McDonald’s Offers Angry ‘Rick And Morty’ Fans 2nd Sauce Giveaway

McDonald’s is trying a second take on their unexpectedly popular Szechuan Sauce promotion. But will their Feb. 26 effort – which involves 20 million packets of the discontinued condiment – be enough to appease fans of the hit animated series, "Rick and Morty,” who drove an out-of-the-blue demand for the sauce’s return following a name-dropping during the show’s third season?

The fast food giant recently announced that on Monday, Feb. 26, it plans to make 20 million packets of McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce available across all its restaurants in the United States while supplies last, with a qualifying purchase such as its Buttermilk Crispy Tenders.

The Feb. 26 promotion comes after a limited-run effort last October that quickly saw the company’s small supply of sauce packets disappear, leaving many fans of the show frustrated and sans Szechuan. (Watch a video with McDonald’s explanation of the foul-up below)

• See related article: For 1 Day Only, Get McDonald's 'Szechuan Sauce' (Thanks, Rick And Morty)

According to a recent McDonald’s blog post:

“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 not only bring back much more sauce this time, but to also admit our mistakes, answer questions and give fans access to the story behind the story.”

McDonald’s further admitted to the mix-up in a Friday news release:

“Last October, McDonald’s brought back a limited batch of Szechuan Sauce and underestimated the pronounced response of its passionate fan base. To make this up to its customers, McDonald’s is bringing back more Szechuan Sauce to be distributed across every restaurant in the United States.”

Every restaurant in the nation? Patch emailed a McDonald’s New York Metro Region spokesperson, who verified that packets of the sauce will be available at all McDonald's restaurants, including franchises, during the Feb. 26 promotion.

The 20 million packets of sauce that were produced to fuel the expected need will be distributed across the entire U.S., not one specific region, the spokesperson added.

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Photo: McDonald's USA, used with permission