By Heather Haddon

McDonald's has grounded its alien-themed CosMc's offshoot before it ever fully took off.

The fast-food giant said Friday that it will pull the plug on its beverage-oriented offshoot, called CosMc's after a McDonald's alien mascot of old. Next month, it plans to close its remaining stand-alone locations serving nonalcoholic drinks like Berry Hibiscus Sour-ade or Churro Cold Brew Frappé for around $5 a pop.

Started as a pilot in December 2023, the Chicago-based company built eight CosMc's sites, one in Illinois and the rest in Texas. Five currently remain open.

McDonald's wouldn't say how much it spent building the whimsical restaurants, nor what it would do with the buildings. A CosMc's-themed app would also go dark, the company said.

Instead, McDonald's said it would test some of the novel drinks in its regular U.S. restaurants.

CosMc's was McDonald's first new U.S. restaurant concept in its more than 60-year history, with the company aiming to cater to younger consumers drinking up brightly-colored, sweet drinks like lattes, slushes and frappés. Dutch Bros and other upstart coffee chains have racked up big business from beverages catering to Gen Z, many of them highly-caffinated and coming in eye-popping flavors and colors.

McDonald's said in March that it was focusing more on beverages in a dedicated company division, with one of CosMc's leaders shifting over to help lead the enterprise.

As for CosMc's, the initial location in Bolingbrook, Ill. initially drew long lines of curiosity seekers. Lines for the establishment had thinned out more recently.

McDonald's said earlier this month that it initially feared the beverages would be too complex for the chain's core restaurants, but fewer customers customized them than anticipated. It also hoped it would ring up more food by selling the drinks at regular McDonald's restaurants than at CosMc's.

The company said CosMc's-inspired flavors would blend "out of this world tastes into the McDonald's experience."

Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 23, 2025 14:53 ET (18:53 GMT)

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