Why can't we like things without ruining it? Rick and Morty x McDonalds.

[Benpasko]

Yes, but as a UK person who never had the chance to TRY this legendary sauce... we're missing the big point here and focusing on the crazy riots.

There is a far, far more important question.

What DOES it taste like?

I mean, I love getting szechuan dumplings whenever I pick up Chinese. It's probably a thicker, faker version of that.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I shied away from the show due to the rabid fan base before this whole incident, like I said before.

Also, police activity was in several locations in America. La Brea, Cali [https://la.eater.com/2017/10/9/16448332/mcdonalds-mulan-szechwan-sauce-rick-morty-riot-police] was the one that had the biggest numbers, at least a thousand. That turned physical. UPenn [http://uproxx.com/tv/rick-and-morty-szechuan-sauce-mcdonalds-limited-event/3/] had police order over loud speaker that they didn't have sauce any more and return home, while the NYC lines were frankly ridiculous. Wellington Fl [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/local/new-customers-get-saucy-police-called-wellington-mcdonald/cuySG4WEFuhGPJQk0fP69J/] had cops come to officiate crowd dispersal when fans got too angry.

However, the question isn't "Is it really worth denouncing the whole show and fandom". The question is how can the fans not have the wherewithal to realize they more than likely actively damaged what they love.

We have politicians being 'outraged' that we dare talk about climate change after back to back cripplingly devastating hurricanes and now wildfires on the lighter side, several football players taking a knee is figuratively tearing this nation apart on the medium side, to a maniac's actions being used to erode a part of the constitution on the heavier side. This global climate can be summed up by "Overreaction Triggered".

Any distasteful action that can be attributed to a group will usually be used by the masses in order to paint that group as a whole. Mob think is a nice way of saying weakness. Everyone had a choice to make and some did it right. I applaud those people. But sadly, we live in this society. Where it doesn't matter how well you do something or how great a person you are, it only matters if the fringes of the same group you identify with does something wrong. Then the whole group is treated with the same suspicion.

Ah right, yeah the original article did say 'at least one outlet,' so perhaps it was typed up a while ago and kept itself open on the issue.

I agree with everything you've said so far, these humans are disappointing and could have picked almost anything else to be a bother about. They're young, mostly male, disassociated though... who knows, if they went to a decent sized protest rally ([small]or counter-protest...shh![/small]), we might be seeing certain anxious right-wing pundits claiming they're terrorists instead and there'd be a whole different type of thread pop up in R&P. But it would be some improvement at least.

Have personally avoided fandoms, even of material I enjoy, not sure if intentionally or not, just never felt the desire for whatever reason. So the perception of this one in particular is new to me. Hopefully there'll be a moment or two of maturity, self-realisation or eye-opening experience that realigns some of their priorities as they start waking up to the world, but that isn't usually expected to be an instant thing, depends on their environment and consciousness, amongst other influencing factors.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

It's Fight Club all over again.

I want to personally thank you. This one sentence blew up in my mind.

It is like Fight Club all over again. Where people looked past the deconstruction of a mind so removed from society as a whole, his pitiful attempts to ape it lead to him at once cry for acceptance while schisming from it so vastly his secret desire was to burn it to the ground.

It's like the Gregory Houses that would much rather use his intellect to belittle instead of tackle his own issues, but people laud him as great because he's smart and cruel.

It was like the first season (series) of Sherlock.

I find nothing wrong with disenfranchisement. Yes, we have a society built on vanity and inanity. Substance is far and fleeting. But instead of building something, instead of being part of the solution, we have a ton of people who think they are onto something ground breaking when they hear "Let the world burn". While decrying it, they wholeheartedly buy into the society's vapidness by stalwartly refusing to become people of worth or adding anything to the social construct of which we all find ourselves in... by becoming the very thing they hate.

They become the meme pushers. They become those who take from society with nothing replacing it. They become the masses that future generations will look at, think nothing about this society matters, and they'll join whatever counterculture figures of their time.

... Wow. Shot of Bleakness right into the arm.

 

[Pseudonym]

It doesn't surprise me. Not that I hate Rick and Morty, not particulary strongly at least, but let's be honest here, the show is pretty douchy. What else am I supposed to take from Rick and the way the show treats him other than "You can act like an obnoxious, drunk fratboy and still be treated as the biggest badass around as long as you're smart". It's not very surprising that it would attract people who'd act like obnoxious, drunk fratboys and thing they're hot shit.

I think too many people, both fans and haters, think Rick is supposed to be a role model. He isnt. Its Morty who people are supposed to relate to, not Rick.

I thought so too, at first, but I've actually met people who just straight up seem to like Rick. Never underestimate the ability of at least some members of the audience to entirely miss the point. Even besides that, the show is generally incredibly cynical. Quite a bit of the humor seems to revolve around people getting screwed in various ways. I watch it and I like it, but I'm not surpised it would attract some fairly unpleasant charactars.

 

[twistedmic]

Why is it that McDonald's is not getting any of the blame here? A quick skim of just the four linked articles in this thread show that not every McDonald's had the sauce, some locations lied about having the sauce for hours while making customers (who thought they were getting their sauce) buy food. And the locations that did have the sauce only had twenty packets each.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Because stupid people ruin everything. Enough said.

