McDonald's limited Szechuan Sauce leads to chaos, again

McDonald's faced the fury of fans all over the United States, after it failed to provide enough supplies of limited edition Szechuan Sauce on Oct 7.

Hordes of fans descended on McDonald's restaurants in Wellington, Florida, and also New York City, after the food chain announced launch of limited edition Szechuan Sauce for comic show Rick and Morty.

The television show Rick and Morty has created a new generation of Szechuan sauce fans, reported The New York Times. The animated sci-fi series, which has pulled in big ratings to become Adult Swim's top comedy, featured the sauce this year in Season 3.

The precious Szechuan Sauce, first unveiled in 1998 as a promotion for the Disney film Mulan, was brought back in response to petition launched after it was mentioned in the Rick and Morty, according to Fortune.com.

However, demand for the sauce far exceeded the supply.

In Wellington, even police were called to handle the chaos.

Outrage also exploded online.

The shortage also spurred a resale market on eBay, where one unopened packet had a $17,300 bidding price at time of writing.

Even fans from UK joined the ranks of complainers.

McDonald's admitted that it didn't anticipate the fervor in a statement Sunday evening. It also promised to make it up to those who didn't get the Szechuan Sauce last Saturday by saying it will bring back its elusive Szechuan Sauce for real this time.

"Szechuan Sauce is coming back once again this winter. And instead of being one-day-only and limited to select restaurants, we're bringing more — a lot more — so that any fan who's willing to do whatever it takes for Szechuan Sauce will only have to ask for it at a nearby McDonald's," the fast-food chain said in a statement.

Fans of both the comic show and the Szechuan Sauce were very satisfied with the decision of the company.

Rational voices were also heard on social media.

It is not the first time that this Szechuan Sauce drove fans rabid. In April this year, a 1998 edition Sauce sold at $14,700 on eBay.

Although the Sauce is named "Szechuan Sauce", it is nothing like the spicy sauces in Sichuan in Southwest China, a province well known for its spicy and tasty food.

The Szechuan Sauce with plum flavor is more of a product to suit the American taste. One food website even decoded that it can be made in 10 minutes with ingredients such as brown sugar, red rice vinegar, ketchup, soybean source, and peppers.