McDonald’s Canada was looking to drive relevance and foot traffic amongst a younger audience. As a challenger brand in the Canadian market, we were being left behind as Tim Hortons and A&W were steadfastly gaining the loyalty of Gen Z. Canadian Gen Z were looking for variety and playfulness, something to hold their attention and satisfy their unique sense of humor.
We needed a moment that would spark online conversations, grow brand affinity, and drive Gen Z into restaurants. But we also wanted an idea that only McDonald’s could pull off – something that our competitors couldn’t replicate.
We had the perfect furry friend to do it, a beloved but odd brand character that had made a resurgence with Gen Z during the summer of ‘23 with the release of his birthday shake–Grimace.
Canadians were left looking from the outside when Grimace’s Birthday trend swept the US, so our goal was to harness this excitement and latent FOMO, creating a new and distinct moment for Canadians to rally around. Using what we had learned from the first viral moment in the US, we decided to take cues and invite our fans to be immersed in the moment; allowing Canadians to have their own unique experience, and share the pen in the continuation of Grimace lore.
A major reason the US campaign was so talkworthy was due to the ambiguity and intrigue of Grimace himself. Is he a giant tastebud or a personified milkshake? What is the flavor of The Grimace Shake? Did we always know that his birthday was in June? The fun was in the mysteriousness and absurdity, a language our target audience is fluent in, which was at the forefront of our minds as we set out to bring the Grimace Shake to Canada.
Unfortunately for us, we had a fraction of the budget. We had to be nimbler with our efforts, more focused on the places & spaces Gen Z would resonate with–on social. Grimace’s Shake was also coming to Canada in early May, so we had to create a moment outside of his birth month.
To launch the campaign, we seeded interest with content on our IG page, asking if people had seen Grimace. Next, we had Grimace make a real-life appearance, in disguise at a Vancouver Canucks’ playoff game. He was shown briefly on the jumbotron, kicking off convo at the game itself and on social media, with people excitedly speculating and locked into our social channels. Our CM then started dropping periodic “sightings” of Grimace on our Instagram Stories in different landmarks in Canada, showing him seeing the sights in his “disguise”.
We primed people to be looking out for Grimace clues around Canada. Big purple footprints were spotted leading to a restaurant, which was captured and amplified by influencers. Finally, we posted his passport, along with a photo of a dropped USB. The clues culminated in a surprise DJ set from Grimace himself, celebrating the release of The Grimace Shake in restaurants across Canada.
Grimace streamed his 45-minute set on McDonald’s Canada’s Instagram live, showing off his turntable skills that he learned laying low in the north. A countdown of stimulating sand cutting preceded Grimace taking the stage, leaning into Gen Z internet cues. The show was fun and absurd, with trippy visuals of the Grimace Shake, ribbon twirlers, Grimace dance moves, and countless air horn sounds.
To keep the fun going, fans could download fun backgrounds for their phones and take selfies with Grimace using a unique Snapchat filter, and the livestream was available to re-watch during the entirety of the campaign.
We leaned heavily into a social-first approach, with fan-engagement-first platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. And this effort paid off majorly. The livestream drove engagement and conversation online, with a total reach of 816k, 887k total impressions, with a positive sentiment rate of 85%. People loved the livestream, hyping Grimace up and requesting another set from him.
The party continued IRL, with most locations selling out of the Grimace Shake within the very first week. Sales far exceeded projections, with the average location selling 575 shakes and top-percentile restaurants selling an average of 850. Within the first few days, we significantly exceeded the U.S. volumes at their peak virality, lifting shake sales by a whopping 170% in Canada – further proof of Grimace’s unique ability to drive relevance and organic conversation.
