Adult Swim(LOS ANGELES) — After the hit animated show Rick and Morty generated massive interest in a McDonald’s condiment they no longer produce — specifically, Chicken McNugget Szechuan Sauce that debuted to promote the 1998 Disney hit Mulan — the fast food giant ended up in a sticky situation.
But now it’s making amends, deliciously.
Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty has created a new generation of Szechuan sauce fans, when it featured the stuff this year in season three, as something of a universe-shaking McGuffin. “That’s my one-armed-man, Morty!” a raging Rick tells his frightened grandson. “I’m not driven by avenging my dead family, Morty. That was fake. I’m driven by finding that McNugget sauce!”
McDonald’s announced they would reintroduce the stuff last October, but lines of fans left empty handed, and in one case launched a small-scale riot — when the demand nearly instantly outmatched the supply.
Others auctioned off the tiny pods on eBay, charging hundreds.
Driving demand as well, was the super-sized bottle McDonald’s gifted to the creators of the Adult Swim show.
As a mea culpa — and let’s face it, a pretty savvy marketing move — McDonald’s has announced it’s releasing 20 million packets of the coveted nugget covering beginning Monday, and is launching a podcast slightly spoofing the likes of the true-crime ‘cast Serial to explore the phenomenon.
“We’ve worked every day since October to bring back much, much, more of the sauce our fans have been craving,” the statement reads, noting the 20 million packets will be around, “while supplies last (which this time around, we hope is a while).”
The podcast, made with the help of Studio@Gizmodo and Onion Labs, is called The Sauce, and its three episodes are called, “Good Intentions,” “The Szechuan Sauce Riots,” and “Making Amends.”
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