On Saturday, Oct. 7, a marketing technique led to ultimate chaos at select McDonald’s locations. Szechuan sauce, a condiment that has since been discontinued at McDonald’s, was brought back in limited supply at certain locations, and “Rick and Morty” fans lost all control.
If you aren’t a “Rick and Morty” fan, this situation is probably extremely confusing. Here’s a run-down of why this happened.
McDonald’s Szechuan sauce hasn’t been sold since its debut in 1998 as a promotion for “Mulan”, but an episode of “Rick and Morty” earlier this year featured the lead character going back in time just to revisit the popular condiment. As a response, participating McDonald’s locations decided to bring the sauce back for one day. With under 100 packets to give out, the food chain greatly underestimated the insanity that would unfold.
Photo source: Inverse
“Rick and Morty” fans, mostly middle-aged men, swarmed McDonald’s locations demanding the Szechuan sauce. Customers yelled at workers, violence broke out and protests ensued. There were even rumors that a stabbing occurred over the sauce.
Ironically, the customers that flooded McDonald’s food chains across America are the same people that mocked the excitement Starbucks customers had about the limited time unicorn frappuccino. Compare the Szechuan sauce insanity to the unicorn frappe craze, and you can easily see which group of people was more problematic.
Source: Giphy
However, McDonald’s has awarded the “Rick and Morty” fans for their behavior nonetheless, stating that the sauce will be returning in bigger supply this winter. Starbucks customers didn’t start riots when their drinks didn’t come out fast enough, so do these McDonald’s customers deserve a second chance?
I just have one thing to say to those middle-aged men that swarmed McDonald’s and mocked those girls for wanting unicorn frappes so bad: check yourself.