Mcdonalds Mulan Szechuan Sauce

2017viral eventclassic

Mcdonalds Mulan Szechuan Sauce is a McNugget dipping sauce McDonald's first sold in 1998 to promote Disney's Mulan, then revived as a viral demand meme after Rick Sanchez ranted about wanting it in the Rick and Morty Season 3 premiere in April 2017. The fan campaign forced McDonald's to bring the sauce back twice, once as a chaotic one-day release in October 2017 and again nationwide in February 2018.

fandom hype memesfast food memesadvertising memesbrand participation memes2017 memes

Overview

Mcdonalds Mulan Szechuan Sauce started as a real limited-edition McNugget dipping sauce sold by McDonald's in 1998 to tie in with Disney's animated Mulan release5. The soy and ginger dip vanished after the promo wrapped and stayed forgotten for almost two decades.

The meme kicked off when the Season 3 premiere of Rick and Morty aired on Adult Swim on April 1, 2017, and the character Rick Sanchez launched into a monologue about needing to hunt down the sauce1. The joke turned into a full internet demand campaign, with fans flooding Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, and Change.org with calls for McDonald's to bring the condiment back4.

How It Spread

On April 2, 2017, the demand kicked into high gear. YouTuber Bob Hernandez posted a video of himself asking for the sauce at a McDonald's drive-through, and a Redditor named Juleszz shared a screenshot of a McDonald's Facebook reply quoting Rick's catchphrase 'Wubba lubba dub dub,' which pulled more than 20,500 upvotes on /r/rickandmorty3. Multiple Change.org petitions sprang up demanding the return of the sauce for the meme's fans4.

Within days, Delish tracked fake eBay auctions for pots of the sauce popping up as prices soared2. On July 29, McDonald's shipped Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland a personal jug of the dip, and his 'Holy shit' tweet racked up tens of thousands of retweets1.

McDonald's announced a one-day return on October 7, 2017, at select US locations tied to its Buttermilk chicken tenders launch1. Stores received only around 20 packets each, drawing crowds who chanted 'we want sauce' loud enough that police were called to several restaurants1. One couple drove four hours and left empty-handed, and pots quickly appeared on auction sites for hundreds of dollars1. To repair the damage, the chain launched a three-part investigative podcast called 'The Sauce' in February 2018 and re-released 20 million containers nationwide on February 26 that year3.

How to Use This Meme

Fans typically reference the meme by quoting Rick's monologue, posting 'we want sauce' style demand jokes, or sharing photos of the 2017 or 2018 packets as collector items. The sauce is also commonly used as shorthand for fandom pressure being loud enough to change a real corporate product decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Mcdonalds Mulan Szechuan Sauce

2017viral eventclassic

Mcdonalds Mulan Szechuan Sauce is a McNugget dipping sauce McDonald's first sold in 1998 to promote Disney's Mulan, then revived as a viral demand meme after Rick Sanchez ranted about wanting it in the Rick and Morty Season 3 premiere in April 2017. The fan campaign forced McDonald's to bring the sauce back twice, once as a chaotic one-day release in October 2017 and again nationwide in February 2018.

fandom hype memes fast food memes advertising memes brand participation memes 2017 memes

Overview

Mcdonalds Mulan Szechuan Sauce started as a real limited-edition McNugget dipping sauce sold by McDonald's in 1998 to tie in with Disney's animated Mulan release5. The soy and ginger dip vanished after the promo wrapped and stayed forgotten for almost two decades.

The meme kicked off when the Season 3 premiere of Rick and Morty aired on Adult Swim on April 1, 2017, and the character Rick Sanchez launched into a monologue about needing to hunt down the sauce1. The joke turned into a full internet demand campaign, with fans flooding Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, and Change.org with calls for McDonald's to bring the condiment back4.

How It Spread

On April 2, 2017, the demand kicked into high gear. YouTuber Bob Hernandez posted a video of himself asking for the sauce at a McDonald's drive-through, and a Redditor named Juleszz shared a screenshot of a McDonald's Facebook reply quoting Rick's catchphrase 'Wubba lubba dub dub,' which pulled more than 20,500 upvotes on /r/rickandmorty3. Multiple Change.org petitions sprang up demanding the return of the sauce for the meme's fans4.

Within days, Delish tracked fake eBay auctions for pots of the sauce popping up as prices soared2. On July 29, McDonald's shipped Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland a personal jug of the dip, and his 'Holy shit' tweet racked up tens of thousands of retweets1.

McDonald's announced a one-day return on October 7, 2017, at select US locations tied to its Buttermilk chicken tenders launch1. Stores received only around 20 packets each, drawing crowds who chanted 'we want sauce' loud enough that police were called to several restaurants1. One couple drove four hours and left empty-handed, and pots quickly appeared on auction sites for hundreds of dollars1. To repair the damage, the chain launched a three-part investigative podcast called 'The Sauce' in February 2018 and re-released 20 million containers nationwide on February 26 that year3.

How to Use This Meme

Fans typically reference the meme by quoting Rick's monologue, posting 'we want sauce' style demand jokes, or sharing photos of the 2017 or 2018 packets as collector items. The sauce is also commonly used as shorthand for fandom pressure being loud enough to change a real corporate product decision.

Frequently Asked Questions