Popular animation sparks craze for McDonald's Szechuan sauce

A screenshot from Rick and Morty

A limited-edition dipping sauce launched by McDonald's 20 years ago recently returned to public eyes thanks to an American adult animation, igniting furious bidding war on eBay and online petitions signed by hundreds of thousands of people.

In the latest season of Rick and Morty, which premiered on April 1, 2017, Rick confessed to Morty that he was doing everything only to get his hands on McDonald's Szechuan (spelt as "Sichuan" in Mandarin) sauce. The sauce was briefly available in the fast-food chain in 1998 as a promotion for the debut of Mulan, Disney's animated film.

The discontinued sauce soon became one of the hottest topics on the internet after the season was broadcast. A quick search on eBay shows dozens of sellers offering the product, attracting quite a few bidders although some of the listings are fake.

In one of the auctions, a packet of 28g Szechuan sauce was taken by a bidder at a mouthwatering price of $14,700 on Tuesday, reported China Youth Daily. The seller claimed that the precious packet was found in a vintage car he bought but didn't reply to inquiries by the newspaper.

Szechuan sauce and related products sold on eBay

Many people are petitioning online, urging McDonald's to bring back the legendary sauce. One of the petitions on change.org reads "McDonald's Szechuan sauce is the best sauce known to man. It would be a tragedy for it to not come back to McDonald's". By Thursday, it has been signed by 32,310 supporters.

Although the sauce is not originally from China or produced in the country, its name has drawn the attention of many curious netizens in China.

"I bet the sauce has nothing to do with Sichuan except its name," said one weibo user. "But I still want to have a try!"

"It would be really great if McDonald's worked with Lao Gan Ma to make a chili sauce," proposed another user. Lao Gan Ma is an extremely popular brand of chili sauce in China. During recent years, more Chinese condiments found their ways to the plates of foreign foodies. Lao Gan Ma is rated 4.9 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com with many reviewers claiming it as the "best chili sauce" they ever tasted.

In a report by Huffington Post, the spokesperson for the fast food chain said that it is open to bringing back the sauce. "We never say never, because when our customers speak, we listen," the spokesperson said.