McDonald’s is celebrating Grimace’s birthday with a limited

Grimace doesn't need to steal milkshakes anymore — he has his own now, and it's purple.

The big, purple, shake-stealing McDonald's mascot is finally getting some time in the spotlight. In honor of Grimace's birthday, McDonald's announced its first-ever purple shake — made from vanilla soft serve and berry flavors.

"I finallyy got my own grimace meal and purple shake :)," Grimace tweeted after "taking over" the McDonald's Twitter account this week.

"Whether you’ve attended an epic party at the PlayPlace or swapped the fancy dinner for what you were really craving (hello, McNuggets), we know birthdays with McDonald's hold a special place in our fans’ hearts," read a McDonald's press release.

"Now, we’re inviting everyone to create new birthday memories with us. This time, in honor of their fuzzy purple bestie. Get your party hat ready, ’cause we’re celebrating Grimace's birthday."

Starting on June 12, Grimace fans can celebrate the Gemini icon's birthday with a Grimace Birthday Meal which features a limited-edition purple shake (inspired by Grimace) and a choice of Big Mac or 10-piece chicken McNuggets and fries.

McDonald's will also celebrate Grimace's birthday with:

An exclusive video game in collaboration with Krool Toys, where players will immerse themselves in McDonaldland and embark on a quest with Grimace and his friends to snag a slice of birthday cake.

Selling Grimace-inspired merchandise such as T-shirts and socks, available on June 12 from Golden Arches Unlimited.

Fans can also choose to donate to "a charity near and dear to Grimace," the Ronald McDonald House Charities. On June 13 and 14, fans can share their favorite memory with McDonald's via Instagram's "add yours" sticker. McDonald's promised to donate $5 to Ronald McDonald House Charities for every memory shared up to $200,000.

A new McFlurry is coming to town

Grimace is a giant, purple taste bud.

"Grimace lore says he is the embodiment of a milkshake or taste bud," the fast-food chain tweeted in 2014.

In 2021, Brian Bates, a manager of a McDonald's in Canada, confirmed the so-called Grimace lore when he told CBC News that Grimace "is an enormous taste bud, but a taste bud nonetheless."

Almost every McDonald's fan has experienced the letdown of hearing these word: The ice cream machine in broken. But why is McDonald's ice cream machine so fickle? Why is it always broken?

One reason the machines are often described as being "broken" is due to the lengthy cleaning process all McDonald's ice cream machines go through every day, per All Recipes. The self-cleaning process takes four hours, and sometimes happens during the day. There are also a handful of technical issues the machines report as errors that employees are not trained to repair.

Closing times for McDonald's vary based on location. The store locater will provide you with your local restaurant's hours.

McDonald's no longer serves breakfast all day. Diners can typically get breakfast menu items from local restaurants until 10:30 or 11 a.m., a McDonald's spokesperson told Today.