McDonald’s new purple Grimace Shake inspires terrifying ‘unhinged’ Tiktok videos that have even prompted a reply from the fast food giant itself
- A horrifying trend has swarmed TikTok inspired by a 1970s McDonalds mascot
- The videos come after Grimace Shake was added to the menu for his birthday
- Users are faking their own death after trying the revived purple concoction
Teens have turned a new McDonalds drink into the latest bizarre TikTok trend as they film themselves pretending to die or suffer other gruesome fates after downing the bright purple shake.
The limited-edition Grimace shake, reintroduced by the restaurant chain as a tribute to a long-forgotten and frankly disturbing mascot, has inspired a wave of memes and videos that has even forced the fast food giant itself to join in.
Grimace first appeared in the 1970s as part of a campaign designed for young children, he was originally introduced as a villain who stole people’s shakes, but quickly morphed into a cheerful character.
And, McDonald’s lovers have certainly taken to the mascot again, but perhaps not in the way the fast-food brand could anticipate.
The horror-infused trend tagged #grimaceshake has over 778.6 million views on TikTok and has thousands of videos of Gen Zers sipping the sugary drink and then cutting to them playing dead or injured with the purple drink streaming from their nose, mouth or head.
The purple McDonald’s land character returns for his 52nd birthday, but TikTokers have their own take on the purple mascot
Grimace was originally introduced as part of a children’s campaign and joined the gang of other questionable-looking McDonald’s characters
Grimace was once a villain who would steal children’s milkshakes, before the corporation turned him into a joyful milkshake fan
McDonald’s did not initially comment on the trend – likely taken aback by the morbid response- but on Tuesday tweeted ‘meee pretending I don’t see the grimace shake trendd,’ alongside a picture Grimace looking stunned.
Other big corporations have been shocked by the trend, The Sims even posted their own purple character in response to the McDonald’s tweet.
The first Grimace Shake Incident TikTok was posted on June 13 by Austin Frazier (@thefrazmaz), according to the meme database Know Your Meme, and since then the trend has gotten increasingly absurd.
Frazier spoke to NBC News about the video, which has gained over 2 million views, and said that he was inspired by a TikTok that showed a user pretending to be in hospital after trying Burger King’s Spider-Verse Whopper.
The fast food conglomerate eventually responded to the terrifying trend on Twitter by posting a stunned photo of Grimace with the caption ‘me pretending I don’t see the Grimace trend
The Sims responded to the Tweet with their own horrifying take on the purple mascot
He was not expecting the trend to take off and was surprised by how many adaptations have been made since.
He said: ‘The great part is that, you know, it’s a trend that kind of took off, and it allowed for creativity and allowed for people to put their own pieces to it.
‘It allowed for people to create that funny humour, dark humour, horror, whatever they may want it to be.’
One user took the turned the concept even more terrifying, @wheresxanders, showed the drinker innocently trying the milkshake before cutting to them posed with the purple drink spilled around them as they regurgitate it – a scene not too dissimilar to ‘The Exorcist’.
Since the first Grimace video was posted, the TikTok trend has taken off – some have even gained millions of likes
Each video cuts to a fake death after users try the sugary purple beverage
Another video posted by @_loganross gained over 38,000 likes after the drink prompted the user to lie face down in purple on a children’s climbing frame. The user only rated the milkshake 2/10 in the caption.
One user (pictured above) lied face down on a children’s climbing frame in the park
The user posted again with his friend trying the drink and then lying with her face against a purple-covered wall.
User @_loganross even got his friend to try the concoction, which also resulted in a messy ending
TikToker @abby tried the drink and wound up with her face against a purple-covered wall
Another user posted his brother trying the drink which saw him passed out on the floor while still clutching on to the milkshake.
One user had his brother participate in the trend, the video received thousands of comments from people up-to-date on the trend
Some TikToker’s commented ‘Rest In Grimace’ as his older brother captioned the comment ‘RIP lil bro’
His fake death was pictured and shared to millions of people across the app
READ MORE: McDonald’s mascot Grimace becomes LGBTQ+ icon after being resurrected for new campaign during Pride month
The video, which also gained over 1 million likes, was captioned: ‘Rip lil bro ma boy mc died. He was only 13.’
Other TikTok users following the trend have shared their condolences in the comments.
Some of the tributes read: ‘RIP’, ‘rest in grimace’ and ‘gone too soon’.
It is not the first time morbid Mcdonalds-inspired videos have emerged, in 2016, Ronald was retired by the fast food giant because a string of ‘creepy clown sightings’ cropped up around the US.
They escalated from harmless pranks to reports of weapons being carried by people dressed as clowns.
The gruelling response comes weeks after the Grimace was dubbed an LGBTQ+ icon, and brings a whole new lease of life to the character.
Social media users were wondering if the new campaign was purposely launched in June due to pride month.
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