It would be hard to tell if McDonald’s is actually “lovin’ it” as the Grimace Milkshake is trending on social media, but likely a bit different than was expected this summer.
The berry-flavored milkshake was introduced earlier this month to commemorate the 52nd “birthday” of Grimace, the once popular mascot who hasn’t been seen in the chain restaurant’s marketing in more than a decade. The purple shake—a lighter tone than the blob-like character—has been trending on TikTok, where individuals are recorded taking a sip and wishing Grimace a happy birthday.
Then it turns quite macabre, as they pretend to pass out or worse. For reasons that cannot be explained, the Generation Z audience of TikTok can’t get enough, and the videos have garnered millions of views.
Grim Stuff
Grimace was originally introduced in 1971 along with other now-retired characters that included Mayor McCheese and the Hamburglar. Though these characters once appealed to those of Generation X, the new campaign by the hamburger chain was apparently aimed at Generation Z and the Alphas.
“McDonald’s was taking a familiar character and reintroducing it for a new generation, and the Grimace Milkshake was part of it,” explained brand marketing expert and social media pundit Scott Steinberg. “Generation Z love these throwbacks to childhood, even if it wasn’t from when they were kids.”
It is doubtful that McDonald’s expected the Grimace Milkshake to be met with such seemingly grim videos, however.
“No, I can’t imagine this is what McDonald’s had in mind. But this is the era of creator content, trends can manifest in unexpected ways,” said Steinberg. “And the response on TikTok should give you an idea of how much people love interacting with brands today.”
Grimace and Bear It?
The Grimace Milkshake was introduced for a “limited time only,” and it doesn’t appear that the TikTok videos are impacting sales—at least not negatively. If anything, sales are likely to increase as people want to join in on the act.
“You know what they say, ‘There’s no such thing as bad publicity,’ even though we all sometimes know there is,” suggested technology entrepreneur Lon Safko, author of The Social Media Bible.
“In the case of the McDonald’s shake, these videos struck a chord with both McDonald’s and TikTok’s target demographics, teen to college-aged kids! The joke matched the maturation perfectly,” said Safko. “Not all parodies are good for a brand, but in this case it is. It’s a free way of spreading the word about the product and, it’s being spread by the products ‘trusted network,’ college kids using their trusted social platform.”
What Makes Something Go Viral?
It is unclear why this is trending, or even how it began. But this is just the latest such case where something can catch on quickly, and then take on a life of their own on social media.
“It’s not entirely clear why things go viral on TikTok, although there are suggestions that the company has some control over that. However, I’m sure they don’t intervene in most cases,” said Greg Sterling, social media analyst and co-founder of Near Media.
“The sensational nature of the videos–drinking and vomiting–is partly responsible for its viral nature: the ‘ewww’ factor,” Sterling continued.
And once it began to go viral, a lot of TikTok users wanted in.
“As professionals, adults, and parents we may see this harmless prank as childish but, to the TikTok demographic, it’s just hilarious. It certainly would not have been as successful if they used the kids Happy Meal, though,” noted Safko.
A Big Win For McDonald’s
While it likely wasn’t what McDonald’s may have expected, for any business today, a sale is still a sale. Going viral on TikTok is like free advertising.
“Although the overall context of the videos is seemingly unfavorable to the brand, it does probably help McDonald’s at the moment because it motivates others to go to the restaurants and try the shake. Longer term this is going to be brand neutral for McDonald’s, once the trend is over,” said Sterling.
“I’ll bet since these TikTok videos went viral, McDonald’s sales doubled,” added Safko. “Right now, the one with the real grimace is Burger King.”
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