Grimace Was the Most Popular Search of the Summer

Even though the Eras Tour and Barbenheimer dominated much of social media chatter, this summer belonged to Grimace. The iconic McDonald’s mascot celebrated his 52nd trip around the sun this summer, and the burger joint celebrated with a birthday meal that included a special purple shake. The popularity of a trend on TikTok not only caused sales of the meal to skyrocket, but people searching for more information on Grimace himself transformed the mascot into the most popular search of the summer.

According to a new study published by Casino.org, 56.8-percent of Americans searched “Who is Grimace?” at some point throughout the summer months, effectively making him the most popular search top across the land. See below for the full chart.

What is the Grimace Shake?

The Grimace Shake was a new drink made by McDonald’s to be included in Grimace’s Birthday Meal, which also included either a Big Mac or 10-piece McNuggets with a side of fries.

“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,” McDonald’s chief marketer Tariq Hassan said in a press release. “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.”

“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!),” the company’s press release added. “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…”

Is the Grimace Shake coming back?

Though it has yet to be seen if the amethyst-tinted dessert will make a comeback. McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski attributed the success of the restaurant chain’s recent increasing sales numbers to the Grimace Shake phenomenon.

“Grimace has been everywhere the past few months. All over the news, and more than 3 billion views on TikTok,” the executive said on the most recent McDonald’s earnings call. “This viral phenomenon is yet another proof point of the power of marketing at McDonald’s today.”