The Szechuan Sauce was a limited edition sauce at Mcdonald's in 1998 to promote the release of Disney's Mulan. It gained unusual attention after it appeared in an episode of the Adult Swim show "Rick & Morty". The creator of the show made it clear he was a huge fan and back in July received a bottle of the sauce from McDonald's. The company made an announcement last week that the sauce would make a return for just one day on October 7th.

Not just limited

In their announcement, McDonald's called the release "really, really limited" saying that only certain US locations would have it in stock.

Fans from all over attempted to get the sauce, with many people on Twitter posting about their hours of road-tripping for it. There were even people who drove all the way from Canada for Szechuan.

Though fans knew the release was limited and prepared by traveling to the correct locations, they were not prepared for just how limited it was. Hundreds of people camped out at the selected McDonald's locations but the sauces were gone in the blink of an eye. Some restaurants were out before it was even 6 am.

Angry fans protest

According to @ianjsikes on Twitter, over 1,000 people camped out at the McDonald's location he was at. Only a total of 70 sauces were given to that location, leading to some unhappy fans.

Things got aggressive as the irritated fans began chanting "We want sauce". The video below shows the chanting as police showed up to keep the crowd back.

After seeing the protests around the country and receiving hate through Twitter, McDonald's issued an apology to fans.

"The best fans in the multiverse showed us what they got today," they said before repeating their original warning about how limited the sauce was. "We hear you & we're sorry not everyone could get some super-limited Szechuan."

Options are fairly limited for all the fans that missed out on Szechuan sauce. Packets of the sauce are for sale on eBay with many auctions already reaching $1000.

Although McDonald's apology seemed insensitive to fans, their marketing team was clearly preoccupied with crafting the next announcement on Sunday. Later in the day, the fast-food chain posted a letter addressing Szechuan fans with "You spoke. We've listened."

The letter tells customers how "humbled" the company was by the "curiosity, passion, and energy" they saw in the protests. It also declares a win for Rick & Morty fans: another return of Szechuan sauce.

McDonald's will bring the sauce back again this winter with a promise of more availability. It's unclear how long the sauce will stick around this time, but either way, the protests certainly paid off for fans.
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