All Of McDonald's Instagram Posts Have Suddenly Disappeared

Strange things happen on the internet every day. Remember, for instance, back in 2019, when an Instagram photo of an egg shockingly surpassed the birth announcement of Kylie Jenner's daughter Stormi to become the most-liked photo of all time? And who could forget that fateful day in 2015 that started with two llamas escaping from a retirement community in Arizona and ended with a mind-bending photo of a dress (you know the one) that divided the world wide web in half (via Buzzfeed News)?

As we said, strange things happen on the internet every day, and Monday, September 26 was no different. However, unless you've been stalking the McDonald's Instagram page in hopes of finding official confirmation that the chain is bringing back its Happy Meal Halloween Buckets, you have missed the big oddity of the day, which is that the entirety of the Mickey D's Insta page has suddenly disappeared. Yes, we're talking about every single upload, even that hilarious "legal" post that had the social media app in shambles just four days ago, gone, without a trace. The restaurant's Instagram bio has gotten an update as well, and now simply reads "::)."

The eatery's Twitter account, meanwhile, still shows all 847,000 of its past tweets. However, its bio features the same strange smiley face, and its header image is now a poorly drawn re-recreation of the McDonald's logo, begging the question: What in the world is going on?

Taylor Swift is one of several celebs who have wiped their Instagrams clean in anticipation of an upcoming project (via Us Weekly), and it seems that McDonald's may be doing the same. After deleting all of its posts on Monday morning, the chain shared a new upload that many think is an indication something big is coming. Now, those who visit the brand's Instagram page will find a single post containing three slides with close-up images of its former mascots: Grimace, whose facial expression resembles that in the chain's Instagram and Twitter bios, Birdie the Early Bird, and the Hamburglar. There is also a fourth slide in the upload with an image of what appears to be a cartoon person wearing a hat brandished with the McDonald's logo.

Naturally, the cryptic post has led to plenty of speculation in the comments section, including a theory that Snack Wraps might finally be put back on the menu. Others predict that the discontinued McDonaldland characters will be making a triumphant return, which one user may have confirmed with their claim that they saw a message on the McDonald's website that said, "The one and only McDonald's Big Mac Combo Meal, now inside limited-edition packaging, plus collectible – unwrap a Birdie, Grimace, Hamburglar or Cactus Buddy!" Unfortunately, the message has apparently since been deleted, so it seems that only time will tell what the mysterious disappearance of McDonald's Instagram posts means.