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McDonald's Shamrock Shake drink returns today

St. Patrick's Day is March 17.

It's easy being green when you're the McDonald's Shamrock Shake.

That's because the mint cold beverage is back -- right in time for St. Patrick's Day. The classic drink returns to participating McDonald's restaurants Feb. 21 for a limited time.

The drink, which debuted in the U.S. in 1970, is made of vanilla soft-serve ice cream, minty syrup and whipped topping.

St. Patrick's Day is March 17.

This year, McDonald's is introducing an official Shamrock Shake Finder app for iOS and Android phones.

A small Shamrock Shake has 460 calories, 13 grams of fat and 63 grams of sugar, according to the McDonald's website.

The Shamrock Shake means green -- a.k.a. money -- for the Oak Brook, Ill.-based fast food giant, too. It's a seasonal favorite that has a strong fan following; think of it as a late winter's equivalent of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte phenomenon.

"McDonald's definitely gets a profitable sales boost, especially between now and March, when everyone wants to be Irish," said Burt Flickinger III, managing director of the Strategic Resource Group, a retail and consumer goods consultancy.

He added that the drink also stirs up word of mouth for the brand.

McDonald's caught some flak last year over a Shamrock Shake-related tweet, which included images of bagpipes and Stonehenge. Bagpipes are a Scottish instrument and the prehistoric stone monument is in England.

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