Grimace

The “Grimace” is a WHAT?! The internet reacts to report on McDonald’s purple mascot

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“Grimace”: Ronald McDonald is a clown. Hamburglar is a hamburger. Mayor McCheese is a cheeseburger. Birdie the Early Bird is a bird. Mac Tonight is a Moon. And the Fry Kids are, well, fries.

But what the heck is Grimace supposed to be?

The lovable, spherical-shaped, purple giant has always been one of McDonald’s most recognizable characters, with his bright smile and his arms always open for a hug. But fans have never quite known exactly what he’s supposed to be.

Bates was recently named outstanding manager of the year, CBS News reported. In the over 1,400 restaurants across Canada, that puts him in the top 10 percent of working managers.

The purpose of Grimace, Bates told the outlet, is to show the food tastes good.

Grimace and other McDonald's mascots
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Before we begin, it may be important to remind everyone that some things can’t be “unlearned” in the same way that a lot of things can’t be “unseen”.

With that in mind, let’s talk about McDonald’s purple blob-thing mascot: “Grimace.”

Now, apparently, a manager of a McDonald’s franchise in Canada has released some cursed knowledge upon the world, in the form of an answer to the question “what exactly is Grimace”?

Brian Bates was recently named Outstanding Manager of the Year, according to a report from TheMarySue.com, and that led to him answering a lot of questions.

Many of those questions were what you’d expect. Advice on running a business, good management tips, how to survive a pandemic, and things like that.

Then, something possessed someone to ask a very brave (and perhaps very cursed) question. About Grimace. The purple blob thing you see sometimes hanging out with Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese and everyone? Yeah? What is he? Like what… is he?

By the way, this is the point of no return for this article. Just a final, fair warning.

“He is an enormous taste bud, but a taste bud nonetheless,” said Bates, according to TheMarySue.com.

A… taste bud. Like a part of your tongue, but it’s giant. And purple. And talks.

This is seemingly backed up by an old tweet from 2014 from McDonald’s, saying: “Grimace lore says he is the embodiment of a milkshake or a taste bud.”

It’s quite the deviation from Grimace’s origins, which apparently had him as a sort of villain.

“The Evil Grimace” was reportedly a four-armed beast that would steal Happy Meals, but it seems McDonald’s did a rebrand and now Grimace is just… here. Forever.

The internet, Twitter users especially, responded to the information in what most would say is somewhat appropriate: A mix of fear, confusion, and perhaps awe?

Take a look at some of the responses below:

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