‘Rick And Morty’ Co-Creator Apologizes Over Szechuan Sauce Fiasco

Fans of TV shows have shown their devotion to series in a variety of ways, from dressing up as their favorite characters to getting tattoos in celebration of the show and, in the case of Rick and Morty, fans have thrown tantrums in fast food establishments demanding a novelty dipping sauce. Co-creator of the series Justin Roiland recently apologized for inadvertently causing a frenzy inspired by a joke from an episode, with fans going on to harass McDonald’s employees demanding Szechuan sauce.

“It’s absurd. It became a collector thing, and it’s just a f*cking dipping sauce, guys,” Roiland told TMZ. “I was bummed out, really, for the workers. The whole thing was bad on every side. I could see every side of it.”

In the Season Three premiere of the animated sci-fi series, Rick reveals a love he has for a limited edition Szechuan sauce released by McDonald’s to promote Mulan. The character goes on to reveal that a huge motivating factor in his existence is hoping to taste that sauce once again.

The reference became something fans of the show latched onto and McDonald’s noticed the trend and announced they’d be re-releasing the dipping sauce in limited quantities. When supply failed to meet demand, fans aimed their ire at McDonald’s and anyone who worked there, as seen in various videos of groups of fans antagonizing and harassing staff over the product.

“It was a bummer because the fans assumed there was more, and there wasn’t,” Roiland detailed. “The poor workers who were getting harassed by the fans, which I get, they were upset, they waited all night or however long on line. The whole thing was a sh*t show.”

Some fans learned of the monetary value of the sauce and began selling it on eBay, with auctions reaching hundreds of dollars.

“Listen, if you can get a thousand dollars, pay your bills, feed your kids, whatever, do it,” Roiland said of fans turning a profit from the situation.

The show’s creators had no idea what a craze they were causing, but clearlyMcDonald’s knew how to take advantage of the opportunity.

“All that stuff was a joke in the show and then McDonald’s said, ‘Let’s use this, let’s go with this,’” the co-creator shared of the collaboration. “Good on them, that’s good marketing”

“I think what they’ll probably do, hopefully, is that they’ll release enough for everybody to try it, which would be nice,” he added.

Don’t get too excited about your chance to try the condiment, as Roiland warned, “Well, listen, I think it’s good, some of the other writers thought it was disgusting.”

(h/tTMZ)