Newsvine
  • Welcome
  • Help
  • Report Bug
  • Conversation Tracker
  • Your Column
  • Replies
  • Friends
Type Comments Since You Last CheckedArticle Source Last Checked Stop Tracking All Clear Tracking All
Advertise | AdChoices
Log In | Register
Close the Login Panel
Existing users log in below. New users please register for a free account.

New Users:

Existing Users:

E-Mail:
Password:
Forgot Password?
Please enter the e-mail address or domain name you registered with:
E-Mail/Domain:
Back to Login
Log Out
  • Top News
  • Local News
  • World
  • U.S.
  • Sports
  • Politics
  • Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Science
  • Business
  • Health
  • Odd News
  • More
    • Arts
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Fashion
    • History
    • Home & Garden
    • Not News
    • Religion
    • Travel
Visit Pete ZaHutt's column >>

PETE ZAHUTT

Stereotypes are a real time-saver.
Articles Posted: 1  Links Seeded: 558
Member Since: 7/2006  Last Seen: 4/16/2011

What is Newsvine?

Updated continuously by citizens like you, Newsvine is an instant reflection of what the world is talking about at any given moment.

Get a Free Account
Help
Fun Stuff
  • Your Clippings
  • Leaderboard
  • E-Mail Alerts
  • Top of the Vine
  • Newsvine Live
  • Newsvine Archives
  • The Greenhouse
  • Recommended Articles
  • Wall of Vineness
Put a Seed Newsvine link on your own site

What the hell is McDonald's Grimace, anyway?

Seeded on Wed Oct 11, 2006 6:36 PM EDT
Read ArticleArticle Source: everything2.com
odd-news, fat, mcdonalds, heart-attack, burger-king, milkshake, lard, special-sauce
Seeded by Pete ZaHutt

Does anybody really know what Grimace, the large purple McDonaldland character, is supposed to be? Several theories have arisen, but none are very satisfying. Among them are "he's a space alien," "he's a horribly deformed genetic mutant," and "who cares?"

Somebody has to know. Somewhere, there are ad executives who once sat at a board meeting coming up with characters for the new Ronald McDonald ad campaign, and one of them had to have suggested "How about a big dopey purple blob-thing?" Even more interesting, though, is that all of the others had to have said "Sure, yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Can't go wrong with a big dopey purple blob thing!"

While it's impossible to refute the theories mentioned before, my friend and I have recently come up with a few more interesting ideas:

* Fry guys are actually larval forms of future Grimace-creatures. Their fry-structures eventually fall off, their legs thicken, and they sprout arms, as well as assuming the familiar Grimace-shape. This idea stems from the observation that Grimace and the Fry Guys sometimes have identical eyebrows.
* Grimace, like many other McDonaldland inhabitants, represents some form of McDonalds food. Possibilities include:
o Soda - he is shaped like a drop of liquid, and children don't relate as well to cola-colored characters as they do to purple ones.
o Special Sauce - it is possible that Grimace has special organs which cause him to secrete special sauce, which is used on the Big Mac and in the floor cleaner.
o Milk Shake - this is a stupid suggestion which makes no sense at all, but this is Grimace we're talking about here.
* Grimace is an "eating machine" which can consume copious amounts of McDonalds food at an alarming rate and thinks only of eating McDonalds food at all times. This theory is unsubstantiated, but boy, he sure looks like he could eat a lot, doesn't he?

more...

  • Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.

Published to:

  • Pete ZaHutt's Column, All of Newsvine
  • Groups: none
  • Regions: none
  • Public Discussion (15)
Wagi

That's an easy answer, he's a butt plug.

  • 5 votes
Reply#1 - Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:27 PM EDT
Pete ZaHutt

I think this explanation makes the most sense:

Grimace is, in fact, a visual representation of the artery clog you will develop by eating their food. But, smile kids, the glob of fat that will surely kill your daddy during your dance recital is a jolly purple fellow who sincerely regrets strangling the life out of your beloved patriarch's ticker.

