🥤 Purple vomit is gold for McDonald’s

You know the trope: Something fishy’s going on with the protagonist, and here comes that tired twist — there’s an evil twin.

Gasp. So surprising.

This latest evil twin reveal will surprise nobody, but it’s pretty jarring all the same — ChatGPT has an evil twin that caters to cybercriminals.

WormGPT…

… was created by an unknown hacker and launched last month, with its designer calling it ChatGPT’s “biggest enemy.”

OpenAI built ethical guardrails into ChatGPT to prevent malicious activities; WormGPT has none of that.

This huge jerk of a chatbot proudly “lets you do all sorts of illegal stuff,” per PCMag.

How does it work?

Cybersecurity firm SlashNext put WormGPT to use:

• Its primary purpose: generating convincing business email compromise (BEC) attacks, which use fake, personalized messages to access sensitive accounts.
• SlashNext found the tool produced “sophisticated” phishing emails that were “remarkably persuasive” and “strategically cunning” with commendable grammar.
• It also confirmed WormGPT has “no ethical boundaries or limitations.”
• Like ChatGPT, the tool is easy to use, meaning cybercriminals with limited experience could find success with it.

… so, that all sucks.

But let’s keep those worries in check?

Unlike its more responsible sibling, WormGPT isn’t free: Access costs ~$617/year, limiting adoption.

Also slowing its growth: bad word-of-mouth. One buyer on the hacker forum where WormGPT is sold said it’s “not worth any dime.”

And while smarter BEC attacks present a challenge, their threat is nothing new — a leading cybercrime that cost victims $2.4B worldwide in 2021, BEC attacks are already a focus for cybersecurity experts.

• Want to prepare yourself? The FBI offers tips on safeguarding accounts.

For now, WormGPT is less an active concern and more a sign of the looming fights ahead as AI increasingly gets in the hands of bad actors.

What happens when TikTok turns your brand into a horror movie? Free advertising.

ICYMI: In June, McDonald’s launched a special meal with a purple milkshake to celebrate Grimace’s birthday — Grimace being its purple mascot that’s possibly a large anthropomorphic taste bud.

Shortly thereafter…

… TikTokers began posting lofi horror videos in which trying the Grimace Shake resulted in mayhem. Videos ranged from simple — taste testers gurgling purple goo — to more elaborate:

• Courteney Cox’s dog turned into a giant
• Conspiracies
• Demonic possession

The hashtag #GrimaceShake currently has 2.7B views on TikTok, most of them from these videos.

McDonald’s…

… has achieved viral success with recent marketing gimmicks — its adult happy meals and Halloween Boo Buckets often sold out.

But this trend was started by a third party. TikToker Austin Frazier, inspired by a similar video of someone trying a Burger King Spider-Verse Whopper, posted the first video. Then, it took off organically.

McDonald’s ultimately responded by tweeting as Grimace, “meee pretending i don’t see the grimace shake trendd.”

How did this affect McDonald’s?

Jonah Berger, an associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, told The New York Times, “It’s not only raising awareness of the brand, but it makes the brand cooler among a key demographic, which is young people.”

Teens bought multiple shakes to dump on themselves, and Truist credited Grimace with same-store sales growth in Q2.

Guillaume Huin, McDonald’s social media director for brand content and engagement, tweeted that McDonald’s achieved “billions in reach, millions in engagements, [and] millions of mentions,” while people genuinely had fun.

Meanwhile, the trend has since spread to Cold Stone Creamery’s Barbie Shake, “yassifying” those who try it.

Fun fact: Grimace used to be the four-armed “Evil Grimace,” who stole milkshakes and beverages. In this commercial, Ronald McDonald tricks Grimace into falling into a pool. Could it be that Grimace was simply back for… revenge?