Fans were eagerly awaiting a "really, really limited release" of McDonald's coveted Szechuan Sauce at over 600 locations this weekend. However, the Szechuan sauce release backfired, as multiple locations that were supposed to have the sauce didn't, and several had a very limited number of packets to give away. Thus, many fans protested outside of their local franchises and took to Twitter to lob complaints at how McDonald's handled the release.
@McDonalds you suck. Only 10 posters & 20 packets of #szechuansauce to a store; there are already 30 in line.. 4 hours early. #rickandmorty
— Brandon Kronz (@BrandonKronz) October 7, 2017
Common theme, I tried two in Delaware that @McDonalds website said had it, and they say they never got it. Seems like a bait and switch.
— Kyle Grantham (@kylegrantham) October 7, 2017
They ran out of Szechuan sauce already ? #giveusthesauce @McDonalds @adultswim #RickandMorty pic.twitter.com/CLAxM6mkcB
— Frederick (@fawich) October 7, 2017
@McDonalds drove 4 hours at 6am from Canada for that #szechuansauce - no sauce, wouldn't even give us a poster :( #iwantmymcnuggetsauce pic.twitter.com/HzYkmhplbO
— Jillian Campagnola (@RadioJillian) October 7, 2017
Several locations either didn't receive their sauce, didn't know about the promotion, or ran out quickly despite loads of people coming out for the sauce. People weren't happy as a result, but at a couple of locations, folks were annoyed enough to force cops to show up.
Cops are at Wellington McDonalds where tons of angry people lined up for hrs for Rick and Morty Szechuan sauce only to learn they had none pic.twitter.com/3T272osid4
— Lulu Ramadan (@luluramadan) October 7, 2017
Angry crowd chants "We want sauce" as police force them back. 1000+ people camped out to get #szechuansauce but McDonalds had 70 sauces... pic.twitter.com/wEaqC64Hln
— Ian ??? Sikes (@ianjsikes) October 7, 2017
Police were even called to one location where over 1000 people showed up to get the sauce, but only 70 packets were available. Twitter user Ian Sikes reports that customers there even jumped the counter and grabbed handfuls of the sauce for themselves.
Of course, those who weren't as invested in the sauce got a great laugh out of McDonald's snafu with the dip. Wendy's, for example, took an absolutely savage shot at their golden-arched rival:
We'd say follow the trail of sauce, but there aren't nearly enough to make a trail.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) October 7, 2017
Before the weekend began, Foodbeast had a chance to speak to McDonald's chef Mike Haracz. He spoke on the challenges of bringing the Szechuan Sauce back to life and how the company would approach the sauce going forward, both of which are insightful considering how the release went this weekend.
Describing reviving the sauce itself as a "challenge," Chef Haracz told Foodbeast that it took "a lot of people to get this done."
"We wanted to make sure that it was THE exact sauce the people were expecting. We wanted to make sure that we had everything internally to give the people what they want. We have people here at McDonald’s who have been here for a long time and know what it tastes like. When you’re a restaurant of our scale, it takes a lot of people to get this done. But I think it rolled out like clockwork."
As for whether the sauce would return itself, McDonald's has already promised a larger scale national launch sometime this winter to appease angry fans. Other than that, though, Chef Haracz indicated that there weren't other plans going forward.
Despite the Szechuan Sauce originally coming out for the original Mulan movie in 1998, it appears that as of right now, McDonald's won't release it again for the live version of the movie. "There’s actually no association to the live Mulan movie that’s coming out," Chef Haracz told Foodbeast. "This is purely based off of consumers wanting it and the Rick & Morty show. But we have no plans to associate with the movie at all."
For now, at least, it seems that the additional winter release may be the last we see of the Szechuan sauce. Hopefully, McDonald's is able to appease Rick & Morty fans with this launch, as it may be the last time they will get a chance to taste it.
