The line between hero and villain is paper thin – something Grimace (and McDonald’s) learn first hand. On June 12, McDonald’s released the berry flavor Grimace shake as part of the comprehensive Marketing campaign to celebrate the mascot’s birthday. The energetic response from fans turned the promotion into a celebration of Grimace as a queer icon, with people dressing up blurry cosplay for social media posts about the birthday and making fan art of he and the Hamburglar who attended Pride. Just two weeks later, however, a search for Grimace on TikTok turns up no people who “mother Grimace.” Instead, videos are shown in which Grimace’s shake isn’t a purple treat, but rather a deadly concoction that kills or incapacitates anyone who dares to drink it.
Is the Grimace shake dangerous?
No of course not. TikTok humor just works on a whole other level of absurdity. It’s all part of the really funny – and sometimes brutally visceral – Grimace shake trend.
What is the Grimace shake trend?
The Grimace shake trend, also known as the Grimace shake incident, has skyrocketed on TikTok, with #grimaceshake generated 689 million views as of publication.
A typical video starts with someone excitedly declaring that they are going to try the Grimace shake and the living taste buds a happy birthday. But as soon as the person takes a sip, the camera cuts to the gruesome aftermath, with the person pretending to pass out, be dead, or be dying – sometimes in an odd location, like in a garbage can, or draped over the hood of a car. a car – as a result of drinking the shake. And no Grimace shake tableau is complete without the contents of the shake dripping from the victim’s mouth as vomit or spilling onto the floor as purple blood.
There are no limits to creators’ creativity or their dedication to this piece, which is why the gag continues to gain momentum rather than grow old. Fans are developing the Grimace shake trend by creating elaborate stories, horror movies and fake documentaries.
Some videos make Grimace an active culprit in death, showing the mascot strangling or stalking those naive enough to have tried the cursed shake.
So is Grimace mother? Or is Grimace a murderer? That’s up to you to decide. But what is unmistakable is that grimace is the moment.