How McDonald’s Grinch Meal stole Christmas

If you haven’t gotten your McDonald’s Grinch Meal yet, it’s probably too late.

While the meal is still listed on McDonald’s app, it is apparently sold out at most locations. Reddit posts suggest that Grinch Meals became difficult to find almost immediately after they went on sale on Dec. 2.

The promotion is a partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, based on the author’s beloved children’s book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”

ALSO SEE: 14 Grinchmas things to eat and drink at Universal Studios Hollywood

The foods in the meal were straight off the menu, Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets and fries. But the packaging was masterful, a gift box featuring snarky remarks from the Grinch, a packet of dill pickle salt to go with the fries and a “McShaker” bag to coat the fries with the seasoning.

And each meal included a pair of socks covered with Dr. Seuss characters.

Social media posts suggest that restaurants stopped selling the meals as soon as the boxes or the socks ran out.

McDonald’s hasn’t commented, but YouTube reels suggest the promotion wouldn’t make it to Christmas. The videos feature a Grinch in a Jim Carrey-like costume making snide comments aimed at would-be customers.

“SOLD OUT IN LOTS OF PLACES HA,” read a Dec. 11 post. “TRY TO FiND MY GiFTS WHERE YOU CAN BUT MY REiGN OF CHAOS HERE iS COMiNG TO AN END SOON. TRY NOT TO MiSS ME TOO MUCH, WHOViLLE. MUAHHHH”

I tested the app on Thursday, Dec. 18 and wasn’t able to find the meal at any of my local McDonald’s But I found the McShaker Fries by themselves at one McDonald’s about nine miles from my house. A medium order cost $5.19, about an 80-cent markup from non-Grinch fries.

Meanwhile, sellers have been offering McDonald’s Grinch socks on Ebay, sometimes for eye-popping prices. One pair of yellow stocks with open packaging has an asking price of $3.5 million, higher than the median price of a home in Dana Point, “or best offer.”

Other pairs are going for as low as $14.99.