On October 7, McDonald's took a chance to boost their image. For one day, they brought back a very limited number of the limited-edition Szechuan Sauce for "Rick and Morty" fans. Although McDonald's never brought up the show and even avoided needing legal permissions, their goal was obvious. They didn't expect to have to call the police to several locations in order to get unruly fans under control, and they probably didn't expect a fan being able to trade a packet of the sauce for a car.
The car trade
Many people are selling their packets of Szechuan sauce on websites like eBay for hundreds of dollars.
A woman named Rachel from Macomb, Michigan was on Facebook trying to trade her packet of the sauce for a set of pins when someone offered to trade her their car instead. She gladly accepted the offer for the 2004 Volkswagen GTI.
Rachel told "The Drive," a car and culture site, that she wasn't even expecting to get the pins from anyone, much less a car. The Volkswagen wasn't a base model either, featuring Volkswagen's 1.8-liter turbo 4-cylinder motor coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission, which makes the care worth more than Rachel thought. We're unsure what the fan who received the sauce is doing, but we hope that he is thoroughly enjoying it or smartly profiting off of it.
What do we do about the sauce now?
For those who haven't heard, McDonald's originally released Szechuan sauce as a limited-edition sauce when Disney released "Mulan." That makes it rather unsurprising that the sauce was super limited for this event since it was a limited item in the first place. "Rick and Morty" fans lined up to receive the sauce, giving McDonald's some much-needed attention.
It's safe to say that the fans who threw tantrums over not getting the Szechuan sauce may not understand the show. It's these kinds of fans that are allowing people to sell the sauce for hundreds of dollars. Would you trade your car for a packet of Szechuan sauce from McDonald's? Most people would say no. People rely a bit more on their vehicles than they do a dipping sauce for chicken nuggets.
For fans who didn't go out to try to get some sauce and for people who are generally curious about it, you're in luck. After seeing the high demand for the product, McDonald's has decided to bring back the sauce in bigger numbers sometime soon. In the meantime, you can keep enjoying "Rick and Morty" as much as we hope Rachel is enjoying her new car.