McDonald’s has announced it is bringing back Szechuan sauce for a second time after a roll out last year ended in riots because of limited supplies.
The fast food chain announced on Thursday that 20million packets of the dipping sauce have been distributed to every single one of its US stores and will be available from Monday, February 26.
Fans have been begging for a return of the dressing, originally made in 1998 to promote Disney movie Mulan, ever since it featured in cult cartoon Rick and Morty in April last year.
McDonald’s has announced the second coming of Szechuan sauce, with a total of 20million packets sent to all its US stores. It will be available from Monday
A severely limited supply of the sauce caused riots in October last year when Rick and Morty fans were unable to get their hands on a packet
The dressing gained cult popularity after bringing it back was revealed to be the main motivation for drunk scientist Rick Sanchez’s actions on the show
McDonald’s were keen to pour fuel on the fire by teasing a comeback on Twitter, but wildly underestimated demand with some stores only issued 20 packets when it was issued in October.
Police had to be called to one location in Kentucky to disperse the crowd, unconfirmed reports from the time said, announcing through a bullhorn: ‘Go home, they do not have the sauce.’
‘Give us sauce!’ one mob chanted, crowding the dining area of a San Jose, California McDonalds.
The sauce achieved cult status after the premiere episode of Rick and Morty season 3 featured it as a running joke.
Drunken genius Rick Sanchez first eats the sauce while traveling through his memories, which is the only place he can find it since it was discontinued.
At the end of the episode, having single-handedly overthrown the galactic government, he then reveals that bringing back the sauce is his sole motivation.
‘I want that Mulan McNugget sauce, Morty,’ Rick told his grandson. ‘That’s my series arc, Morty! If it takes nine seasons!’
Fans packed this New York City McDonald’s and were shocked to find that the few packets of sauce there had already been distributed by the promotion’s starting time
Police in Philadelphia were called in to disperse angry crowds seeking the Szechuan Sauce
A witness in Kentucky said that a man in costume as Rick made off with all 20 packets of sauce
In a statement uploaded Thursday, McDonald’s said: ‘Last October, 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.
‘We did not anticipate the overnight crowds, the cross-state travel and the amazing curiosity, passion and energy fans showed.
‘Our super-limited batch, though well-intentioned, clearly wasn’t near enough to meet that demand. We disappointed fans and we are sorry.
‘To fully make amends, we felt it was important to bring back much more sauce this time.’
The sauce will come alongside the chain’s chicken tenders meal, the statement said.
The sauce was featured in the Rick and Morty’s season three premiere, when time traveling alcoholic granddad Rick tells the alien holding him captive about the magical condiment
A crowd chanted ‘we want sauce!’ outside of this Los Angeles McDonald’s on Saturday
The disastrous promotion on Saturday was not the first time that the fast food chain had winked back at Rick and Morty about its strange place in the show’s universe.
In June, the company sent the show’s creators a 64 ounce bottle of the precious Szechaun Sauce, and a note from McDonald’s Chef Mike.
‘We wish we could have brought more sauce through, but we couldn’t risk keeping a portal like that open,’ he wrote, adding that they had brought the bottle back from a another dimension where it was 1998 everyday.
‘Holy s**t,’ show creator Justin Roiland tweeted in response to the package, while Rick and Morty Twitter account added: ‘Guys, we f**king did it, we got the sauce.’
In June, McDonald’s sent the show’s creators a 64 ounce bottle of the precious Szechaun Sauce from ‘Dimension C-1998M’, where it is always 1998