfJmyw%253D%253D%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR5DN5PekYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Grimace chair</a> was sold for $1,000 in mid-June, while a bundle for <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=1dfdffe583e5b72415f8b9df0e2c067265c6f861b1b3057030426dbe3f75c5a4&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F155629351778%3Fhash%3Ditem243c3b7362%3Ag%3Aw3EAAOSwN4NkmOjf%26amdata%5B%E2%80%A6%5DabeVr9didEUUdg9GDBju5zqegeNhyH5lQ%253D%253D%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR677zPykYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a bag and some stickers</a> sold for $115.</p><p>The hype and jokes surrounding the mascot have become so potent that people are even listing merchandise to troll. </p><p><a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=c9701c60e39d40c11a0fc93cc47c794fdf14781d37f3bd7554e27c27b2da9eaf&amp;postID=64a5c4e8d81c4d5b975def23&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F394706679197%3Fhash%3Ditem5be659f59d%3Ag%3Ah6EAAOSwLQlkm6fW%26amdata%3Denc%253AAQAIAAAAwEHnSjdU%252FrcjC2Y9AKp9aG46Jz%252BRwa2e9o%252FW%252B7bjix%252FpGtSJjY6TLj%252B8z02PL5Q9kngL3p4P1ZZpa4iaiHdsDkpFbEsa7rCjEdXbswZHpLS0vG0sCiA1JojVL3LL97OpyCyyF75DBknBonW7dPlIJj7wtcOzcC5fCtzpRNq7pKZa7AKdmOJCxRXSYV%252FIaVU1Dr9vX3v9DKJvkAiHEUw2Md%252Bo0say55KWDg%252BR%252FkW8vFw7yjOVLdOb3ZBSFDLQq%252BwaoA%253D%253D%257Ctkp%253ABk9SR_amnfekYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One user priced</a> a cup of already consumed Grimace birthday milkshake for $6,969 ("Condition: Used," the page says). </p> <p>Grimace fandom in 2023 is reaching a fever pitch. The hashtag "GrimaceShake" has amassed over 1.8 billion total views on TikTok. While he was originally marketed as a Grinch-like character known as "Evil Grimace," mostly for a shtick that he steals other peoples' milkshakes, he's undergone a complete reputation overhaul on social media. Over the last decade, the fast food giant has slowly and strategically <a href="https://www.insider.com/grimace-mcdonalds-mascot-turned-queer-meme-icon-history-2023-6">revamped Grimace's personality</a> to be friendlier and goofier. </p><p>Today, he's idolized as a <a href="https://www.insider.com/grimace-mcdonalds-mascot-turned-queer-meme-icon-history-2023-6">queer icon</a>.</p><p>Whether you're a superfan or have been super confused, there is now literal value to the craze.</p><p>In one <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@whiteboyhabibi/video/7251467405350702379?_r=1&amp;_t=8dkADMot2Xz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">viral TikTok clip</a> from Monday, a McDonald's drive-thru customer filmed himself paying an employee $15 for the Grimace-themed shirt he was wearing. "This boutta start a bidding war on grimace shirts, " wrote a top comment with 20,000 likes.</p>

Amid the recent Grimace hype and memes, people are now selling 'vintage' McDonald's merchandise, like T-shirts and toys, for hundreds and thousands of dollars

<ul class="summary-list"><li>When I enrolled at Dartmouth, I drank most nights of the week and attended frat parties.</li><li>I didn't know I had a problem because college party culture normalized over-drinking.</li></ul><p>When I attended my <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/incoming-harvard-university-freshman-tuition-financial-aid-2023-8"><u>freshman orientation</u></a> at Dartmouth in 2007, I met Keggy for the first time. Portly, gregarious, and prone to spontaneous dancing, he was both an outsize presence and a perfect distillation of our school spirit. His name was Keggy the Keg because he was a life-size, well, beer keg, and he was Dartmouth College's unofficial mascot. In addition to being ever-so-slightly on the nose for an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-freshman-what-my-first-day-of-classes-was-like-2023-9"><u>undergraduate program</u></a>, he was also a sign of things to come for me.</p><p>Don't get me wrong: I had many great college experiences. I met some wonderful friends and professors and uncovered a treasure trove of courses and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dont-join-extracurriculars-just-to-buff-up-college-application-2023-9"><u>extracurricular activities</u></a>. It's where I discovered an affinity for creative writing; my school even launched me into a journalism grad program and a modest writing career.</p><p>That said, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/university-of-alabama-rush-experience-miserable-2023-8"><u>fraternities</u></a> monopolized our social lives. And we were horny, high-achieving 18-year-olds with pressure — both familial and otherwise — on our shoulders. We were also raised on movies like "Revenge of the Nerds," "Old School," and "Van Wilder," which taught us to view college as a never-ending party.</p><p>Ultimately, all of these factors — like bolts of lightning in a plasma ball — collided quietly. The result was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/how-i-answer-the-question-why-arent-you-drinking-2023-1"><u>my drinking problem</u></a> went unnoticed — even by me.</p><h2><strong>American college culture sent me over the edge</strong></h2><p>I was already struggling mentally when I received my college-admissions letter. An anxious, hardworking gay teen coming from a conservative, often homophobic city with a depressing lack of fellow queers, I was not just high-strung, but emotionally repressed and starving for release.</p><p>After my first few blackouts during my first semester, I became more interested in drinking than in investing in my future. I joined a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/bama-rush-university-alabama-sorority-racism-segregation-discrimination-history-2023-8"><u>co-ed fraternity</u></a>. I embraced the accepted college-age persona of being an avid drinker. Ever the high achiever, I even augmented my weekend drinking schedule by partying on weekdays, effectively turning my drinking into an extracurricular activity. One of my crowning achievements was being selected to represent my co-ed society at a campus-wide beer-pong tournament.</p><h2><strong>No one offered help because what I was doing was considered normal</strong></h2><p>I never — not once — considered myself an alcoholic. Since we were in college, "blacking out a lot" passed as a personality. As long as I was following conventional binge-drinking practices (don't drink alone, don't respond to emails drunk, don't get caught by the police), I never seemed to attract unwanted attention.</p><p>One time, to avoid being caught by the cops stumbling down Frat Row, I dropped to the ground and started making snow angels. My friends laughed and laughed.</p><p>In the end, only one person ever called me an alcoholic during my entire time in school, and she was only joking.