Opinion: McDonald’s Grandma McFlurry Evokes Images of Dusty Candy and Granny Panties. No Thanks, Says This Grandma

McDonald’s claims its latest frozen sensation, the Grandma McFlurry, evokes sweet thoughts of an older generation, but it just leaves this grandma with a sour taste in her mouth. 

The fast-food chain launched Grandma McFlurry with grand (ha!) fanfare this week, including a Grandma McFlurry mobile unit that delivered samples to senior centers and assisted living centers in New York City. The 600-calorie frozen concoction features butterscotch-flavored syrup and a McDonald’s version of soft-serve that’s loaded with chopped butterscotch candy chips. Although McDonald’s never says, the candies are surely meant to mimic Werther’s Originals, the butterscotch candies that built an entire ad campaign in the 1980s about being the favorite of grandparents.

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The Grandma McFlurry sells for about $6. But I had to go to two McDonald’s to find a franchise with a working soft-serve machine, and the McFlurry I got was more McSlushy than creamy. It was served in a run-of-the-mill McFlurry cup, not the as-advertised, pink and red cup with “xoxo, Grandma” printed on the side (and frankly that was just fine because talk about syrupy…).

The taste is sweet — sweet like eating sugar straight from the bowl sweet — not surprising since an approximate one-cup serving has 73 grams of added sugar, the equivalent of more than 17 teaspoons. 

But it’s not the taste or even the lack of nutrition that bothers me — heck, I’ll take a butterscotch sundae anytime. It’s the name. Grandma McFlurry? Seriously? It’s just ageism and lazy marketing, kids. Don’t fall for it. Heck, even Werther’s is trying to change its image to market to a more diverse — read younger — audience. 

I suppose to McDonald’s credit, there’s a diversity of grandmas in the Grandma McFlurry ad, all having a grand time, so to speak, slurping a Grandma McFlurry with loving grandchildren who appear to be Gen Z, in their teens and 20s. And the company is donating to Little Brothers/Friends of the Elderly — a visitation program to prevent isolation among older people. (Although apparently preventing diabetes is not a priority — just saying.)