The McDonald’s character whose name refers to a grimace is Grimace. He is a large purple character created for McDonald’s advertising and became one of the best-known figures in the company’s fictional McDonaldland cast.
Grimace’s early characterization differed from the friendly, simple personality most audiences later recognized. He was originally associated with a more mischievous identity involving milkshakes, but McDonald’s gradually presented him as a gentle and child-friendly companion.
His appearance helped McDonald’s build a recognizable visual world around its food and restaurants. Alongside Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar, Birdie, and other figures, Grimace gave the brand recurring characters that could appear in television commercials, promotions, and merchandise.
Grimace is sometimes mistaken for a food item or for the Hamburglar because both characters were strongly connected to McDonald’s advertising. The names are distinct: Grimace identifies the purple creature, while the Hamburglar is the striped character associated with stealing hamburgers.