</p><h2><strong>The real problems arose after I graduated</strong></h2><p>While my drinking adventures, and subsequent academic delinquency, led me into deep sadness, I always rebounded. Protected from the real world by our college bubble, I never connected the dots and traced my mental unwellness <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/facing-back-to-school-when-your-kid-may-not-make-it-back-to-school-2023-8"><u>back to alcohol</u></a>.</p><p>But when I had to enter the job market beset with mounting <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stop-blaming-me-for-student-loan-debt-2023-9">student-loan debt</a> and a lack of direction, I realized some things. My drinking habits didn't subside and without the college-party context, my drinking problem became all too apparent.</p><p>Unhappy and unmoored, I spent my first years of adulthood in a state of perpetual disappointment.</p><p>I quit drinking three times before finally making it stick in my late 20s. I'm now six years sober.</p><p>Still, I can't help thinking that I might have been better off taking a gap year before college. Then I could have gone to therapy, or, at least, watched some less positive movies about Greek life. If I'd seen the dismal slasher flick "Sorority Row" before matriculating, then maybe I wouldn't have been so eager to play beer pong.</p><p><em>Editor's Note: Jana Barnello, a media-relations strategist at Dartmouth, added the following comment:</em></p><p><em>"At Dartmouth, the health and safety of our community is of paramount importance. We are committed to working with Greek organizations to ensure a culture of accountability, inclusivity, and safety. We hold all student organizations at Dartmouth to a high standard of conduct and accountability with the expectation that they will contribute to a respectful and inclusive environment, help to shape the leaders of the future, and elevate — not denigrate — the Dartmouth experience.</em></p><p><em>"In 2011, the Dartmouth Health Service primary-care clinic began universal screening for high-risk drinking and since 2015, hard alcohol has been banned on campus, which includes Greek spaces. These changes, among other </em><a target="_blank" href="https://students.dartmouth.edu/wellness-center/prevention-education/alcohol-other-drugs"><em>substance use reduction initiatives and programs</em></a><em> — such as the mandatory first-year student online alcohol education class — are ongoing commitments to prioritizing student health and well-being."</em></p>

I thought drinking until I blacked out most nights was normal. College drinking culture masked my alcoholism.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="33542" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Burger-King">Burger King</keyword> <keyword id="6374076" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="finland">Finland</keyword> launched a marketing campaign featuring Ronald McDonald and the <keyword id="6433444" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="burger">Burger</keyword> King kissing.</li><li>The <keyword id="41941" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="fast-food">fast food</keyword> chain unveiled the posters last week for Helsinki <keyword id="6534458" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Pride">Pride</keyword>.</li><li>This isn't the first time Burger King has used its rival in adverting campaigns. In 2018, customers could get a Whopper for just $0.01 – if they went within 600 feet of a <keyword id="6378093" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mcdonalds">McDonald's</keyword>.</li><li>Despite the new campaign, Burger King has come under fire this year for LGBTQ discrimination. </li></ul><p>Burger King last week unveiled a poster ahead of Finland's Pride celebrations — and passers-by may have been startled to see it bearing the mascot of its biggest rival, McDonalds. </p><p>Posters and billboard signs throughout Finland featured the Burger King, the chain's mascot, kissing Ronald McDonald. Together, their heads form a heart shape next to the name of the artwork, "Love Conquers All."</p><div type="image" title="Burger King McDonald's advert" height="375" width="500" msid="78137246" hostid="261"></div><p>Burger King launched the campaign as the sponsor of Helsinki Pride Week, which the country pushed back from June to September because of the pandemic.</p><p>"Burger King has always stood for equality, love and everyone's right to be just the way they are," Kaisa Kasila, Burger King Finland's brand manager, said in a release. "We thought, what better way to convey our values than by portraying an all-encompassing kiss between Burger King and McDonald?"</p><p>This isn't the first time Burger King has used its rival in marketing campaigns. </p><p>In December 2018, Burger King promoted its revamped app by launching a deal where customers could get a Whopper for just $0.01 – <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-debuts-mcdonalds-whopper-deal-2018-12">if they went within 600 feet of a McDonald's</a>. And this July, Burger King Finland offered customers free delivery if they ordered their <keyword id="6181" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Food">food</keyword> to a McDonald's restaurant – and placed adverts for this outside McDonald's restaurants.</p><p>Though Burger King's chief marketing officer dismissed claims that it targeted the golden arches, in February the burger chain launched adverts <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-debuts-mcdonalds-whopper-deal-2018-12">featuring a moldy Whopper</a> to show that it contains no artificial preservatives. Social media users were quick to compare this to the long shelf life of McDonalds' food  – a McDonald's hamburger and fries have remained on display in Iceland since its last restaurant in the country closed in 2009, and are still mold-free more than 10 years later.</p><p>Earlier this year, Burger King in Mexico temporarily renamed itself <a href="https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/06/burger-king-changes-logo-burger-queer-honor-pride-month/">Burger Queer</a> on social media for the country's Pride. In 2014 one store also sold a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-kings-gay-pride-whopper-2014-7">limited edition "Proud" Whopper</a> to celebrate San Francisco Pride – though hundreds of people criticized the move on social media and vowed to boycott the chain.</p><p>Despite these moves, Burger King has come under fire this year for LGBTQ discrimination. </p><p>A transgender Burger King employee in California died from COVID-19 in July after working at the restaurant with severe symptoms, and colleagues say management blamed her death on <a href="https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/07/burger-king-workers-strike-trans-employee-dies-covid-bk-blamed-hormones-death/">"injecting hormones."</a> Employees at the store went on strike, with one filed a complaint saying that "Burger King blamed her sexuality instead of COVID-19 as the cause of her death."</p><p>In February, a Burger King employee <a href="https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/02/lesbian-sues-burger-king-harassment-like-asking-man-relationship/">filed a discrimination complaint against a store</a> in Washington, D.C., claiming her manager repeatedly harassed her because of her sexual orientation. This led to her developing severe mental health problems after the issue continued even after she formally reported it to the Burger King district manager.</p>

