The Grimace Shake Phenomenon: McDonald’s Surprising Strategy Behind a Viral TikTok Horror Trend

The Origin of a Bizarre Trend

In June 2023, McDonald’s introduced a limited-edition purple vanilla-berry milkshake to celebrate one of its classic mascots, Grimace. What seemed like a straightforward promotional move quickly spiraled into an unexpected internet phenomenon. Instead of simply enjoying the drink, TikTok users began filming themselves taking a sip and then cutting to a dramatic scene depicting their own staged demise. This macabre twist transformed the Grimace Shake into a viral sensation—and caught the fast-food giant completely off guard.

A Viral Explosion on TikTok

The trend amassed over 2.9 billion views on TikTok within weeks. Users across the platform embraced the dark humor, turning the shake into a meme that blended childhood nostalgia with horror-comedy. McDonald’s saw an unexpected boost: sales reportedly jumped 10% that quarter, according to internal estimates. Yet the company had zero involvement in starting or promoting the trend. As Guillaume Huin, senior marketing director at McDonald’s, later admitted on X (formerly Twitter): “If you think we planted the Grimace Shake trend … thank you. So much. But you think way too highly of us.”

Huin’s candid post—shared almost three years after the trend’s peak—offered a rare window into how a major corporation grapples with uncontrollable viral moments. He described first noticing the trend while scrolling at home, encountering video after video of users “losing control” after consuming the shake. Unsure of what it meant, he decided to alert management and leadership.

“At first, I won’t lie, this felt like telling your parents about a massive mistake you made that would ruin all your hard work,” Huin wrote.

His initial text to colleagues, which he attached to the public post, described the situation as “a very unexpected trend taking over TikTok with Grimace Shakes” and urged calm, noting it was “pure Gen Z humor, so do not take it badly even though it might be disturbing.”

McDonald’s Internal Response

Inside the company, the response was far from immediate. The marketing team convened cross-departmentally to monitor the trend, weighing the risks and opportunities. Some worried that acknowledging the death-related humor could backfire for a family-friendly brand. An internal email chain was even titled “what to do?” as executives debated whether to engage or stay silent.

Huin initially believed McDonald’s would steer clear of the trend, reasoning that a large legacy brand would avoid associating with content that depicted people “dying” from its product. But after gathering data and observing the conversation grow, the team decided that a response was necessary—but it had to be subtle to avoid seeming self-serving.

The Decision to Engage

The final strategy was to craft a simple, understated post that acknowledged the trend without endorsing its dark humor. McDonald’s ultimately posted a short video of Grimace himself, looking confused or melancholic, which resonated with the audience without being overtly promotional. Huin emphasized that the company never explored “the idea of doing the trend” itself, but instead chose to react with authenticity.

“Boom, we posted,” he recounted, describing the moment the team hit publish. The post garnered millions of views and was widely seen as a masterclass in viral brand engagement—turning a potentially negative meme into a positive cultural moment.

Legacy and Lessons

The Grimace Shake trend remains a case study in how brands can navigate unplanned viral content. It demonstrated that sometimes the best response is not to control the narrative but to step back, understand the humor, and join the conversation with humility. McDonald’s approach—listening first, reacting second—proved more effective than a heavy-handed marketing campaign.

Years later, the shake has found new life: Grimace is currently taking over German social media after the beverage launched there, proving that the phenomenon had lasting cultural impact. For Huin and his team, the experience reinforced a simple truth: “Pure Gen Z humor” can be unpredictable, but with the right mindset, even a staged death trend can become a sweet success.

—This article is based on public posts and insights shared by McDonald’s executives.