'Rick And Morty' May Convince McDonald's To Bring Back The 'Mulan' Szechuan Sauce
This past weekend, Adult Swim surprised everyone on April Fools' Day by debuting the long-awaited third season premiere to Rick and Morty, both online and on Cartoon Network. It was a welcome return for the brilliant animated comedy series, though it has caused some debate among fans as to whether what is actually going on in the episode (you can find out more about that here). But beyond having fans coming up with theories about the direction of the show, there was one other way Rick and Morty worked fans into a frenzy.
In the episode, we learn that Rick has a potentially unhealthy affinity for a special Szechuan sauce that was given out with McDonald's chicken nuggets for a limited time as part of a cross-promotion with the release of Mulan back in 1998. Despite demands by fans in various petitions online over the years, the sauce has remained hidden away. However, it sounds like there's a chance its appearance in Rick and Morty may have convinced the fast food chain to bring it back.
First of all, for those who many not be familiar with the Mulan Szechuan sauce promotion, here you go:
The Rick and Morty Mulan Szechuan sauce obsession has only reinvigorated those who remember the Szechuan sauce, and the official Twitter account for the Adult Swim show even took their love of the condiment to McDonald's itself:
.@RickandMorty McNugga Lubba Dub Dub. 👀
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) April 2, 2017
The fact that the fast food chain responded so enthusiastically (despite what "wubba lubba dub dub" really means) was encouraging. Then one fan took the demand for Szechuan sauce to McD Truth, a McDonald's blog that provides inside information and insight about the company's marketing and direction.
In turn, they called out corporate chef Mike Haracz, who creates food for McDonald's, to see if getting the sauce recipe off the shelf was possible. He responded (via Business Insider):
I'll see what I can do
— Chef Mike Haracz 🍔🍟🍕🌮🥓 (@Mike_Haracz) April 3, 2017
The timing of this resurgence of demand for McDonald's Szechuan sauce may be just a tad too early, though. The best time for the nugget dipping sauce to return to would be sometime next year, when Disney's live-action adaptation of Mulan comes to theaters on November 2, 2018. Of course, I'm sure fans won't be mad if McDonald's brings it back before that just for the hell of it.
If this reference from Rick and Morty can get McDonald's to revive the Szechuan sauce, that would be quite the feat. Maybe they can start inserting references to other forgotten junk food like Dunkaroos, Nintendo cereal, Squeez-Its, Cookies n Cream Twix, Black Cherry Vanilla Coca-Cola and more.