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Rick and Morty’s surprise season three premiere has captivated fans, who have been talking about it non-stop since airing on Saturday, but corporations are starting to get in on the hype as well.
[Warning: The following contains slight spoilers for Rick and Morty’s season three premiere.]
The premiere ends with Rick begging McDonald’s to bring back its promotional Szechuan McNugget, which was originally released for a limited time in 1998 to promote Disney’s animated musical, Mulan. The throwback led to a wave of nostalgia overtaking fans’ senses and, like anything that has a strong following in this day and age, a petition was launched to get McDonalds’ to bring back the sauce.
Usually petitions don’t go anywhere. Fans petitioned to have Colin Trevorrow removed as director on Star Wars: Episode IX, for example, and that didn’t happen. But Rick and Morty’s plea along with the more than 13,000 signatures on the petition has led to one McDonald’s chef re-examining the situation.
Mike Haracz, a chef for McDonald’s who helps come up with the different meals the chain serves, responded to a request from a Rick and Morty fan asking for the sauce to be brought back.
@McD_Truth @AshleyLutz I'll see what I can do
— Mike Haracz (@Mike_Haracz) April 3, 2017
Haracz’s response came after the official Rick and Morty account tweeted at McDonald’s asking the company to do the same. It may seem like an exaggerated joke, and not entirely out of the realm of what the Adult Swim show would do for an extra laugh, but this is the perfect time for McDonalds to reconsider its options.
Disney announced in October that it was moving ahead with a live-action reboot of Mulan, aiming for a 2018 release date. The film, which has garnered a bit of attention in recent months amidst rumors it would no longer be a musical, is a recent addition to Disney’s lineup of live-action reboots, including The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and The Jungle Book.
With the release date just around the corner, there’s no reason the company couldn’t bring back the sauce for a couple of weeks. Polygon has reached out to the restaurant chain for comment and will update when more information becomes available.
Rick and Morty’s third season will finally air this summer, according to Adult Swim, after facing more than a year of delays.
