A slight obsession in Rick and Morty over McDonald’s Szechuan sauce has spurred the fast-food restaurant to bring back the nearly decade-old dip for one day only, and to create a series of limited-edition psychedelic sauce posters inspired by the show.
The Szechuan sauce was originally introduced in 1998 and developed for the Disney movie Mulan, as Rick so eloquently explains in the season-three premiere that debuted on April Fools’ Day.
During the season finale Sunday on Adult Swim, McDonald’s revealed the sauce would make a comeback at select restaurants on October 7.
It will be available in “limited quantities for a limited run available in restaurant for one day only,” according to a McDonald’s press release.
The Szechuan sauce is one of 10 dipping sauces that McDonald’s developed to go along with the re-release of its Buttermilk Crispy Tenders, which has its own website.
The fast food joint also created 1,000 limited-edition posters (shown above in slideshow) that pay homage to the “pop-culture status fans have given their favorite sauces.”
This unofficial brand partnership didn’t just happen overnight. Actually, it happened with a tweet from @RickandMorty to @McDonalds on the evening of the series premiere.
.@McDonalds
you wanna get in on this?
Call me.— Rick (((and Morty))) (@RickandMorty) April 2, 2017
From there, McDonald’s made a special batch of the Szechuan sauce for Rick and Morty creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, who posted a video of their team doing a taste test.
McDonald’s shared the poster art on Reddit’s “Rick and Morty” subreddit, bought ads on the site, and promoted the sauce on Twitter. McDonald’s also created a Reddit account over the summer to coincide with the Szechuan buzz, becoming one of the first brands to take advantage of the company’s new feature allowing publishers to post their own content, AdAge reports.
The marketing was handled by advertising agency DDB and McDonald’s stand-alone advertising agency We Are Unlimited.
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