The inventor of the 'Grimace Shake' trend explains the viral TikTok and how he came up with the idea
Olivia Owen
- The "Grimace shake" trend saw TikTokers falling down after sipping the purple McDonald's shake.
- The inventor of the trend, Austin Frazier, said that it is "quite literally just a meme."
- Frazier said his video was inspired by a similar video about Burger King's Spider-Verse Whopper.
The inventor of the viral "Grimace Shake" trend that has users pretending to pass out or fall down in random places after drinking the McDonald's purple drink has shared how he came up with the meme.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Log in.The "Grimace Shake" TikTok trend began after McDonald's released the Grimace Birthday Meal, in celebration of the 52nd birthday of its furry purple mascot, Grimace. As of July 17, the #GrimaceShake hashtag has over 2.6 billion views on TikTok.
On July 13, McDonald's social media director Guillaume Huin wrote a LinkedIn post answering questions about the trend, and dispelling rumors that McDonald's had started it.
According to Huin, the trend was independently started by Austin Frazier, who goes by the TikTok username @thefrazmaz, when he posted a TikTok video on June 14.
"Yo, I just got the new Grimace milkshake from McDonald's. I'm so excited to try this. Happy birthday, Grimace," Frazier says into the camera, before taking a sip of the shake. The camera then immediately cuts to Frazier lying on the floor with a spilled Grimace shake beside him.
@thefrazmaz R.I.P Grimace (and me) #mcdonalds#grimace#milkshake#grimaceshake#birthday#fakedeath#yummy♬ Daylight - David Kushner
It didn't take long for others to jump on the trend. Some people copied Frazier's idea directly by dropping to the floor after tasting the shake. Others decided to put their own spin on the trend, including Courtney Cox, who posted a video of her dog turning into a giant monster after tasting the shake.
On June 26, Frazier made a TikTok video addressing questions that people had been asking him about the trend, and explaining why he started it.
"It's quite literally just a meme," he said in the video.
Frazier told viewers that the unnatural color and uniqueness of the Grimace shake reminded him of the Spider-Verse burger — a burger inside a red bun topped with black sesame seeds, released by Burger King in May to promote the release of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse."
@thefrazmaz Replying to @Jonesy I originally made it for a quick, funny, one-off video and a lot of people jumped on board which honestly made it so much funnier #grimaceshake#grimace#mcdonalds#trend#viral#fyp♬ original sound - Fraz
"I saw a guy do it with the burger where he took a bite and the next scene was him in the hospital, so I thought, 'OK, let's do something similar,'" said Frazier.
He decided to act "super excited" and take a drink, and then immediately fall to the ground with the shake next to him.
"It's just supposed to be a meme," Frazier told viewers. "It's a really weird color, it means it's not good for you, Grimace is collecting victims, yada, yada. It's just funny. It's those quick, funny transitions that always get a good laugh. That's why it was created."
On July 12, Frazier shared a LinkedIn post revealing some of the things he had learned from the trend.
"My original Grimace Shake video had a couple million views, but while it was on the climb, I replied to a comment asking what the trend meant," he wrote. "I created a simple explanation video talking through the trend because I saw multiple people confused and asking the same thing. This video now has 12 million views."
In the post, he also claimed that he only had about 80 TikTok followers before he started the trend. As of July 17, he has over 49,000 followers.
"I'm hoping I can escape the grips of being known as the 'Grimace guy' so that other content can perform," he wrote at the end of the post.
Frazier did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
It's too late to try the Grimace shake — or the "Grimace Shake" trend — for yourself. On July 6, McDonald's posted a tweet that was supposedly written by Grimace, appearing to announce the end of the trend.
It read: "u made me feel so specialll ty say goodbye grimace nowww"
—McDonald's (@McDonalds) July 6, 2023
McDonald's has yet to confirm whether the shake will return for Grimace's 53rd birthday next year. The company did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
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