In October 2017, McDonald’s caused lots of uproar among customers when a cross-promotion with the hit Adult Swim cartoon Rick and Morty didn’t quite go as expected. A main character on Rick and Morty’s fascination with McDonald’s Szechuan sauce, originally released in the late 1990’s as part of a promotion for the new-at-the-time Disney animated movie Mulan, caused the nationwide burger joint to bring back the sauce in limited quantities to certain locations – though the intense demand for it caused long lines, riots, and even physical violence. The promotion which was supposed to last for around a week only lasted for a day.

February 26, McDonald’s brought back the Szechuan sauce in much larger quantities to locations nationwide as opposed to only certain locations. McDonald’s rolled out 20 million packets of the sauce to locations nationwide and said the following apology on their site wewantthesauce.com:
“[We] truly meant well when we brought back a super-limited batch of Szechuan Sauce, but it quickly became apparent we did not make enough to meet the expectations of our fans.”

The company also admitted their mistakes and made three podcasts about the prior controversy surrounding the sauce. They expected the promotion to be much more successful than their prior promotion – but the reality turned out to be not as much of a success as they anticipated. Many have criticized the sauce as “overhyped” and “not worth rioting over” on social media. Still, that didn’t stop the curious Rick and Morty fans and fast-food lovers alike from trying and buying the sauce for themselves; as of March 2, supplies of the sauce are low and it has become almost as near-impossible to find as it was back in October. Some people have even hoarded the sauce due to knowing it’s only available in limited quantities, asking for – and even paying for – nine or ten packets of it to save.

As I do not eat fast food often and seldom go to McDonald’s, I have not tasted the sauce yet, though it has sparked my curiosity; it is unlikely that I will be unable to taste it for myself, though, as the supply is diminishing rather quickly. If you’re interested in trying it for yourself, then stop by your local McDonald’s to see if they have it – but be sure to act quickly before supplies run out!