In a new podcast sponsored by McDonald‘s, Canadian EDM superstar Deadmau5 explains how he came to procure a large jug of the infamous Rick and Morty promotional Szechuan Sauce for a hefty sum. Adult Swim cartoon sci-fi sitcom Rick and Morty has been a veritable goldmine for advertisers and merchandisers since its creation. The show, which follows the multi-dimensional misadventures of unhinged genius scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson/reluctant sidekick, Morty Smith, dominated the coveted Male 18-34 demographic last year, thoroughly eclipsing competing prime-time network TV ratings. Rick and Morty memorabilia has also become a lucrative market, as the show’s rabid cult following has proven to go to great lengths to cop any merchandise pertaining to the show. Anything? Anything. Even chicken nugget dipping sauce.
Rick and Morty fans’ insane voracious hunger for Rick and Morty swag was best summed up by last year’s McDonald‘s Szechuan Sauce scandal. In the show’s season 3 premiere, Rick plots to go back in time so he can once again taste the limited edition Szechuan Sauce that the fast food giant briefly produced as a 1998 promotion for Disney‘s Mulan. In response to the episode’s popularity and the sudden demand it created, McDonald’s announced they’d re-release a limited amount of the infamous dipping sauce. However, they underestimated just how many people wanted this sauce, and to what extent they were willing to go to get their hands on it.
Fans lined up at McDonald’s locations nationwide hours before restaurant locations opened in an attempt to snag a packet. Supplies quickly ran out, prompting riotous responses from the gathered masses. By the end of that day, the special edition sauce packets were selling for hundreds of dollars online. In addition to individual packets, a 64-ounce jug of the McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce sold for tens of thousands of dollars on eBay. Shortly after the big sale made waves on the Internet, it came out that the buyer was…none other than famously cartoon-prone DJ/producer Deadmau5.
As Dedmau5, a.k.a. Joel Zimmerman, explains in the new podcast, dubbed The Sauce, “I just kept bidding on that, and then ended up getting in touch with the guy personally about it. He said, ‘Well, I’ve been getting all these bids, and I think a lot of them are phony…’ I said, ‘Okay, I tell you what. You pull it down right now, and I’ll give you x-amount for it.'” The agreed-upon “x amount” wound up being roughly $15,000.
In October of last year, Deadmau5 made good use of the hallowed Szechuan Sauce: He shared it with his fans during a performance in Toronto, giving about 1,000 fans some nuggets and a dip of the pricey condiment, however “shitty” it may be (as he says onstage in the clip below):
The king of after parties @deadmau5 gives all his Schezwan sauce to everyone at @rebel_toronto. Joel really loves his fans. pic.twitter.com/qVHhrwoeSq
— David Pham (@Phamd89) October 9, 2017
The podcast also gives the McDonald’s perspective on the Szechuan phenomenon, as executives explain that they did not know who Deadmau5 was prior, or even that they had once made a Szechuan Sauce to begin with. Now, however, they are planning to re-introduce the sauce once again–promising more than enough stock for everyone to try a taste. Keep an eye out for it at your local Mickey D’s–It’ll surely be a shorter wait for the sauce than it will be for season 4…
You can listen to The Sauce, the multi-episode investigative podcast about the insanity surrounding the Rick and Morty McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce, here in its entirety.
[H/T – Billboard]