Rachael Davis
With the McDonaldland shake bringing Ronald McDonald and his crew back into the foreground, an age-old question has resurfaced: what on Earth is Grimace supposed to be?
The purple blob was first introduced as ‘Evil Grimace’ in 1971, using four arms to swipe and make off with milkshakes. He’s been reformed since then, leaving the thefts to the Hamburglar, but his potential for sprouting extra arms makes discerning his species even trickier.
"The original Grimace was scaly, mean‑looking, had four arms, and had no charm whatsoever," said McDonald's former VP of advertising, Roy T. Bergold Jr., in QSR magazine.
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"He scared kids. 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."
Other members of the crew include Birdie the Early Bird, the Fry Kids, the McNugget Buddies and the Happy Meal Gang, all of whom are pretty easy to pin down identity-wise.
Theories as to what Grimace actually is include: a giant soda drop, an eggplant emoji – although he does, of course, long pre-date emojis – or an inexplicably purple chicken nugget, but those are all wide of the mark.
According to a Daily Mail report, he is in face an anthropomorphic taste bud.
We can only imagine how the designers came up with that mind-bending idea in the 70s, but let’s assume it has something to do with the casual chemical experiments that typified the 60s.
The Daily Mail’s claim was backed by a Canadian McDonald’s manager’s 2021 conversation with CBS where they stressed that Grimace is indeed an ‘enormous taste bud’.
Social media fans of the McDonald’s gang soon chimed in with shock at the reveal.
"Grimace being a taste bud this whole time has me f**king crying," said one bemused user.
"WAIT I THOUGHT HE WAS A BIG A** GUMDROP…" said another.
"Grimace being a giant taste bud doesn’t sit well with me," noted someone on a similar wavelength to this writer.
Another chimed in with: "I never wondered what Grimace was before. Didn’t care. He’s just a purple… thing… McDonald’s didn’t have to tell me he’s a taste bud. That just makes things really weird."
McDonald’s official statements on the matter, however, have thrown the taste bud claims into doubt.
"Grimace is the embodiment of a milkshake, though others still insist he’s a taste bud,” said a 2012 tweet from the McDonald’s corporate account.
Then, in 2021, a McDonald’s spokesperson said to People: "Whether he’s a taste bud, a milkshake or just your favourite purple blob — 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."
It seems McDonald’s itself harbours fears for the giant purple monster it created. Perhaps revealing the truth would see Grimace go back to his old ways, transforming into the fast food terror that was Evil Grimace.