Old Packet of McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce sells for over $14k

source– A 20-year-old dipping sauce from McDonald’s sold for nearly $15,000 after a mention in the show Rick and Morty. 

A listing for the Szechuan sauce, which was released as a promotional product for the Disney movie Mulan, closed with a winning bid of $14,700.

“I just bought a really old car, while cleaning it I found a packet of this sauce.,” the listing states. “After watching the recent episode of Rick and Morty I went online to see if it was worth anything. Turns out it was. Also this comes with a packet of wasabi as well.”

The premiere of Rick and Morty’s third season featured main character Rick citing the sauce as his series arc even “if it takes nine seasons.” The episode spurred fans to petition McDonald’s to bring back to sauce, especially as a live action-version of Mulan is set to be released in 2018.

Several petitions have been added on Change.org, the largest with over 35,000 signatures.

Some quick background on this: during the season 3 premiere of Rick and Morty which was aired on April 1st, Rick mentioned how he missed this Szechuan Sauce (Rick and Morty Review: It’s very good. Rating: 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀). Since Rick and Morty has such a strong cult following, it’s only natural that people would take this idea and run with it. There’s a petition and everything. Knowing how the fast food world works, I have to commend the guy that sold this for cashing in on it before McDonald’s inevitably brings it back. Flipping an old packet of dipping sauce you randomly found that’s either toxic or completely fine at this point (not sure which is a worse scenario) for basically $15,000 when it’s going to be on sale for less than 50 cents within the month is some true thievery. Whoever bought it might be the dumbest person who ever lived, or at least someone with absolutely no foresight or experience when it comes to the fast food industry. Anything with a petition is almost always brought back. McDonald’s brought the McRib back like, 100 times and literally five people in the world were clamoring for it. I’m thinking of petitioning Burger King to bring back their green apple slime dipping sauce they had when I was a kid. And to go back to the old style of chicken nuggets when they were just strips and were good. They were way better than Chicken Fries and these cheap nuggets they have now. If I had more than ten friends I could probably get a bunch of signatures for both things and become the hero that Made Burger King Great Again. You really think McDonald’s is going to ignore 35,000 signatures for something as easy to produce as a dipping sauce? I’m sure there’s only one or two different ingredients in it than their barbecue sauce, too. This is such a slam dunk PR stunt for them there’s virtually no reason for them not to do it. And you just spent $15,000 on one cup? You, sir, are an IDIOT.

I will say for the people who signed this petition, though, be careful what you wish for. Some things are better left in the rose-colored world of our memories. There’s a reason some things fade into the sunset. Just think of the saying “Never meet your heroes.” Remember Chicken Selects? During their first run I couldn’t get enough of them. When they brought them back, I had them once, they weren’t as good as I remembered, and I never considered getting them again. P’Zones were awesome when they were first around. Then they got discontinued and for some reason Pizza Hut brought them back. Now they’re pretty much poison. I never had this sauce when it was around so I don’t really have any idea of the flavor or anything, but I’d be willing to bet that the diehards out there who were the first to sign the petition might not be so thrilled that McDonald’s brought it back after they try it. This is just a piece of advice for the fast food industry and it’s consumers: let’s keep some things exclusive. You know what I haven’t really wanted in a while? McDonald’s breakfast. Once they made it all day there was no reason to go anymore. Waking up in a state of questionable health, realizing you only had 30 minutes, then making it there in time was such a rush. It was a high that helped get me through college. Now? Why go to McDonald’s early if I can get it all day? Might as well go to a real place for breakfast. When Burger King brought back Chicken Fries but then kept them permanently, there was no rush to go try them anymore since you knew they’d be there tomorrow. It’ll probably be the same thing with this sauce. Unless they slap it with a Limited Time Only label, after the first week no one’s gonna be scrambling to try the Szechuan Sauce. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Taco Bell is the only one that handles these the right way. They’ll introduce some crazy new menu item, get the buzz going, take it off the menu after about a week, replace it by bringing some beloved menu item back, get more buzz going, take it away after a week, rinse, repeat. They’re masters of continuing hype and leaving the people wanting more. McDonald’s? Not so much. They left the Big ‘N’ Tasty on the menu for a decade and sold less than ten of them. They don’t exactly have their finger on the pulse of what the consumers want. So I fully expect them to bring this sauce back, announce that they’re adding it permanently to their menu, and ruin any hype they had built up. Just par for the Mickey D’s course these days.