Wild MyMaccas Grimace promotion is a hoax, McDonalds confirms

May 2024 · 2 minute read

McDonald’s has warned fans not to fall for a “wild” promotional offer that’s blown up on social media.

A post shared to Facebook, seemingly a screenshot of the MyMacca’s app, suggests that consumers could claim “one night with Grimace” – and the mascot “can’t say ‘no’ to anything” – for one million points.

Unfortunately for anyone with a fetish for things that are fuzzy or purple, the fast food giant confirmed to news.com.au that the post – which in 48 hours has been shared more than 14,000 times – is not real, and no such reward exists.

Given the thousands of comments the post garnered, it’s safe to say the interest … was certainly there, real or not.

“Who would want that??? *taps debit card on counter*,” one person joked.

“I know what I’m eating for lunch/dinner for the foreseeable future,” another commented.

“You have to earn Grimace. He knows what he’s worth,” a third said.

While a fourth (correctly) pointed out: “I’m sure after earning that many points from eating all that McDonald’s food you become Grimace.”

This isn’t the first time the hoax has done the rounds on social media – it originated back in September 2021 at the hands of comedian Dan White.

Grimace has been having something of a renaissance of late, after McDonald’s in the US marked the character’s supposed birthday with a special meal that included a purple thickshake.

Chief marketing and customer experience officer, Tariq Hassan, told Yahoo Finance at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity that the spotlight on the character is part of McDonald’s plan to become a “cultural icon” and use that status to drive the business.

“What we uncovered actually a few years ago when [chief marketing officer Morgan Flatley] first launched Travis Scott and our famous orders was an awakening of the brand,” Mr Hassan said (its collaboration with the rapper caused a Quarter Pounder shortage for some of its US restaurants).

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“People reconnecting and realising that there was a value to this brand that frankly, I think, we had forgotten and we’d lost a bit of our swagger.”

Grimace, who debuted in 1971 as a mascot fond of stealing McDonald’s thickshakes, “represents joy and happiness”, Mr Hassan said.

“The lore is that he represents a tastebud,” he explained, describing the character as the “McDonald’s-land friend glue”.

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