How McDonald's Discontinued Szechuan Sauce Became A Pop Culture Phenomenon

The strangest things can reach cult status, often years or even decades after they were first introduced. While so many iconic snacks from the 1990s now lie forgotten, a McDonald's condiment from the '90s has become a pop-culture phenomenon almost two decades after it was launched and phased out. It all happened because the fast food chain's Szechuan dipping sauce was featured in the Adult Swim animated series "Rick and Morty." 

To be fair, the promotional dipping sauce, which was originally introduced in 1998 to coincide with the release of Walt Disney's "Mulan," was given significant importance in the irreverent animated show's Season 3 premiere, which aired in 2017. This was followed by McDonald's actually sending the show's co-creator Justin Roiland a 64-ounce bottle of the Szechuan sauce and a tongue-in-cheek letter, which Roiland shared on X (formerly Twitter). 

Just how popular did the dipping sauce become? Well, a Change.org petition to McDonald's to bring it back was signed by 38,000 people even before "Rick and Morty" Season 3 ended. Someone paid almost $15,000 for a packet of the dipping sauce, which the seller found in a used car he purchased (via TIME). In hindsight, it's easy to see why things devolved to such an extent that when McDonald's briefly reintroduced it in 2017, the police needed to be called to some outlets where fans of the show were chanting for the Szechuan dipping sauce.

McDonald's Szechuan dipping sauce was initially introduced in partnership with Walt Disney for the release of the studio's animated feature, "Mulan." If you're wondering how the movie and the sauce connect, the story follows a young girl who disguises herself as a man and joins the Chinese army. The limited-time condiment came with chicken nugget happy meals and a "Mulan" toy. Once the promotion ended, the sauce disappeared from McDonald's outlets and pop culture's zeitgeist.

Fast forward to 2017 when the Season 3 premiere of "Rick and Morty" (titled "The Rickshank Rickdemption") brought the sauce crashing back into people's consciousness. In one scene, Rick, seemingly held hostage by aliens, spends valuable time stopping at a McDonald's drive-in to pick up the sauce instead of saving himself. In another scene at the end of the episode, a crazed Rick reveals that his entire series arc is based not on avenging his dead family but on getting more of the Mulan Szechuan dipping sauce.

The show and its lead character Rick's popularity is unquestionable, so fans' desire to try the sauce is understandable. Of course, the show's irreverent nature means that the sauce was not mentioned again for the rest of the season. However, so many "Rick and Morty" fans tweeted at McDonald's manager of culinary innovation Mike Haracz (apparently egged on by Roiland) that the sauce was reintroduced. 

When McDonald's reintroduced the Szechuan dipping sauce in October 2017, the company seriously underestimated its demand. "Rick and Morty" fans and customers, some of whom waited in line all night, were furious when outlets had too few packets to go around. Violence broke out, and the police had to be dispatched to several locations. Responding to the events, Justin Roiland reiterated (via TMZ) that it was just a joke that had started in the show's writer's room and was merely a sauce. 

After issuing an apology, McDonald's reintroduced the sauce in much larger quantities in 2018. While many got their hands on the sauce this time, several fans complained about their McDonald's location not having the sauce or giving them out with chicken tenders instead of nuggets (which are not a McDonald's invention). It also seems that Rick is one of the few people who liked the sauce because many of those who tried it found its flavor underwhelming. But then, the sauce was never famous for being tasty.

It seems that the fast food chain has learned from the past because when McDonald's reintroduced the sauce again in 2022, it announced on X (formerly Twitter) that customers could only get it through the app. The company has since doubled down on the popularity of its retro sauces and introduced Throwback Meals, which feature the garlic Parmesan sauce from the 1980s, the (in)famous Szechuan sauce from the 1990s, and the Jalapeno Cheddar dip from the 2000s.