McDonald's is well-known for its Happy Meal characters, but until now, very few people have actually known what Grimace actually is. But now one manager has revealed the truth.
Brian Bates, an award-winning McDonald's manager from Canada, explained what the purple character - who has been around since 1971 - is actually supposed to represent in a new interview with CBC.
He said: "He is an enormous taste bud, but a taste bud nonetheless."
The idea behind the character is that he shows that the food tastes good, and the revelation has had a mixed reaction on Twitter.
One Twitter user wrote a bizarre poem about the character: "His feet are light and nimble. He never sleeps. He says that he will never die. He tastes in light and in shadow and he is a great favorite. He never sleeps, Grimace. He is tasting, tasting. He says that he will never die."
While a second simply added: "Reeling from this."
A third Twitter user had a totally different view of the revelation and said it was an example of revisionist history.
They wrote: "Revisionist history that wants to cover up the criminal origins of McDonaldland. Grimace was McDonalds ripping off Seymour Spider from HR Pufnstuf . he had extra arms so he could steal all the drinks from McDonalds [sic]."
Another wrote: "Wait what? I thought he was a sentient gumdrop [sic]."
A fifth added: "Thanks I hate it."
Meanwhile, another Twitter user questioned: "I just heard the character, 'Grimace' is actually a tastebud? @McDonalds Why a fast food empire would name a character after a facial expression usually associated with distaste is a question in need of answering [sic]."
Grimace's image has changed since he was first introduced in 1971, and he was initially portrayed as one of the evil McDonald's characters who would steal milkshakes under his arms.
However, the "Evil Grimace" was later reimagined as a good character, with fewer arms, and while the tastebud revelation might be surprising, Grimace does resemble tastebuds when they are viewed under a microscope!
Nonetheless, the revelation certainly has its doubters, including Lillian Stone, who wrote on the food-based website The Takeout:
"The American people know one thing to be true: Grimace isn’t a taste bud. He’s a GRIMACE. He comes from a line of GRIMACES. They’re big purple monsters with no evolutionary prowess other than looking goofy! They don’t serve a purpose, nor should they!
"To Bates, I say: show me the proof, sir. Until then, I shall cleave to the lore."
All of which begs the question: Do you think that Grimace is a tastebud?
