McDonald’s brought back its Shamrock Shake on Monday for what will likely be another triumphant limited run. With any Irish luck, the reception will bring a moment of peace and fond remembrances to the perennial favorite’s hard luck former pitchman, the ill-fated Uncle O’Grimacey.
The Erin-based relative of McDonald’s better-known Grimace character hasn’t landed much work since being booted from the shake’s commercials in the 1980s. There just aren’t that many roles for a mint-green hairball clutching a shillelagh and speaking in a brough, especially after that damned leprechaun snagged the Lucky Charms cereal gig.
O’Grimacey’s 15 minutes of McFame isn’t the only aspect of Shamrock’s past that’s been forgotten over the drink’s 55-year run. Today, few would dispute that it is one of the most successful restaurant limited offers of all time, rivaled only by Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte and McDonald’s other cult favorite of a temporary draw, the McRib. But the minty treat appearing on menus this go-round is considerably different from what a renegade McDonald’s franchisee concocted in his Connecticut operation back in 1967.
For one thing, Hal Rosen didn’t call it the Shamrock Shake. He called it the St. Patrick’s Day Green Shake, and it didn’t have a hint of mint nor its current shade of green (officially Shamrock SZN). Rosen’s original version was a citrusy quaff made with vanilla ice cream, lemon-lime sherbet and vanilla syrup.
The product didn’t become a menu option sanctioned by McDonald’s corporate until 1970, when the name was changed to the more McDonald’s-esque Shamrock Shake. It was tried in several markets and was instantly a hit, according to the chain’s official history. But it wouldn’t become a chainwide LTO until 2012.
By then, the franchisor had reformulated the drink, dropping the sherbet and making it solely out of vanilla ice cream. The green hue came from food coloring. In short, it was just a green version of a regular McDonald’s Vanilla Shake.
The shake was reformulated again in 1983 through the addition of a mint syrup, yielding nearly the version that’s available today (it lacked the whipped-cream topping that’s now a standard add-on.)
What’s often forgotten from those early days was the shake’s role in creating another McDonald’s signature, the Ronald McDonald Houses. In 1974, the young daughter of a Philadelphia Eagles player was being treated in the city for leukemia. Her parents slept on chairs in a hospital’s lobby to stay with her overnight.
Eagles General Manager Jimmy Murray decided to find a way to provide housing to parents and patient when a youngster has to be away from home for treatment. He asked McDonald’s operators in the area, including a future McDonald’s CEO named Ed Rensi, to help him raise funds. They agreed to donate their profits from sales of the Shamrock Shake. The funds went toward the purchase of a family boarding facility that was christened the Ronald McDonald House. Nearly 350 more would follow in the years since.
Hardcore fans of the Shamrock Shake might sneer at the notion of ordering anything other than the genuine item. But McDonald’s has tried to build on the product’s rabid following through a number of attempted line extensions. A Shamrock Sundae appeared and quickly disappeared in 1980.
More recently, McDonald’s tried such variations as a Shamrock Chocolate Shake, Shamrock Hot Chocolate and a Shamrock Chocolate Chip Frappe. This year’s experiment is the Oreo Shamrock McFlurry.
McDonald’s has not revealed what the main product has generated in sales over its long run. Similarly, it has yet to announce how long the shake and its spinoff will be available this year.