Burger King and Ronald McDonald kiss in a new ad to celebrate Helsinki Pride

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Drew Angerer/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Milo Yiannopoulos, an alt-right figure who will act as the Straight Pride parade's grand marshal and mascot.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/facebook">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/google">Google</a>, and 22 other companies <a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/07/09/corporate-sponsors/">are listed as "prospective corporate sponsors"</a> for a Straight Pride parade taking place next month in Boston.</li><li>More than 15 of the companies contacted by Business Insider say they do not plan to sponsor the parade, and some say the organizers never reached out to them in the first place.</li><li>Here is what each of the companies on the website say about sponsoring the event, and any connection to the Straight Pride parade.</li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>At least 16 companies <a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/07/09/corporate-sponsors/">listed as "prospective corporate sponsors"</a> for a planned Straight Pride Parade in Boston say they have no plans to sponsor or participate in the August event.</p><p><a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/">Super Happy Fun America</a><span>, the anti-LGBTQ nonprofit organization behind the parade, recently posted </span><a href="http://superhappyfunamerica.com/2019/07/09/corporate-sponsors/">a list of "prospective corporate sponsors"</a><span> for the parade to its website. The 25 companies in the list include several tech companies, including Netflix, Google, Twitter, Amazon, Facebook, Lyft, and Yelp.</span></p><p><span>Six of the companies on the sponsorship list have already contacted the organizers and had their names crossed out on the website. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-straight-pride-parade-corporate-sponsor-email-lgbtq-2019-7">Netflix recently wrote a scathing cease-and-desist letter</a> to Super Happy Fun America, telling the organizers that the streaming service's legal department "is here, it's queer, and it's telling you to steer clear."</span></p><p><span>Business Insider reached out to the remaining 19 companies listed, and many of them told us they have no plans to participate in or sponsor the event. </span><span> </span><span>Some of the companies told Business Insider they've sent cease-and-desist letters to the organizers for using their names and logos on the Straight Pride website.</span></p><p><span>Furthermore, some said they were never contacted by the organizers in the first place about potential sponsorship. However, Super Happy Fun America president John Hugo told Business Insider that claim is "absurd" and "absolutely a lie."</span></p><p><span>"</span>That's a lie, we sent them all emails," Hugo said. "We are not anti-gay. We are pro-straight, there's a big difference."</p><p><strong>Here's what each of the 25 companies listed as "prospective corporate sponsors"  have to say about their inclusion on the Straight Pride Parade's website:</strong></p> <p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=amazon&amp;itm_campaign=40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019"></a></p>

15 of the 25 'prospective corporate sponsors' of the Straight Pride parade are joining Netflix in refusing involvement, and some are threatening legal action

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Frog content has been gaining popularity online recently, with platforms like <keyword id="279713" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tumblr">Tumblr</keyword> and <keyword id="334157" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reddit">Reddit</keyword> reporting increases in frog-related searches and traffic on the platform. </li><li><keyword id="6536559" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="frogs">Frogs</keyword> have a long history online, and famous frogs like Pepe, Kermit, or "dat boi" have gone through relentless meme cycles.</li><li>Now, however, frog content is generally wholesome and in many cases, has queer undercurrents. </li><li>People like frogs and engage with frog content for a variety of reasons, but ultimately the infatuation doesn't have to be deep.</li></ul><p>I became hooked on frogs when a particular frog video landed on my Twitter feed sometime last fall. Wholesome, filled with warm light, and set to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IljKQ1BdHKI">"Great Fairy Fountain" track</a> from the "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" soundtrack, it's main draw was footage of two different frogs just chilling, sitting like humans on benches. At one point, someone shook the frog's hand.</p><p>I couldn't look away.</p><p>Little did I know at the time, this frog video was only the beginning of what would become a surplus of frog content on all of my social media feeds, from Twitter to Tumblr to Instagram to TikTok. Suddenly, it felt like frogs were everywhere — <a href="https://twitter.com/albuspottrs/status/1264504377731174401?s=20">wearing cute cowboy hats</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/maobaby/status/1265083448131190789?s=20">printed onto pastel hoodies</a>, and <a href="https://vm.tiktok.com/JedrMfP/">softly attempting to eat human thumbs</a>. Viral frog videos and <a href="https://twitter.com/kristamruppert/status/1261047329790066689?s=20">ambitious baking challenges like frog bread</a> were suddenly dominating my feed.</p> <h2>My own media diet was starting to skew amphibian, but I'm not the only one.</h2><p>In the world of TikTok's FYP algorithm, which serves you distinctly similar content with alarming frequency as you like and follow, falling into a personal frog filter bubble wouldn't be much of a surprise. But multiple platforms confirmed to Insider that frogs, indeed, are seeing a sort of resurgence.</p><p>Tumblr data, provided to Insider, shows an increase in interest in frog content across the platform over the past several months. As of late May, The #Frogcore tag had seen a 220% increase over a period of three months (compared to the preceding three) and the #Froggie tag saw a 567% increase in original posts in the same time frame. Other tags like #Frogblr saw similar jumps.