The newest Internet food craze has arrived, and it has arrived with hype. This past Saturday, McDonald’s has released an item named Szechuan sauce for a limited time. Only the first 20 people in line at participating location received the sauce. Rick and Morty fan Terence Jon Nerona stated, “Haven’t tasted it. Don’t see what the hype is about.”
The release was in promotion for another new product, Buttermilk Chicken Tenders. The sauce and tenders go hand in hand, offering a new experience for fast food consumers alike.
Earlier this year, a popular adult cartoon Rick and Morty released the first episode of their third season as an April Fool’s joke. The episode features the main character, Rick, revisiting a memory in 1998, where he goes through the McDonald’s drive-thru and orders a 20-piece and Szechuan teriyaki dipping sauce. It is explained as a promotional product for the Disney film Mulan, using Chinese Szechuan peppers as a main ingredient, hence its famous name. Fans quickly hyped the sauce and discussed the flavor of it, seeing it has been discontinued for 19 years.
Due to high demand, McDonald’s has revived the glorified sauce on October 7th. Thousands of fans lined up at their local location in hopes of tasting the sauce. With only having 20 packets at each spot, many left unhappy after waiting for hours just to receive nothing. McDonald’s marketing department failed to explicitly say the amount of sauce at each location, creating a false sense of hope for Rick & Morty enthusiasts. Creator of R&M Justin Roiland released a statement of twitter, saying, “FYI: We had nothing to do with this McDonald’s stuff. Not happy w/how this was handled. Please be cool to the employees it’s not their fault.” Many videos have surfaced showing fights among customers and commotion between sauce-hungry fans and employees. Sophomore Raul Gonzalez stated, “I think this would can’t live without Szechuan sauce.” In conclusion, the year is 2017 and people hurt each other over an almost 20-tear old discontinued McDonald’s nugget dipping sauce.
