A McDonald’s executive takes you inside the viral Grimace Shake trend and how the burger giant dealt with it

Where were you in 2023 when social media became a purple haze? For McDonald’s, the sensation was as big of a surprise as it was to everyone else.

For those who don’t remember what life on the internet looked like in 2023, here’s a refresher: girl dinner, the Roman Empire, and a TikTok algorithm painted purple from the McDonald’s Grimace Shake.