McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce promotion backfiresMcDonald’s Szechuan Sauce promotion backfires

On Saturday, McDonald’s Corp. had what all restaurant chains dream of: Long lines of excited customers standing outside of its restaurants, as fans of the cartoon Rick and Morty lined up for the chain’s one-day offer of Szechuan Sauce.

But those lines quickly devolved into chaos and protests as restaurants ran out of sauce or didn’t have any altogether — ultimately prompting McDonald’s to apologize and promise more readily available sauce in the future.

“Szechuan Sauce is coming back once again this winter,” the company said in a statement over the weekend. “And instead of being one-day-only and limited to select restaurants, we’re bringing more — a lot more — so that any fan who’s willing to do whatever it takes for Szechuan Sauce will o...