</p><p>The phenomenon isn't just limited to Tumblr. In Reddit's r/frogs community, posts from March 1 to May 1 more than doubled compared to that same time period in 2019. Google search data shows spikes in frog content related to specific <keyword id="1605152" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Memes">memes</keyword>, with searches for things like "baby yoda eating frog gif" and "froggy chair," a legendary piece of "Animal Crossing" furniture, spiking 200% and 4,300% in 2020, respectively, in the United States. On Facebook, groups like "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/frogspotting/?fref=nf">Frogspotting</a>" have thousands of members. On Twitter, frog photos can rack up hundreds of thousands of likes.</p><p>Frog content has become a relatively prolific subgenre online, even aside from legendary frog memes and characters like Pepe the Frog or Kermit. Today, "Frog Content" tends to feature real frogs, cute illustrations, queer-positive content, and plenty of funny sh-tposts. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/style/elite-tiktok.html">As The New York Times' Taylor Lorenz pointed out</a>, they're also a facet of content on "elite TikTok." </p><p>The fairly recent uptick in frog obsession means that frogs' role in meme <keyword id="24504" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="culture">culture</keyword> has shifted from one-off character-based memes to an overwhelming wave of frog ephemera collected in Tumblr tags, Instagram meme pages, and the TikTok For You Pages of frog lovers. And just like the memes that preceded the explosion of frog content online, the answer to why people love it seems to be simple: frogs are just vibing.</p><h2><strong>Frogs have a storied meme history.</strong></h2><p>This, of course, isn't the first time that frogs have been in the limelight. In fact, they have a rather extensive history, appearing in some of the century's most prevalent, contentious, and pure memes. </p><a href="https://j4xxx.tumblr.com/post/150357654639/then-i-saw-three-impure-spirits-that-looked-like">https://j4xxx.tumblr.com/post/150357654639/then-i-saw-three-impure-spirits-that-looked-like</a>  <p>Pepe is one of the first memes that I (an old zoomer) remember seeing and actually <em>recognizing</em> as a meme. Originally from cartoonist Matt Furie's "Boy's Club," the frog was one of the OG memes of the online age, proliferating across 4chan and in turn, the internet, beginning in 2008. As the frog became more popular in the early 2010s, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/what-is-the-market-value-of-a-rare-pepe#.tcYrVM2b5">early adopters peeved about the meme's proliferation in normie spaces and began to collect "rare Pepes,"</a> trading them like clandestine art. That was, of course, before Pepe was <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/its-not-easy-being-green/499892/">adopted as an alt-right and</a> deemed a <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/pepe-the-frog">hate symbol by the ADL</a>, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/8/15577340/pepe-the-frog-is-dead-matt-furie">killed by his creator</a>, and eventually <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pepe-frog-meme-hate-symbol-hope-hong-kong-protesters-2019-10">repurposed by Hong Kong protesters as a symbol of hope</a>.</p><p>Pepe is far from the only famous frog online, though — Kermit memes are just as ubiquitous, from the judgmental <a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/what-is-the-kermit-sipping-tea-meme-a-history-of-this-muppets-shade-69015">"Kermit sipping tea" meme</a> to the <a href="https://www.mic.com/articles/160737/evil-kermit-meme-origin-how-hooded-kermit-came-to-dominate-social-media">"dark Kermit" meme</a> that was inescapable in 2016. Beloved by the masses, Kermit memes are a universal language to the fact that they feature a beloved mascot.</p><p>"Dat boi," the unicycling frog, feels more like the frog content that's become popular in recent months. "Here come dat boi" — and the customary greeting, "o sh-t waddup!" — is pure wholesome sh-tposting (posting memes in an ironic way or to troll). While the <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/05/dat-boi-frog-unicycle-3d-animation.html">meme originated from Animation Factory</a>, a site full of wacky animated GIFs, it spread in a way that gave little nod to its roots at first. "Dat boi" seemingly arrived on his unicycle out of thin air as perhaps the most surreal frog meme yet, spurring a variety of parodies and spoofs like the short song below.</p><p>Amanda Brennan, Tumblr's Head of Content Insights and Social, told Insider that she thinks frogs keep showing up in meme culture because they're "weird in a cute way," but also because they give the impression of existing on their own terms and aren't typically thought of as either predator or prey. That makes them prime meme subjects.</p><h2><strong>Most frog content nowadays is pretty wholesome.</strong></h2><p>These days, though, most frog content skews wholesome, even when it's veers into sh-tpost territory.</p><p>Brennan told Insider that some of the most prominent types of Frog content that Tumblr staff have observed are images of real frogs like photographs or drawings as well as cute art. Recently, "Animal Crossing" fandom has played a part in frog content on the platform, whether it's through<a href="https://pandagyoza.tumblr.com/post/179355066626/animal-crossing-froggos"> infatuation with frog villagers</a> or the seemingly ubiquitous "froggy chair."</p><a href="https://dizzolving.tumblr.com/post/190055810463/hahaha-jk-unless">https://dizzolving.tumblr.com/post/190055810463/hahaha-jk-unless</a>  <p>Brennan said that she sees "frogcore" — a term referring to a frog-focused aesthetic — as lying at the intersection of the <a href="https://www.insider.com/cottagecore-isolation-aesthetic-tumblr-explained-social-distancing-2020-4">utopic cottagecore aesthetic</a> and the down-and-dirty goblincore. Posts like the "gotta blast" frog (below) encapsulate both the cute and the sh-tpost-y. Per Tumblr data, that post, in particular, caused a spike in frog interest on the platform on May 23 after it went viral.</p><a href="https://fliesandlilypads.tumblr.com/post/613413547270078464/gotta-blast">https://fliesandlilypads.tumblr.com/post/613413547270078464/gotta-blast</a>  <p>20-year-old Maya Strick, who runs the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/froggiefaerie/">frog-focused Instagram account @froggiefaerie</a>, told Insider that her love for frogs comes out of a childhood spent growing up in the Ozarks, a drive to appreciate the small things in life, and her own environmentalist beliefs. "I believe that every little creature deserves a chance at life, and that life is beautiful," she said. "With my therapist, we've talked about appreciating the little things because you don't get big joy very often… I guess frogs were a way to do that."