What is Grimace? McDonald’s manager interview puzzles the internet

We might have an answer to one of life’s burning questions: what exactly is McDonald’s character Grimace?

Canadian news outlet CBC recently interviewed Brian Bates, dubbed the “Outstanding Manager of the Year” for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic by the fast food chain.

During the interview, Bates offers some tips and tricks for saving money at McDonald’s before sharing that the beloved purple blob hanging with Ronald McDonald and Mayor McCheese all these years is a taste bud.

“He is an enormous taste bud, but a taste bud nonetheless,” Bates told CBC.

USA TODAY has reached out to McDonald’s to confirm whether Grimace is, in fact, a taste bud.

This is not the first time the taste bud theory has been tossed out . In a 2012 tweet, the corporate account for McDonald’s noted in response to another use Grimace “is the embodiment of a milkshake, though others still insist he’s a taste bud.”