“Nothing can kill the Grimace.” If you know that meme, then you are in good company, because it was the first thing I thought of when I found out this particular news item. Fast food giant McDonald’s (MCD) has taken advantage of its perennial meme favorite character, that giant purple lump, to roll out an entire themed menu. However, this viral craze in the making might be a little tougher to get in on than you may like. It was good enough for investors, though, who sent McDonald’s shares up fractionally in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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The menu capitalizes on the fame of not only Grimace himself, but also the Grimace Birthday milkshake from a couple of years ago. The menu will feature a purple hamburger with purple bun, purple cheese and purple BBQ-style sauce, along with a set of Purple McPops with blueberry filling, a purple blueberry and cream sauce, a purple cream cheese pie, and the Grimace shake.
If that sounds like just enough purple for you, then McDonald’s awaits. The downside is that this menu will only appear in Germany for the time being. Why Germany specifically? That much is unclear, but reports suggest that this may be a “test bed” approach. If the Germans love the purple menu, then the purple menu may go live in other locations to follow, much like the Big Arch did.
Suicides Off the Menu
Those who remember their childhoods of drinking a soda that was comprised of every flavor a dispenser could offer, the “suicide,” will likely find this a depressing development. Some McDonald’s locations have already begun to remove drink dispensers from the dining room, which means your ability to mix flavors is in jeopardy.
This may be a cost-savings move. This may be a measure designed to increase turnover in the dining area by giving people less reason to stick around or decreasing free refills. Or this may simply be a connection to the “dirty sodas” and premium beverages that McDonald’s has been bringing out lately. McDonald’s, for its part, declares the move is intended to “…create a consistent experience for both customers and crew across all ordering points….”
Is McDonald’s Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on MCD stock based on 14 Buys and 12 Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 7.51% loss in its share price over the past year, the average MCD price target of $347.78 per share implies 18.69% upside potential.
