Rick and Morty co-creators distance themselves from Szechuan sauce debacle

Rick and Morty birthed the Szechuan sauce craze, but following McDonald’s disastrous attempt to profit off the reinvigorated hype, the show’s creators are distancing themselves.

After pandemonium broke out at some McDonald’s when Rick and Morty fans encountered mass shortages of Szechuan sauce, show co-creator Justin Roiland tweeted out his disappointment with both the situation and fans. Roiland said that neither he or Adult Swim had anything to do with the promotion, but asked fans not to harangue McDonald’s employees.

Complaints from customers ranged from having to wait hours in line just to be told sauce quantities had run dry before they arrived to driving across the border from Canada into the United States to try and get a packet. Some fans reacted to these inconveniences inappropriately, harassing the restaurants employees.

Videos began popping up on Twitter late Saturday afternoon and evening of crowds chanting at McDonald’s employees to hand over the sauce. Some locations reported having to bring in police intervention when aggravated fans began to get aggressive.

On Twitter, McDonald’s head chef, Mike Haracz, promised Rick and Morty fans that the restaurant chain was deeply apologetic and would do better. Haracz’s comments came after McDonald’s confirmed it would be bringing back Szechuan sauce for a wider release that wouldn’t just exist for one-day only. Haracz’s apology led to Rick and Morty fans calling out McDonald’s for the marketing stunt.

Fellow co-creator Dan Harmon spoke to Polygon about McDonald’s campaign while attending New York Comic Con and reiterated that neither he nor Roland nor Adult Swim had anything to do with it. Harmon was a little more understanding of what McDonald’s did, acknowledging that the fast food chain saw an opportunity and took it.

“It’s really funny because if you’re going to get robbed, get robbed by McDonald’s,” Harmon said.

McDonald’s has not confirmed a specific time period for when the sauce will return, but Polygon has reached out for comment. We will update the post when more information becomes available.