McDonald’s grimace shake trend pays dividends for fast-food giant

A meal celebrating the “birthday” of Grimace, a retro purple mascot, drove McDonald’s US same-store sales up 10.3%.

According to McDonald’s, restaurant goers trying the meal’s Grimace shake and posting their reactions on TikTok culminated in a surprising boost for the fast-food giant. McDonald’s has outperformed several of its US rivals in 2023 with new marketing campaigns and a focus on core menu items such as chicken and burgers.

Menu price increases, said McDonald’s, and more customer orders also helped increase its US sales.

On Thursday, McDonald’s chain executives said that the macroeconomic picture remains challenging worldwide, with inflation hurting customers and restaurant operators. The fast food giant said that consumer sentiment hasn’t rebounded from pre-COVID levels.

Ian Borden, McDonald’s chief financial officer, told investors that there continued to be a lot of pressure on customers.

In Thursday morning trading, McDonald’s shares were up 1.83% to $297.07.

US consumers buying their fast food instead of going out for a sit-down meal had benefited the company this year, even though some lower-income customers were ordering fewer items. The company said nonetheless that customer visits remained strong.

McDonald's stated that it is experimenting with new formats and plans to build more restaurants this year. The restaurant chain announced on Thursday that it would launch a brand-new concept called CosMc's, after an alien mascot that has appeared in previous McDonald's commercials. Early in 2024, McDonald's plans to open a few of the smaller-format locations in a few locations.

The tribute meal to the purple mascot Grimace, who turned 52 on June 12, helped the burger chain's U.S. sales during the second quarter.