We have to give it up to the McDonald’s marketing team: When Rick And Morty creator Justin Roiland’s food-based obsessions gave them an opening into the fervent fanbase of one of TV’s hottest shows, they grabbed that greasy, breaded football and ran with it, as far and as fast as it could take them. Those efforts included coy Twitter campaigns and actual deliveries of Rick’s coveted Szechuan dipping sauce to Roiland himself, and culminated today, when the fast-food company promised fans of the show the chance to acquire some of the “series arc” condiment for themselves.
By all accounts, though, the one-day limited event didn’t go well in this or any other universe, presumably because someone in the McDonald’s supply chain didn’t realize how devoted the “cult” part of the phrase “cult show” can actually get. Multiple people are dragging the company on Twitter right now, accusing it of only sending about 20 packets (and even fewer of the promised promotional posters) to participating stores. There are worse horror stories, too; people are reporting fights breaking out, lines blocking traffic, conspiracy theories about McDonald’s employees stealing and hoarding the sauce, and reports of stores trying to sell packets at massively marked-up prices.
There are even people talking about organizing a class action lawsuit over the company’s “false advertising” (because nothing captures the spirit of Rick And Morty like teaming up with a bunch of other people so you can all tattle to the government together). It just goes to show: Never underestimate Rick (or the quasi-fanaticism he inspires in other people).
Still, among all the wailing and non-gnashing of chicken, there was one voice of reason speaking up, reminding us that you can’t judge an entire, very angry fanbase by a few bad apples: