Not even the titular hero of Sonic the Hedgehog can outrun the McDonald’s Grimace Birthday Shake meme, at least not according to a new social media post. All month long, McDonald’s has been celebrating the birthday of Grimace, the kind and fun-loving purple monster that was first introduced in the 1970s as Ronald McDonald’s best friend. To commemorate the milestone, McDonald’s is offering up a special Grimace Birthday Meal that includes a purple Grimace Birthday milkshake. In addition, McDonald’s recently shadow-dropped a new video game starring Grimace that replicates the retro 2D platformers of the Game Boy Color era. While the game is a fun novelty, it seems the centerpiece of Grimace’s birthday celebration is the Grimace Birthday Shake - which has spawned a morbidly humorous meme on social media outlets like TikTok. Over the past few days, fans have been sharing videos of themselves trying out the milkshake before “dying” horribly, either being "poisoned" by the shake itself or suffering some other tragedy seemingly brought on by the supernatural powers of the drink as part of social media skits. While this might not have been the kind of publicity McDonald's was hoping to get on Grimace's birthday, these memes have become quite popular - and even a certain video game icon with a need for speed is getting in on the bleak fun. Earlier this week, the official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account shared its own take on this bizarre Grimace Birthday Shake meme with a screenshot of Sonic laying dead on the floor after trying the milkshake. This image was actually taken from The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a free-to-play visual novel that Sega released on Steam to celebrate April Fool’s Day earlier this year. The only difference is that the spilled drink in the screenshot has been colored purple to match the Grimace Shake - it was red originally. The official McDonald’s Twitter account soon responded to Sonic’s latest “death,” with Grimace thanking “Mr. Hedgehog” for his birthday wishes.
Sonic’s official Twitter account has become well-known for sharing funny posts, teasing upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog game reveals, and even conducting in-character interviews with popular Sonic figures like Tails, Dr. Eggman, and the Blue Blur himself. It was the Sega Social Team that developed the aforementioned Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog game, which earned high praise from fans thanks to its tongue-in-cheek writing and overall charm.
Sonic has also recently celebrated a few milestones of his own, as Sega hosted a special Sonic Showcase Central 2023 livestream late last week to celebrate the Blue Blur’s latest birthday. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of fan-favorite Amy Rose, who is set to return as a playable character in both Sonic Superstars and the upcoming Sonic Frontiers story DLC. Sonic the Hedgehog fans have a great deal to celebrate in 2023, but they might not want to do so with a McDonald’s Grimace Birthday Shake considering Sonic’s latest misfortune.