</p><p>Strick said that one of the things she loves about running @froggiefaerie is the ability to help bring positivity to other people as well as boost artists and content creators. "People have messaged me, especially through this whole quarantine stuff, about how they've been having a really hard time with their mental health and that it just brings them joy and something to look forward to," she said. "If I can help somebody, it really makes my day."</p><h2><strong>Long-standing frog blogs have been a central hub for those who love frog content.</strong></h2><p>Both Brennan and Strick pointed to long-standing frog blogs as a source of inspiration that provided a deep well of frog content online. Both brought up one specific blog, <a href="https://stickyfrogs.tumblr.com/">Stickyfrogs</a>, which provides regular updates on a Melbourne, Australia-based family of frogs. Trish, who runs the blog and asked not to use her last name, told Insider that she decided to start the Stickyfrogs Tumblr blog when she got the frogs — who have names like Voigt, Gumby, Tiny, and Jens — as juveniles so that she could document their growth.</p><p>In the seven-plus years since the <a href="https://stickyfrogs.tumblr.com/archive/2012/9">earliest public posts on the Stickyfrogs blog in September 2012</a>, the Stickyfrogs have gained a sizeable cross-platform following, with over 14,000 followers on <a href="https://twitter.com/stickyfrogs">Twitter</a>, over 40,000 on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stickyfrogs/">Instagram</a>, and over 5,600 subscribers on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGgIHSsjxHER0CMp2KSrSjA">YouTube</a>. Trish said that since the blog began, she and the Stickyfrogs have been able to meet frog enthusiasts from around the world and participate in conservancy and research efforts, using the platform to highlight projects like <a href="https://www.frogid.net.au/">FrogID</a>, an Australian national frog count. </p><p>What's unique about the Stickyfrogs blog, however, is its distinct voice and fans' attachment to the frogs themselves. Posts showcase a rotating cast of frogs going about their daily lives, as documented by Trish, with certain nouns and actions capitalized. "I think I just noticed over time that they have certain behaviors that they often do (Tall, Manners etc)," she told Insider. "So I decided to make them official!"</p><a href="https://stickyfrogs.tumblr.com/post/621377558034989056/always-bite-in-the-general-direction-of-your">https://stickyfrogs.tumblr.com/post/621377558034989056/always-bite-in-the-general-direction-of-your</a>  <p>"I think that there's been kind of an interest in seeing how people live their lives," Brennan said of the frog blogging community. "They're stuck at home and there are so many frog bloggers… people are able to dive into learning what other people's lives are like and what it's like to own a frog."</p><h2>Frog content also significantly intersects with LGBTQ spaces online.</h2><p>One of the most prominent undercurrents connecting frog content together is the fact that it seems to resonate with queer people. </p><a href="https://teathattast.tumblr.com/post/190277296295/love-wins">https://teathattast.tumblr.com/post/190277296295/love-wins</a>  <p>It's difficult to pin down exactly why, but the idea of gay frogs isn't new. In 2017, noted conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, famous for the false claim that the Sandy Hook shooting was a false flag operation, went viral after <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/alex-jones-5-most-disturbing-ridiculous-conspiracy-theories.html">claiming that the government was putting chemicals in the water that would "turn the friggin' frogs gay."</a> His idea was certainly based in homophobia, but for many, gay frogs sounded like a great idea, and the phrase has continued to show up in <a href="https://stilesisbiles.tumblr.com/post/616686581050408960/gay-froooooogs">post captions</a> or even <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/i/canvas-print/Turning-The-Friggin-Frogs-Gay-by-StickersByFrogs/44125824.5Y5V7">cute merch</a>. </p><p>When I asked Maya about why she thinks queer people are into frogs, she brought up the heternormative conceptualization of the American family: a mom, dad, a couple of kids, and a golden retriever. Frogs lay outside of that framework as a kind of alternate companion, allowing for self-expression.</p><p>"It definitely feels like there's safety in the frog," Brennan said, telling Insider that she's noticed a queer undercurrent in frog content on Tumblr. "Frog does its thing, and frog's being left alone, and it's a thing people wish they could have as well." </p><p>Now, frogs have been incorporated into a queer online subculture that thrives on social media in <a href="https://mashable.com/article/alt-tiktok-straight-tiktok-queer-punk/">places like "Alt TikTok"</a> and Tumblr. As a meme, the idea that frogs and queerness are intertwined seems to have taken root.</p><h2><strong>Ultimately, many people like frogs for simple reasons.</strong></h2><p>Like the pure simplicity of "dat boi," frog content doesn't necessarily have to have a deeper meaning. Frogs are just cool. They're cute in a kind of funky way, and provide an alternative to "<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/rise-of-doggo/">doggo</a>"-focused pet content online. <a href="https://twitter.com/KeezyBees/status/1129473671855108096?s=20">Drawing them is fun.</a> Perhaps most importantly, frogs don't have to be doing anything for people to love and meme them.</p><p>"Frogs are just vibing, and people just want to vibe right now," Brennan said.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/cottagecore-isolation-aesthetic-tumblr-explained-social-distancing-2020-4">People online are flocking to 'cottagecore,' an online aesthetic that idealizes agricultural life, to calm their hyper-stimulated nerves</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/frog-fun-facts-frogs-tongues-faster-than-fighter-jet-2019-3">Frog tongues are 6 times faster than a fighter jet. Here are 9 more reasons frogs are secretly incredible.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/romeo-worlds-loneliest-frog-has-finally-found-juliet-2019-1">Romeo, the 'world's loneliest frog,' has finally found his Juliet after 10 long years</a></li></ul>

Frogs are in an internet golden age — how the animals once grouped with an online 'hate symbol' turned wholesome

