Grimace was represented by a large purple, friendly figure in McDonald’s advertising.
Grimace became one of the best-known McDonaldland characters. The character’s early portrayal was more closely associated with stealing milkshakes, but later advertising presented Grimace as a good-natured friend of Ronald McDonald and the other characters.
His simple shape and unusual purple color made him easy to identify in television commercials, restaurant displays, toys, and promotional materials. Unlike the Hamburglar, whose role depended on a specific joke, Grimace became a broader companion character whose personality could support many kinds of family advertising.
Descriptions of Grimace’s species vary because McDonald’s advertising did not consistently define him as a real-world animal. Calling him a purple character is therefore more reliable than assigning him a specific animal identity.