McDonald’s is bringing back its Szechuan sauce again after an attempt to do so last year led to riots when not enough of the coveted sauce was available.
The Szechuan sauce this time will be made available nationwide starting Monday, Feb. 26. McDonald’s will distribute 20 million packets of the sauce across every location in the U.S. to try and mitigate shortages.
McDonald’s Szechuan sauce, initially released in 1998 in a limited edition run to promote Disney’s Mulan, reentered pop culture last year when the cartoon scientist Rick obsessed over finding the elusive sauce on Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty. Demand for Szechuan sauce then grew among the show’s fans, who started a petition to bring it back.
McDonald’s (MCD) brought back the Szechuan sauce in October, offering it as a promotion with its Buttermilk Crispy Tenders in a handful of locations. Sauce shortages led to mass frustration among the Rick and Morty fanbase, causing riots and prompting extreme reactions. One fan even traded his car for a packet of the Szechuan sauce.
“We did not anticipate the overnight crowds, the cross-state travel and the amazing curiosity, passion and energy fans showed,” the fast food company said on a website dedicated to the sauce and the riots.
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Starting Monday, Rick and Morty fans may finally be satisfied.