The picture on social media is grim. A body hung from the trunk of the sedan, dripping purple slime. Another hangs on a basketball hoop with a lavender net. The third spattered into the bathtub covered in dim handprints.
The liquid splattered on these paintings is not blood. McDonald’s purple milkshake.
There has been a social media reaction in recent weeks since McDonald’s launched a “Grimmas Shake” as part of its “Grimmas Birthday Meal.” The menu highlights supporting characters like the purple blob of Ronald McDonald, the brand’s iconic clown. The exclusive drink has become a key component of his TikTok trend of users concocting elaborate horror scenes, with Grimath appearing as a suggestive assassin.
Each video begins with a TikTok user pretending to give a positive review of Shake. Then, shots of a drink-soaked figure alternate with flashing lights and eerie music, sometimes looking dead and sometimes zombies.
Is McDonald’s concerned that people are pretending to be drowning in its products? Or will one of the mascots be portrayed as a killer? Probably not, says Jonah Berger, associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
“This is free advertising,” he said. “This will not only increase brand awareness, but it will also make the brand cooler among a key demographic: young people.”
McDonald’s acknowledged the trend in a post Wednesday. tick tock and Twitter. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
of first video To gain some traction, Austin Frazier, a 28-year-old social media manager from Knoxville, Tennessee, posted on June 13. He has nothing to do with McDonald’s. While scrolling through TikTok, he noticed: video Food blogger Wayne Dunn tasting a shake.
I was inspired. He drove to McDonald’s and ordered McDonald’s. He then filmed himself taking a sip while wishing Grimas a happy birthday. He then lay down on the kitchen floor and instructed his wife to turn the place into a “crime scene” by making the shaking look like blood.
“She put some in my mouth and some on the ground,” he said. “I was like, ‘No, I should throw the whole thing away.'” Frazier added that he hadn’t heard from McDonald’s since the trend began. “They owe me a check for every shake they sell,” he joked.
A number of fast food brands have released stunt items that seem meant for social sharing, like Taco Bell’s Doritos Loco Tacos and Pizza Hut. Pizza stuffed with hot dog dough. In 2020, McDonald’s released a meal in collaboration with Travis Scott, causing an online frenzy.
Jared Watson, assistant professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said it’s very likely that “Grimath Shake” was also a play that gained online attention. This shake is a shocking color, and its taste is not defined by the company, so there’s plenty of room for debate.
TikTok users have added their own absurd twist. “Part of that trend is treason,” Dr. Watson says. “They say, we understand what you’re doing, and we’re going to take it in a completely different direction than what you were expecting.”
Still, they buy Grimath Shakes and take at least a sip. An online taste tester described the flavor as:Fruity pebble flavored cough syrup” and “purple, vanilla, and stomachache“
With this shake, many young customers became acquainted with Grimmas, a character who always had a cheerful or unhappy look on his face. He seems to be lesser known than his fellow Hamburglers and Mayor McCheese, and his identity has been something of a mystery since he first appeared in the 1970s. In 2012, the company said The grimace was “milkshake incarnate.”Others say that Grimath is giant taste buds.
Dylan Zitkus, 18, a content creator in Chicago, said he didn’t know about Grimmas until he saw a TikTok video. He bought a large Grimmus Shake with the intention of joining the trend.
“I didn’t want to do it at first, because you have to pour the milkshake all over your body,” said Jitkas. He says he is lactose intolerant. “It’s cold. It’s unpleasant.”
He said he gave up after seeing other Grimace Shake videos with over 5 million views.He wore a white shirt and went to the park with his friends around 1:00 a.m. video It didn’t take long to shoot, but it did take some time to clean up.
“My neighbors looked at me and said, ‘What are you doing?'” Jitkas said. “I feel like I’m talking too long.”
