McDonald's Is Trying Hard To Make Grimace's Birthday A Thing & Here's What Canada Is Missing

If you're of a certain age, you might be familiar with one big purple mascot at McDonald's named Grimace.

We don't know what he is, but apparently, we do know that it's his 52 birthday, and McDonald's is really trying to make it a thing in the U.S., so much so that they've launched a meal and milkshake in his honour.

And with the store really going hard for the big purple dude, it seems that lots of people, especially those on social media, are a little confused as to why this is the thing McDonald's is putting all their chips on right now.

There are a lot of strange promos going on around Grimace, but internet users are particularly weirded out by the purple Grimace shake that's now on for a limited time only.

And whenever people on the internet get a hold of something new and weird, you know they'll be memeing it to high heaven.

First things first, who exactly is Grimace?

If you weren't around in the 1980s and '90s, you might not actually be all that familiar with Grimace or the other McDonald's mascots.

According to Today.com, Grimace first hit the scene in 1971 as part of the McDonaldland commercials.

He's portrayed as a giant purple blobby monster with a smiling face, arms and legs. The purple dude made it all the way to 2003 before being generally phased out as a front-and-centre mascot.

By McDonald's math, Grimace is now 52 years old, making him an older member of Generation X. I wonder if he listened to Nirvana in the 1990s.

As for what he is, apparently, Grimace is supposed to be a "taste bud," according to a former employee of McDonald's Canada per the CBC. However, McDonald's has posited on Twitter that he could also be the "embodiment of a milkshake" as well as a taste bud.

No matter what he is, it's clear that when you see him, he's a giant purple cuddly blob.

On June 6, McDonald's announced they would be launching a brand new, limited-time "Grimace" milkshake in celebration of his birthday, June 12.

It's purple just like the mascot, and it reportedly tastes just like... Grimace?

At least, that's the response one person on Twitter said they got when they asked about the flavour of the Grimace shake, and McDonald's hasn't really cleared it up.

While McDonald's hasn't said the exact flavour, they have confirmed on Twitter it's not flavoured like the mascot but rather inspired by his "colour" and "sweetness."

The most McDonald's has said about it is that "it features a creamy vanilla soft serve blended with Grimace shake syrup and finished with whipped light cream."

And while they haven't come right out and said what "Grimace shake syrup" tastes like, according to The Take Out, it tastes a bit like berry.

But McDonald's didn't stop at the purple shake. They also launched a Grimace Meal at McDonald's in the U.S., which consists of the shake, your choice of a 10-piece McNugget or Big Mac and an order of medium fries. The catch is you have to get the meal if you want to get the shake.

Yes, it's the oldest trick in the book — forcing you to buy food to try a meme milkshake based on a fast-food mascot from the 1970s.

And given the inherent strangeness of this campaign, a whole lot of people have taken to the internet to talk about how confusing it is that there's now a Grimace meal and milkshake.

Of course, lots of people are joking about the ambiguity of the flavour, with a Twitter user positing that maybe the flavour is akin to another famous purple beverage, lean, a cocktail of Sprite, medicated cough syrup and more.

And, of course, things only get stranger when you find out that McDonald's hired Brian Cox, a.k.a. Logan Roy in Succession, to wish the character a happy birthday in the company's latest commercial.

We really do live in a strange time, don't we?

That really seems to be the case when you check out Americans' reviews of the new Grimace meal, which include plenty of questions about where exactly the shake comes from.

Others are making hilariously weird TikToks about the purple drink and how its supposed ability to get you "zonked."

For the record, soft serve, whip cream, and flavour syrup probably won't get you "zonked" — whatever that means.

Others are worried about the potential havoc that the new shake might have on their system, with one person saying that trying the new shake along with the new Spiderverse Whopper from Burger King would "make my digestive system take a screenshot."

Anyone who is lactose intolerant or sensitive to dairy can honestly relate.

But if you're a Canadian hoping to get involved in the Grimace birthday festivities, you might be a tad out of luck.

Unfortunately, the Grimace Meal, as well as the highly memed Grimace Shake, isn't available north of the 49th parallel.

So while Canadian McDonald's has a bunch of new wraps that are worth trying out, we Canucks can't share in the full celebratory joy for that giant purple taste bud.

However, there is one way you can join in: McDonald's created a Game Boy-style video game to celebrate Grimace's birthday, which is both weird and totally in line with everything else it's doing. And no, you don't need a Game Boy or a U.S. zip code to play it because there's a browser version available to all.

According to McDonald's on Twitter, the drink and meal are only going to be available until June 30, so if you want to take the trip down south to give it a go, you have the rest of the month to get purpled.

Or, if you're looking forward to not hearing about it anymore, the end is in sight.

But if this has you craving a bit of a sweet treat, a Narcity writer recently sat down and tried to find out which one is better, the Dairy Queen Blizzard or the McDonald's McFlurry.

And, a bit of a spoiler alert, the answer is a bit more complicated than you'd expect.

Granted, it's not as complicated as trying to find out what exactly is going on with Grimace, but maybe we'll find out when he turns 53 next year.