When Irish food dyes are smiling...
'Tis the season!
Like so many of us, McDonald’s has an Irish uncle that they don’t talk to very often… but this year, the fast food chain decided to reach across the aisle and welcome Uncle O’Grimacey back into the fold. It’s a St. Patrick’s Day miracle!
First, a bit of history on the Shamrock Shake. It was created in 1967 by a Connecticut McD’s owner/operator named Hal Rosen. His version was lemon/lime sherbet and vanilla ice cream. By 1970, it was rolling out to select locations across the country, but the fussy preparation was soon pared down to simply adding green food coloring to the regular vanilla shake. Around 1983, the toothpaste flavoring was added. It was always just offered just once a year for a limited time, beginning at the end of February and going until St. Patrick’s Day (with the exception of 2019, when it was sold again in Philly at the start of the NFL season.)
When the daughter of a Philadelphia Eagles player was diagnosed with leukemia in 1974, Ray Kroc, the Eagles and Hal Rosen banded together to raise funds for her treatment. The sale of every Shamrock Shake went to create the first Ronald McDonald House.
The following year, Uncle O’Grimacey made his debut. Complete with a shillelagh and cob hat, this character was intended to be a St. Patrick’s Day icon. He even had his own merch. But he was dropped pretty unceremoniously by the chain sometime around 1981. Why?
The rumor goes that the actor portraying Uncle O’Grimacey made some choice comments about the IRA at an event in Philadelphia. Now, Philly was – and honestly, still is – a bit of a hotbed of pro-Irish independence sentiment. (To wit: an IRA bombmaker was arrested there in ‘79; he was named honorary grand marshal of the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in ‘83 – while still in jail.)
Does the story hold water? No article has been found in the local news reporting the rumored incident. Others have suggested that he simply had ties to the IRA in some fashion. So would McDonald’s really cancel a promotion just because the guy inside the giant fuzzy green suit did some Irish nonsense?
I think the urban legend itself is more telling of the motive for dumping Uncle O’Grimacey: visibly promoting an Irish character kinda seemed to be supporting the IRA. Or British control of Ireland. Or both. Or neither. There were always bombings and attacks being carried out by the IRA at this time, including a 1979 bombing that killed the cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Promoting an Irish character was probably shaky ground - bad pun.
And, honestly, another bumbling, amorphous creature of indeterminate origin was probably a lot for the McDonald’s lore. He’s Grimace’s uncle, but his last name is O’Grimacey? He’s green? He’s Irish? I dunno…
So why didn’t the Shamrock Shake suffer the same fate as Uncle O’Grimacey? For one, the idea that the sale of the shakes went to support the Ronald McDonald House never went away – even well after that stopped being true. For two, these limited edition sips aren’t always rolled out across the country, still to this day; finding them became a bit of a game for superfans. And for three? The marketing wisely honed in more on St. Patrick’s Day, more neutral ground for everyone.
So why is Uncle O’Grimacey back from whatever hovel he crawled into? 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the first Ronald McDonald House. For the sale of each Shamrock Shake, 25 cents will be donated to RMHC from February 10th to March 23rd. They’re also no doubt trying to follow up the awkward as hell social media frenzy that was the purple shake for Grimace’s birthday.
To promote UO’G, McDonald’s has partnered up with Ancestry.com (yes, really) for social ads, I guess encouraging people to connect with their own intentionally-forgotten Irish uncles. There’s all-new Uncle O’Grimacey merch (“Who’s Your Uncle?” is a choice…), in case that’s your thing.
As for me? I had my 2025 Shamrock Shake on the day they rolled out (complete coincidence, actually). And I’ll see them again next year, God willing.