Anime Fans Celebrate The Terrifying Grimace Shake Trend

McDonald's recently celebrated the Grimace's birthday by giving him a "birthday shake" which has taken quite a dark turn thanks to social media. With many McDonald's customers taking the opportunity to imagine that the milkshake opens the door for a creepy horror movie-style scenario, anime fans have recently gotten in on the "fun". Whether they are imagining anime fans trying the Grimace shake and/or bringing the milkshake into the anime medium, it's clear that the trend has made its way into the anime world.

The chief marketer for McDonald's, Tariq Hassan, recently broke down the introduction of the unique milkshake, "Our fans have amazing childhood memories of their birthdays at McDonald's...and Grimace's Birthday is all about paying homage to the amazing, fun moments we all share. We're excited to put a modern spin on these memories to continue to drive McDonald's relevance with a new generation. Grimace is the perfect lovable icon to have McDonald's meet our fans at the intersection of nostalgia and culture."  

In a press release, McDonald's went further into the background of the character known as the Grimace,  "For those just realizing how little you actually know about your purple pal...Grimace is from Grimace Island and comes from a huge family (including his Grandma Winky, aunts Millie and Tillie and his Uncle O'Grimacey!) Our timeless bestie has become a fan-favorite known for his signature fuzzy purple look, friendly and playful personality, love for shakes, and of course – ambiguous nature. What exactly is Grimace? Perhaps we'll never know..."

The Grimace first arrived as a McDonald's mascot in 1971, joining the likes of Ronald McDonald, Birdie, and the Hamburglar when it came to slinging burgers and fries. As mentioned earlier in the press release, the Grimace apparently comes from a big family of other strange creations. While Grimace certainly isn't a scary character, anime fans and others that have tried the shake are putting in some hilarious work when it comes to giving the mascot a horrific edge. 

The Grimace Shake is available at McDonald's locations for a limited time. 

The Grand Grimace Line

One Piece characters after trying the Grimace Shake

— Jev 🥋 (@runitbackjev) June 27, 2023

Neon Grimace Evangelion

WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE GRIMACE SHAKE

— crystal!💗 (@CrystalAvenger) June 27, 2023

A Terrifying Birthday

Happy Birthday, Grimace! #MMOARTPG

— luwud @ Anime Expo J43 (@luwudco) June 27, 2023

Chainsaw Grimace

me after one sip of the grimace shake

— ANIME Impulse™ | アニメ インパルス (@animeimpulse) June 27, 2023

Persona Grimace

— daily mona 💎 (@dailymorganaa) June 28, 2023

Goku Grimace

DON'T DRINK THE GRIMACE SHAKE GOKU NOOO

— SpriteYena (@sprite_yena) June 27, 2023

Grimace, Prince of The Saiyans

They done got my boy Vegeta with the grimace shake 😭🙏

— ThatKyBird_ (@ky3d_alt) June 28, 2023

JoJo's Grimace Adventure

Jotaro tries to drink the grimace shake

— Cursed JoJo (@jjba_cursed) June 28, 2023