In October of 1999 I contacted
McDonald's for their official statement about this situation. The email they sent me follows:
Thank you for contacting McDonald's and for your interest in the big, purple, jolly fellow, named Grimace, who resides in McDonaldland.
When Grimace first emerged from his cave and confronted the other citizens of McDonaldland, he expected them to be frightened of him. While initially conceived as a character representing McDonald's shakes, Grimace has transcended his role and is now seen as Ronald's right-hand man, and closest friend. He still, though, retains his love of McDonald's shakes.
You may be interested to know that when Grimace first joined McDonaldland he had four arms. At that time, he was known as the evil Grimace who stole everybody's milk shakes. However, by 1974 he became the big, fuzzy purple fellow that everyone knows and loves today.
Again, thank you for contacting McDonald's. We look forward to serving you again soon under the Golden Arches.
Sandy
Customer Satisfaction Department
ref#:454451
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You wrote:
What exactly is Grimace supposed to be?