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>"I Love you Colonel Sanders: A Finger Licking Good Dating Simulator" is a free video game created by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/kfc">KFC</a> and Psyop.</strong></li><li><strong>The game is a parody of Japanese dating simulators and light novel games - text-based adventures with multiple storylines and different endings.</strong></li><li><strong>It's a shameless marketing stunt from KFC, but it can't hurt you any more than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kfc-testing-fried-chicken-sandwich-between-two-glazed-donuts-2019-9">KFC's new fried chicken and glazed donuts menu.</a></strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></strong></li></ul><p>Two weeks ago KFC stunned video game fans by announcing a brand new game starring the company's mascot, Colonel Sanders. Things got even weirder when the game was revealed to be a dating simulator with Colonel Sanders as the prized companion.</p><p>I'm still shocked to confirm to you that "I Love You Colonel Sanders: A Finger Licking Good Dating Simulator" is a real video game, and you can <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colonel_Sanders_A_Finger_Lickin_Good_Dating_Simulator/">now play it for free on your PC or Mac.</a></p><p>In "I Love You Colonel Sanders," players enroll in a cooking class alongside Colonel Sanders and try to win his heart with cooking expertise and clever conversation. KFC's game is a parody of traditional dating sim games - these text-based adventures are popular in Japan and usually let the player pursue a partner from a collection of males or females. Players are faced with a series of conversation choices as they try to romance the character of their choosing.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><p>Unsurprisingly, all of your attention in KFC's game is dedicated to the Colonel, but the formula remains the same. You'll have to talk your way through three days at the cooking school with the Colonel and a colorful cast of characters, and at the end you'll find out if you managed to win the Colonel's love. The game takes about an hour to complete, but you can replay it to see new endings and slightly different story routes.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kfc-testing-fried-chicken-sandwich-between-two-glazed-donuts-2019-9">KFC is serving fried chicken sandwiched between 2 glazed doughnuts at dozens of locations, and people are freaking out</a></em></p><p>"I Love You Colonel Sanders" is ripe with anime clichés and character tropes poking fun at Japan's popular dating simulators, so you might miss out on some of the jokes if you're not familiar with the genre. Frankly, the game's constant use of anime stereotypes will probably be annoying to fans of regular dating sims, and reinforces stereotypes about Japan and anime culture that were probably best left in the 90s.</p><p>In recent years the dating sim genre has become more popular in the queer community for allowing players to experience complex narratives involving gay, bisexual, and polyamorous relationships. "I Love You Colonel Sanders" draws from the worst parts of the genre for comedic effect.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><p>While the free game is an obvious marketing stunt for KFC, "I Love You Colonel Sanders" is a complete game and clearly took some hard work to produce. Producing a detailed text-based adventure like this still requires original art, character designs, and decent writing to keep the conversations flowing. Psyop, the studio that produced the game, released another <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/">text adventure called "Camp W"</a> last year, so they had a bit of prior experience in the genre.</p><p>I can't recommend that anyone else play KFC's dating sim, but it certainly can't be worse for you than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kfc-testing-fried-chicken-sandwich-between-two-glazed-donuts-2019-9">KFC's new fried chicken &amp; doughnut sandwich.</a></p><p><strong>Here's a closer look at what it's like to play "I Love You Colonel Sanders: A Finger Licking Good Dating Simulator:"</strong></p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/brand-investment-esports?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=videogames&amp;itm_campaign=brand-investment-esports"></a></p>

I played KFC's bizarre Colonel Sanders dating game so you don't have to

<p class="drop-cap">N</p><p>ew York City's Chinatown felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic perhaps more harshly than the rest of the city. In 2020, while consumer spending in New York City as a whole dropped by 65%, Chinatown businesses saw that number <a href="https://www.mastercardcenter.org/insights/nyc-asian-communities-hit-earlier-and-harder-by-covid-19">fall by 82%</a>, according to Mastercard's Center for Inclusive Growth. And that hit started weeks prior to March, when the stay-at-home orders first took effect: as early as January 2020, as news of a contagious disease coming out of Wuhan, China, began to take hold in the US, Chinatown restaurants saw reservations slow to a trickle. Despite coinciding with the Lunar New Year, usually the busiest time for the neighborhood, business had already started to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinatown-partnership-hate-crimes-racism-coronavirus-2020-8">decline</a>.</p><p>As the months kept on, Chinatown weathered storm after storm without any relief — within a year, over 150 businesses had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/nyregion/jing-fong-chinatown-nyc.html">shuttered</a>, xenophobic <a href="https://www.insider.com/anti-asian-violence-racism-hate-crime-invisible-american-history">attacks</a> against Asian Americans reached unprecedented numbers, and a <a href="https://www.insider.com/chinatown-mega-jail-new-york-city-residents-fighting-back-2022-4">"mega" jail</a> threatened the future of the community.</p><p>But despite everything, at the heart of the neighborhood is a resilience that has kept on going. When the city felt unsafe, the community <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/safe-walks-nyc-walking-companions-anti-asian-attacks/">walked together</a>. When a five-alarm fire devastated a beloved institution, Chinatown marshaled support to <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/dgUB-1BbSBEkJg">preserve precious archives</a> and mementos of Chinese American history. And when local businesses felt pressure to shut down, a community <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/28/how-welcome-to-chinatown-nyc-raised-millions-to-help-local-businesses.html">pitched in</a> to keep their doors open.</p><p>Many children who grew up in their parents' dim sum parlors, tea emporiums, and gift shops are now taking over their family businesses, bringing a renewed sense of hope and excitement to years of craft and tradition. Meet the generation creating and inspiring the future of Chinatown.</p><div type="image" title="Chinatown TK" height="2000" width="2500" msid="93679818" hostid="261"></div><h1><strong>Eleanor Ting</strong></h1><h3>Second-generation New Yorker and owner of Ting's Gift Shop</h3><p>"I'm 64 years old, and I've been working at the store for 64 years," Eleanor Ting likes to say.</p><p>Like many second-generation children of business owners, Ting and her two younger sisters grew up at the family store. Her dad came to America from Hong Kong in the late 1940's, and her mom joined in 1958. Back then, it was common for families to be briefly split up due to strict immigration laws in the US.</p><p>"Mom wanted to be her own boss. When mom and dad got married, dad asked mom what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to run a gift shop," Ting said. "When you're in Hong Kong, you work for other people. After a while, you want to be your own boss."</p><p>Ting's Gift Shop sells Chinese souvenirs, dolls, porcelain, and other knick-knacks, and has commandeered the same spot on the corner of Pell Street since 1958.</p><p>Ting and her sisters helped their parents ever since they were little, servicing customers who came in and watching TV in their downtime. As a mischievous kid, Ting played with all the toys in the shop, trying to see if they would really break.</p><p>"Everyone would say, if it can't go through Eleanor, it's not worth selling," Ting joked.</p><p>Even as she grew older and got other jobs, Ting continued to work at the store, dropping by after work to help her parents. Now, it's her daughter, Jona, who drops by the store once in a while to hang out with Ting.</p><p>Not much has changed with the shop over the years — no Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, which Ting said she's hopeless at. Ting said preserving the shop was a conscious decision to remember her mother, who passed away in December.</p><p>"I wanted to keep it like this because it's the comfort, it's to know she's here with me," she said.</p><div type="image" title="Alice Liu sitting in her store" height="2000" width="2500" msid="93679820" hostid="261"></div><h1><strong>Alice Liu</strong></h1><h3>Second-generation New Yorker, Grand Tea &amp; Imports</h3><p>Grand Tea &amp; Imports wasn't the first business the Lius ran. When Alice Liu's parents first immigrated to New York in the late 1980's from Taishan, China, they opened, in succession, a restaurant, a DVD shop, and a shoe store.</p><p>It wasn't until 2006, when Liu's dad visited China for the first time since he left, that he discovered how tea brought people together.</p><p>"He'd lost contact with everyone in his past because long-distance calls were very expensive, and letters were time-consuming and costly," Liu, who is 27, said. "After being away for nearly 20 years, he reconnected with them over tea."</p><p>Tea wasn't just a habitual drink, but a vehicle for socializing, Liu's dad found. But the tea consumed in America left much to be desired: Back then, Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts didn't have tea on their menu, and Lipton tea bags and the tea served at dim sum joints were all indistinguishable from one another.</p><p>The earliest iteration of Grand Tea &amp; Imports began in the small corner in Liu's dad's shoe store, where he began selling tea that he brought back from China in his suitcase in 2006. One year later, he opened a store dedicated to selling tea.</p><p>The shop was also a way for Liu's dad to make sure his two daughters, who were born and raised in America, could reconnect with their heritage. In addition to tea, they began to sell cultural and Buddhist goods.</p><p>Liu's parents are still involved in Grand Tea &amp; Imports but Liu and her sister, Karen, have taken over the ecommerce and social media aspects of the business while juggling full-time jobs. At the same time, they're sticking to their roots by servicing old clientele.</p><p>"We try not to be trendy. Culture doesn't just come and go with trends," Liu told Insider. "We just try to be authentically ourselves."</p><div type="image" title="Paul Eng portrait standing in the kitchen" height="2000" width="2500" msid="93679824" hostid="261"></div><h1><strong>Paul Eng</strong></h1><h3>Third-generation New Yorker and owner of Fong On</h3><p>Fong On's story involves a couple of lucky wins and several million pounds of tofu.</p><p>In 1930, Paul Eng's grandfather first landed in Cuba from Taishan, a quaint and impoverished village in southern China. He immigrated by himself, as many men did back then due to restrictive immigration laws, and worked and sent money back home. Soon after, he won a lottery and moved to New York. His streak of luck continued: In 1933, he won another lottery that allowed him not only to bring his ten-year-old son, Eng's father, over to the US, but also to start a tofu shop.</p><p>The original Fong On, which means "grand peace," sold tofu made out of laboriously hand-ground soybeans. When Eng's father took over the business in the 1950s, he realized he could speed up the process by using a makeshift press made of large stones atop wooden soda crates. Over the years, they upgraded to pneumatic presses and stainless steel frames.<br /><br />Then, luck began to dwindle. After Eng's father passed away, his older brothers took over the shop. But Fong On, which sold most of its tofu wholesale at 50 pieces for $12, couldn't compete with large manufacturers who cranked out massive quantities at undercut prices. They started losing money, and closed the business in 2017.</p><p>"It was sad. My childhood was disappearing," Eng said.</p><p>So Eng decided it was up to him to revitalize the shop. He returned to the US from Moscow, where he was a photographer, and re-opened Fong On as a tofu pudding store in 2019.<br /><br /></p><div type="image" title="Paul Eng" height="2000" width="2500" msid="93679826" hostid="261"></div>"I was trying to figure out what was special to me about the business. Tofu can be indistinguishable — it's the same source of beans, same processes… what's the point," Eng said. "But when I went on a fact-finding trip to Taiwan and had tofu pudding for the first time, it was a lightbulb moment."<p>Toppings — from red bean and taro balls to fried shallots and pickled radish — could be a "gateway" to tofu, Eng realized. Fong On has since attracted much younger, non-Asian customers with its sweet and savory tofu puddings. Despite the changes, Eng said he wouldn't have been able to do it without his family's history.</p><p>"My father always mentioned growing up that I'd take over the business one day, and my answer was hell no," Eng said. "My homage to my family is not necessarily visible from the outside: The store has physically changed and so has the business model. But the thing that preserves their legacy is their continued way of adapting to survive."</p><div type="image" title="A woman sits on a bench in a shop full of porcelain goods." height="5099" width="6798" msid="93679829" hostid="261"></div><h1>Mei Lum</h1><h3>Fifth-generation New Yorker, fourth-generation owner of Wing On Wo</h3><p>For Mei Lum, Wing On Wo has always been a community hub.<br /><br />Lum's great-grandfather first opened Wing On Wo in 1890, when Chinatown had only just begun to coalesce in New York. The shop operated as a general store selling canned goods and postage stamps, and became an informal watering hole where local immigrants gossiped and sent letters to friends and family in China.It wasn't until 1964, when Lum's grandmother, Po, took over the shop, that Wing On Wo began to focus on selling porcelain ware. When China opened up trade with the US in 1979, business flourished as Americans became more interested in Chinese products.<br /><br />Lum grew up in the back kitchen of the shop and would always stop by after school to say hello to her grandparents. Her mom would be cooking dinner in the kitchen, and her grandfather would be waiting to give her a Cantonese lesson. Extended family members and neighbors were also frequent guests and celebrated birthdays and anniversaries at the shop.</p><p>"It's always been our informal family living-room. It's natural for us to welcome community folks into the space," Lum said.<br /><br /></p><div type="image" title="Mei Lum outside Wing on Wo" height="2500" width="2000" msid="93679831" hostid="261"></div>Lum took over the shop in 2016, but her family — including her parents, her great-aunt Betty, and her grandmother — are still involved in some of the daily operations and marketing. During the heat of the pandemic, Lum enlisted the help of her grandmother to select her favorite products every week to feature on Wing On Wo's website and Instagram story series, <a href="https://wingonwoand.co/collections/pos-picks">"Po's Picks."</a><p>"We needed to double down on marketing, but I wanted to make sure we're staying authentic to who we are. That meant involving my family members in the process," Lum said.</p><p>Doubling down on e-commerce through creative marketing on social media has helped Wing On Wo attract a new, younger audience. Before, most of the foot traffic came from Chinatown tourists.</p><div type="image" title="Mei Lum Quote" height="436" width="1440" msid="93679833" hostid="261"></div><p>By weaving in storytelling and sourcing porcelain in a way that traces her grandparents' steps, Lum wants to continue to pay homage to the history of both her family and the wider community. She also founded the <a href="https://www.wowprojectnyc.org/about">W.O.W. Project</a>, a community-led nonprofit that highlights the works of women, non-binary, and queer youth to help preserve Chinatown's creative culture.</p><p>"When we talk about the porcelain ware and pieces in the shop, it's almost a documentation of a moment in time — a living memory that exists in nostalgia and family history, but is also so current to making sense of who we are now as Asian Americans and the Asian diaspora," Lum said.</p><div type="image" title="Karen Huang standing in Kwok's Food King" height="2000" width="2500" msid="93679835" hostid="261"></div><h1><strong>Karen Huang</strong></h1><h3>Second-generation New Yorker, Kwok's Food King</h3><p>Huang's parents, Henry and Lisa, immigrated to New York in the early 1970s from Fuzhou, China. At first, they had a tough time because of the language barriers, but gradually picked up more English while working at restaurant bars.</p><p>They knew from the start that their ultimate goal was to start a business to support their family. In 1975, they opened Kwok's Food King, using Lisa's maiden name to honor their grandfather.</p><p>"It was a very family-oriented start. They wanted a place in their community, which had welcomed them so warmly," Huang said.</p><p>Their customers watched Huang and her older siblings, Linda and Wayne, grow up. The restaurant was their after-school spot, where they did their homework and slogged through 400-page workbooks that weren't nearly as interesting as people-watching. Huang watched, enrapt, as her parents chatted with customers, the phone constantly ringing in the background, and filled up tiny mustard cups or made wontons in the kitchen.</p><p>"We weren't allowed to help out. Our parents would always say, 'Hey, go back to your workbook,'" Huang said with a laugh.</p><p>When Huang's dad passed away when she was in the fourth grade, her mom ran the restaurant on her own for a while. And, when the pandemic hit in 2020, Huang and her siblings became fully involved, taking over the business.</p><p>It was a divide-and-conquer strategy for the Huangs. Linda, the eldest, runs the day-to-day operations of the restaurant with her husband, while Wayne, their middle-child brother, runs the tech side of things. Huang described herself as the "creative, operational person," tweaking the branding and switching up the menu, like adding a create-your-own stir fry option.</p><p>On top of continuing to perfect their parents' original recipes, like spicy shredded chicken and pork lo mein, the Huangs also honor their parents by running business decisions by their mom — the true food king.</p><div type="image" title="Jefferson Li and his father" height="2000" width="2500" msid="93679837" hostid="261"></div><h1><strong>Jefferson Li</strong></h1><h3>Second-generation New Yorker, 47 Division St Trading</h3><p>47 Division wasn't originally the Li family's, nor was it a butcher shop.</p><p>When Jefferson's father, Peter Zhi Chao Li, first immigrated to America from Guangzhou in 1985, Chinatown was a lot smaller, which meant there weren't many options when it came to work.</p><p>"If you were coming here from China, unless you came from money, you'd be a waiter, a busboy, or work at a laundromat," Li, who's 29, said. "When you're a poor piece of sh-t immigrant, you do poor piece of sh-t jobs."</p><p>The morning after he landed, Peter set out to find a job and landed one at a grocery store in Chinatown. He took over the business just three months later when his boss said he was folding, renamed the shop "Li's Market."</p><p>His brothers chipped in, but it was Peter who kept the store running over the years, driving cabs at night to keep his business afloat. Li and his sister have worked at the store since they were kids, stocking shelves, packing eggs, and serving as "basically the f-cking mascots," according to Li.<br /><br /></p><div type="image" title="Jefferson Li Quote" height="456" width="1440" msid="93679840" hostid="261"></div><p>Eventually, Peter, who'd worked in the meat industry in China, decided to turn the store into a dedicated butcher shop. Li put in minimum 30- to 40-hour weeks, juggling step team and dragon boat practice at Brooklyn Tech High School with work at the shop. After a few years at the Coast Guard, which he joined when he was 18 years old, Li returned to the family business.</p><p>Working at a butcher shop can be a grind, involving long days and grueling manual labor. But working with family can be even tougher.</p><p>"I'm a grown ass man, but in their eyes, I'll always be a little kid. It's hard to break the barrier of filial duty when you're a family and you work together — there are still times when my father and I will get into arguments about what to do with the store," Li told Insider.</p><p>More than 25 years since 47 Division first opened, Li said he'd like his 61-year old father and 59-year old mother to retire.</p><p>"The family business is important, but not more important than my family," Li said.</p>

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