The ad execs originally created Grimace in preparation for this future McDonald's promotion: Free fries if your daddy dies! .

    Reply#2 - Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:44 PM EDT
    Ryan Stolte-Sawa

    Grimace is what happens to the special sauce if it's left out too long. Duh.

    • 3 votes
    Reply#3 - Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:07 PM EDT
    Pete ZaHutt

    This is where the special sauce comes from:

    Special Sauce - it is possible that Grimace has special organs which cause him to secrete special sauce, which is used on the Big Mac and in the floor cleaner.

    • 1 vote
    #3.1 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:31 PM EDT
    Ryan Stolte-Sawa

    Ew. Jesusssss.

      #3.2 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:10 PM EDT
      Reply
      basilbub

      Grimace is what happens to the average human who eats too much mcdonalds foods.

      • 3 votes
      Reply#4 - Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:11 PM EDT
      Bookwrym

      In the first cycle of McDonaldland commercials beginning in 1971, Grimace was the "Evil Grimace", with two pairs of arms with which to steal Triple-Thick Shakes. After that first campaign, the character was revised to be one of the "good guys", and his number of arms was reduced to two.

      This comes from the wikipedia entry. Face it my friends, Grimace is pure evil.

      • 1 vote
      Reply#5 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:43 AM EDT
      Pete ZaHutt

      They have ways of dealing with milkshake theft in McDonaldland.

      ...He had four arms, you said, until 1974, by which time he was transformed into a docile parody of his former self. End of story. Well, what on Earth happened to two of his arms?! How exactly do you deal with thieves in McDonaldland? Stealing shakes is less than neighborly, granted, but does it warrant dismemberment?...

        Reply#6 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:04 AM EDT
        Scott F

        I'm going along with the "who cares" theory. McDonalds is nasty and should never be eaten... as Grimace proves.

        • 2 votes
        Reply#7 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:26 AM EDT
        munzilla

        And why is GRIMACE always smiling?

        • 2 votes
        Reply#8 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:04 AM EDT
        Lukas Q

        Leave a McNugget out too long and it turns purple and sprouts hands and feet. That's Grimace.

        • 2 votes
        Reply#9 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:17 PM EDT
        Pete ZaHutt

        A good theory (and probably true), but Grimace pre-dates McNuggets.

          #9.1 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:27 PM EDT
          Lukas Q

          Grimace pre-dates McNuggets.

          I'm not so certain. Have you ever eaten a McNugget? I'm not sure anything pre-dates them.

          • 4 votes
          #9.2 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:30 PM EDT
          Reply
          vicaxp

          Not a true fan of McD's, but the thought of Grimace's organs having anything to do with food or special sauces, well that's just another reason to leave the golden arches alone!

          I think I just grimaced!

          • 3 votes
          Reply#10 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:40 PM EDT
          Airwolf

          I've always been pretty sure he was a taste bud or something along those lines.

          • 2 votes
          Reply#11 - Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:09 PM EDT
          Science Geek

          Will eating everything on the McD's menu make your purple?

          I have formulated a hypothesis and need to get on with data gathering...

          • 1 vote
          Reply#12 - Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:14 AM EDT
          Leave a Comment:
          You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
          You're in XHTML Mode. If you prefer, you can use Easy Mode instead.
          (XHTML tags allowed - a,b,blockquote,br,code,dd,dl,dt,del,em,h2,h3,h4,i,ins,li,ol,p,pre,q,strong,ul)
          Newsvine Privacy Statement
          As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
          FUN STUFF:
          • Leaderboard |
          • E-Mail Alerts |
          • Top of the Vine |
          • Newsvine Live |
          • Newsvine Archives |
          • The Greenhouse |
          COMPANY STUFF:
          • Code of Honor |
          • Company Info |
          • Contact Us |
          • Jobs |
          • User Agreement |
          • Privacy Policy |
          • About our ads
          LEGAL STUFF:
          • © 2005-2012 Newsvine, Inc. |
          • Newsvine® is a registered trademark of Newsvine, Inc. |
          • Newsvine is a property of msnbc.com