Forget Grimace, McDonald's Is Already Planning Its Next Nostalgic Character Comeback

Remember CosMc? Neither do we.

In a mostly forgotten McDonald’s commercial from the late 1980s, Ronald McDonald, Grimace, and the obscure McDonaldland resident called “The Professor” are walking together when a silver flying object gently lands on the road in front of them. An orange alien that looks like a slug with legs pops out, says he's on a “trade mission” and casually scams Ronnie McD and Grimace out of their headphones, skateboard, and lunch. Ronald invites him to eat the burgers he tried to steal, and then the alien launches himself back into the sky.

That was every 80s kid’s introduction to CosMc, the McMeal-loving alien who appeared in a handful of commercials before either flying back to space or joining The Professor in whatever McDonaldland suburb the abandoned characters lived in. (We hope the Fry Kids are now living life as well-adjusted Fry Adults.) Anyway, McDonald’s is not only bringing CosMc back, they’re apparently basing an entire spinoff restaurant around him.

In a recent earnings call, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said that the CosMc’s restaurant was currently in development and would debut sometime in 2024. “CosMc's is a small-format concept with all the DNA of McDonald's but its own unique personality,” he said during the call.

A McDonald’s spokesperson confirmed the news to Food & Wine. “McDonald’s New Business Ventures team is developing a new concept called ‘CosMc's’ which will be tested in a small handful of sites in a limited geography beginning early next year,” they wrote. “We look forward to providing more information about development plans and new format innovations at our Investor Day at the end of the year.”

Related: What, Exactly, Is Grimace?

You can’t blame McDonald’s for betting on another McCharacter, because we’ve all just lived through a two-month period that should probably be called “Hot Grimace Summer.” The limited-edition Grimace’s Birthday Meal — and its now iconic Grimace shake — became a big thing on TikTok. It also became a big thing for McDonald’s bottom line.

“This quarter, the theme is — well, if I’m being honest, the theme was Grimace,” Kempczinski said. “Grimace has been everywhere in the past few months [...] this viral phenomenon is yet another proof point of the power of marketing at McDonald’s today.”

We’ll know in a few months whether CosMc’s and its namesake alien will have the same social media clout — or the same staying power — as Grimace. In the meantime, we’d really like to know how those Fry Kids are doing.

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