Several Twitter users were confused today when the trend GOODBYE GRIMACE also appeared amongst serious trends pertaining to new competitor Threads and Twitter’s potential legal pursuit of Meta over the app.
Curious users who clicked on the trend were greeted with nothing but tweets in which Twitter users all tearfully say goodbye to McDonalds’ large, slightly unsettling tastebud mascot, Grimace.
Goodbye Grimace 💔 pic.twitter.com/b6C9W0qUA9
— GrassoGuy (@GrassoFilms) July 6, 2023
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The tweets initially looked almost akin to the memorial trends that occur when a celebrity dies, and the tweet that started it all, from the McDonald’s Twitter account itself, didn’t do much to dispel that theory.
In the tweet, a picture of Grimace in sunglasses waves goodbye, with the caption, “u made me feel so specialll ty, say goodbye grimace nowww
u made me feel so specialll ty
say goodbye grimace nowww pic.twitter.com/7KUgNWk4t2— McDonald's (@McDonalds) July 6, 2023
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But if you’re a fan of the big purple dude (who looks like he could be Gritty’s cousin), don’t worry – McDonald’s didn’t take him out to have one last best-day-ever birthday celebration before they put him down.
That would have been especially cruel, given that his limited-time celebratory Grimace Birthday Shake – which is berry-flavored – was so famously bad that it inspired a TikTok trend in which they take a sip of the shake only to fake their own deaths immediately.
Of course, most were also polite enough to do so while wishing the purple mascot a happy birthday, bringing him – and, by extension, McDonald’s – in on the joke. Even the CMO made one (the second video in the compilation below.)
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The TikTok trend may very well be why Grimace’s goodbye post on Twitter took on such a macabre tone. The account was being “run by” Grimace as part of the promotional event for his birthday, and Grimace seems to be a dude who loves TikTok, memes, and the kids – and it appears the kids love him back.
So, in summary, don’t worry, Grimace isn’t being killed off by McDonald’s – it’s just not his turn to run Twitter anymore. He’s going away for a while but given what a big hit his birthday promotion was across social media, we’re sure it won’t be long before Grimace returns.
If there’s one thing, people these days seem to love, it’s ambiguous blob-shaped mascots with giant, staring eyes that look like something that chases a Muppet down in a nightmare.
Did you try the Grimace shake? Did it kill you? Did you, also, think McDonald’s was going to murder Grimace? Leave Inside the Magic a comment down below.