McDonald's Grinch Meal Sparks Rush, Many Locations Quickly Sold Out

McDonald’s rolled out a promotional Grinch Meal on December 2, 2025, pairing Dill Pickle "Grinch Salt" McShaker Fries with either a Big Mac or 10 piece McNuggets, a medium drink, and collectible Grinch socks. The package proved unusually popular, and many participating U.S. restaurants ran out of the promotional items as customer demand outpaced supply.

The company’s marketing executives reported the Grinch Meal outsold recent past promotions, a sign that seasonal branded merchandise can drive notable traffic. Coverage of the rollout emphasized that the collectible socks were a major draw, turning a menu promotion into a merchandising event and generating heightened interest beyond the food itself.

That combination of higher than expected order volume and limited promotional inventory created tangible operational challenges at the restaurant level. Front line crew and store managers contended with surges in orders, the logistics of distributing a finite number of collectible items, and increased customer inquiries about availability. In outlets that exhausted their sock inventory or ran short on the special McShaker Fries seasoning, managers had to balance serving regular menu traffic with handling customers who came specifically for the promotion.

For workers this meant intensified peak periods, added complexity at the point of sale, and more time spent communicating inventory limits to guests. Managers faced pressure to adjust staffing and workflows on the fly, track promotional stock, and coordinate with suppliers or corporate channels to replenish items. Those operational strains can affect service times and employee workload during the busiest hours of the campaign.

The popularity of the Grinch Meal illustrates how collectible merchandising can amplify demand and change the labor and supply planning calculus for restaurants. For McDonald’s and its franchisees, the episode underscores the need for stronger coordination between marketing, supply chain, and store operations when promotions include limited edition non food items that can drive disproportionate traffic.