You can finally end your McDonald’s boycott, “Rick and Morty” fans! The fast food chain is offering you an olive branch in the form of 20 million packets of their (weirdly) coveted Szechuan sauce, starting Feb. 26. And yes, they are hoping this will make up for their first promo tied to one of the most beloved references to the Dan Harmon-created series.
“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,” McDonald’s said in a statement on their new site WeWantTheSauce.com on Thursday. “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.”
The “Rick and Morty” love is real and after the show aired a reference to the sauce in an April 2017 episode (“I’m not driven by avenging my dead family, Morty! That was fate. I’m driven by finding that McNugget sauce!”), McDonald’s gave it a very limited release. We’re talking reportedly 20-40 packets per each location that participated. A bidding war, riots, and petitions ensued.
The Golden Arches said they have ordered up 20 million packets of Szechuan sauce this time, which will be made available across all U.S. McDonald’s restaurants with a qualifying purchase, while supplies last.
While you await the return of the tangy substance, McDonald’s invites you to listen to “The Sauce,” a podcast created in collaboration with Studio@Gizmodo and Onion Labs. The three-part series takes a deep dive into “what happened on October 7th and the people behind the efforts to make things right.”
So point your portal guns toward the nearest McDonald’s next Monday and hope that 20 million packets is actually enough.