The Grimace Shake Review
Grimace from McDonalds is an absolute legend.
Grimace waltzed into McDonaldland in the 1970s and never looked back. Helping McDonald’s market themselves with their milkshake division, Grimace became a legend in the 1980s and 1990s. A piece of the McDonald’s machine, Grimace’s purple triangular shaped body and lovable personality made him a kids favorite.
From a character perspective, Grimace’s backstory is an intriguing one. Born on Grimace Island, from a long legacy of Grimaces, Grimace comes off as permanently befuddled, but inside his mind lives an incredibly smart brain. He helped McDonaldland get into the St. Patrick’s Day holiday by introducing his Uncle O’Grimacy and his illustrious Shamrock Shake. He taught kids how to do the “Food, Folks, and Fun” dance in the late 80s.
Hell, Grimace out finagled our 45th President in 2002 by getting the Big and Tasty on the Dollar Menu, and showing Donald Trump how the Art of the Deal REALLY went.
Although over the past few decades, the McDonaldland characters have slowly faded away from the lexicon of America, nostalgia runs deep.
The other day, on the way home from work, my wife sent me a link that, starting on June 12, Grimace’s birthday would be celebrated at McDonald’s, including a special Grimace Shake that would be sold if you buy a Big Mac meal on the McDonald’s app.
For me, I was pumped up. This was the first time in AGES that McDonald’s let out a great viral marketing campaign. Not since the late 90s has something so simple, yet innovative, came through the McDonald’s pipeline.
I was in.
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Last Wednesday, I ordered a Big Mac meal on the McDonald’s app, a first for me, and made sure I got the Grimace’s Birthday Meal option. A ten-minute drive to the local Mickey D’s, a park in the curbside spot, and a McDonald’s employee brought out my meal.
Having it been my first McDonald’s meal in ages, I decided to avoid the burger first and go straight to the shake.
My instant reaction: it was good.
After devouring the Grimace Shake, as well as the rest of my meal, I had a ten minute drive back home. I truly thought about the milkshake and my thoughts on it.
Real enthralling brain power at work, folks.
My honest take is this: THE GRIMACE SHAKE NEEDS TO BE A YEARLY THING. Very similar to the Shamrock Shake and the Holiday Pie, the Grimace Shake is a prime example of a yearly tradition that would have people come out and enjoy a treat during the dog days of Summer. With its mixture of vanilla soft serve and berries, although I tasted more blueberry than any other, the Grimace Shake was fantastic. It had a unique flavor I could enjoy.
The kid in me wished that McDonald’s would’ve given out a Grimace Happy Meal Toy for the adults to reminisce about, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Regardless, the Grimace Shake was solid. My pal Jon Harder had his own thoughts when he texted me his opinions on it.
He’s a little more jaded.
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The Grimace’s Birthday Celebration at McDonald’s was a great piece of marketing. I hope McDonald’s decides to go back to this mentality a little more in the coming months and display some solid marketing campaigns with their fast food. Granted, the “Super Size Me” era helped kill off fast food marketing for some time, but it’s 2023. It’s time to have some fun in marketing again.
MAKE THE GRIMACE SHAKE A YEARLY TRADITION.
And always remember…NOTHING can kill the Grimace.
