Grimace is the purple McDonaldland character associated with McDonald's.
Grimace appeared in McDonaldland advertising as a large, friendly, purple character. Early versions were portrayed differently from the familiar later design, but the character eventually became known for a simple, child-friendly personality and a distinctive rounded body. His unusual appearance helped make him immediately recognizable beside Ronald McDonald and the other McDonaldland figures.
Grimace is sometimes described only as a taste bud in modern explanations, but McDonald’s has used different informal descriptions of the character over the years. The safest historical identification is his role as the purple mascot in the McDonaldland cast.
Other characters had different visual identities. The Hamburglar wore black-and-white clothing and was associated with stealing hamburgers, Birdie represented breakfast products, and Officer Big Mac was linked to the fictional community’s law-enforcement theme. Those distinctions make Grimace’s color association particularly clear.