Though am I the only one hoping the show writers poke fun at this at some point? This kinda feels like something they might make fun of...

 

[Saelune]

Why is it that McDonald's is not getting any of the blame here? A quick skim of just the four linked articles in this thread show that not every McDonald's had the sauce, some locations lied about having the sauce for hours while making customers (who thought they were getting their sauce) buy food. And the locations that did have the sauce only had twenty packets each.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.1023847-Why-cant-we-like-things-without-ruining-it-Rick-and-Morty-x-McDonalds#24138344

Schadrach did bring it up, but alot of people just want to hate on Rick and Morty. I used to think I was very aggressive against fandoms I dont like, but I have learned I am not so bad.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

This sucks, now I'm embarrassed to say I'm a fan of the show because people think of these guys first...

 

[Req]

Why is it that McDonald's is not getting any of the blame here? A quick skim of just the four linked articles in this thread show that not every McDonald's had the sauce, some locations lied about having the sauce for hours while making customers (who thought they were getting their sauce) buy food. And the locations that did have the sauce only had twenty packets each.

McDonald's clearly fucked up. I don't think anyone is going to dispute that. But these people carry all the blame for how they chose to react, and a lot of people chose to react like massive wankers.

 

[MetalDooley]

Why is it that McDonald's is not getting any of the blame here?

Because ultimately these people are acting like utter fucktards over some cheap sauce. There is no justification for that

I work in customer service and deal with people acting like entitled bellends every day of the week over inconsequential shit. People need to grow the fuck up and realise that those poor fuckers working in McD's are doing a shitty job for probably just over minimum wage and the last thing they need is to deal with crap like this

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

It doesn't surprise me. Not that I hate Rick and Morty, not particulary strongly at least, but let's be honest here, the show is pretty douchy. What else am I supposed to take from Rick and the way the show treats him other than "You can act like an obnoxious, drunk fratboy and still be treated as the biggest badass around as long as you're smart". It's not very surprising that it would attract people who'd act like obnoxious, drunk fratboys and thing they're hot shit.

I think too many people, both fans and haters, think Rick is supposed to be a role model. He isnt. Its Morty who people are supposed to relate to, not Rick.

That's what I took away from the limited watching of the show. Still, when you have a raving asshat like Rick being featured front and center you've got to expect that some people (in this case A LOT of people) missing the point entirely.

 

[twistedmic]

Schadrach did bring it up, but alot of people just want to hate on Rick and Morty. I used to think I was very aggressive against fandoms I dont like, but I have learned I am not so bad.

My mistake. I kinda skimmed the thread and just saw a bunch of Rick and Morty hate.

Why is it that McDonald's is not getting any of the blame here?

Because ultimately these people are acting like utter fucktards over some cheap sauce. There is no justification for that

So you're pretty much ignoring borderline false advertising and blaming the customers that got fucked over by shitty customer service?

I work in customer service and deal with people acting like entitled bellends every day of the week over inconsequential shit.

What's inconsequential to you might not be inconsequential to someone else. I don't drink or smoke so to me it's inconsequential if my local stores only carry twenty packs of cigarettes or six-packs.
I don't like sweet peas so it's inconsequential to me if Target only carries twenty bags of frozen peas.

People need to grow the fuck up and realise that those poor fuckers working in McD's are doing a shitty job for probably just over minimum wage and the last thing they need is to deal with crap like this

Granted, working in retail/customer service sucks for the most part. But that still doesn't excuse management and corporate from fucking up and causing a hassle, either through incompetence or design.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Yes, but as a UK person who never had the chance to TRY this legendary sauce... we're missing the big point here and focusing on the crazy riots.

There is a far, far more important question.

What DOES it taste like?

It's a McDonald's sauce, so very likely it tastes like 95% salt with some "authentic" mix of herbs tossed in.

I mean, hell, the "special sauce" for the Big Mac is just mayo, relish and a few other things.

 

[RedRockRun]

I saw one reference to Pickle Rick - no more than a name as I was scrolling through something before the episode came out, and I thought to myself that they would just reuse the, "I'm tiny Rick!" joke. I hate that I was right.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Schadrach did bring it up, but alot of people just want to hate on Rick and Morty. I used to think I was very aggressive against fandoms I dont like, but I have learned I am not so bad.

My mistake. I kinda skimmed the thread and just saw a bunch of Rick and Morty hate.

Ok, this comment scares me.

By your word, I went back on the 52 postings at the time of your response to see the bunch of hate you were talking about

Well, anything that tanks the reputation of that stupid show is aces for me, but I'd prefer that it didn't escalate to require police dispersal.

It doesn't surprise me. Not that I hate Rick and Morty, not particulary strongly at least, but let's be honest here, the show is pretty douchy. What else am I supposed to take from Rick and the way the show treats him other than "You can act like an obnoxious, drunk fratboy and still be treated as the biggest badass around as long as you're smart". It's not very surprising that it would attract people who'd act like obnoxious, drunk fratboys and thing they're hot shit.

These are the closest comments that come to hate. Gordon_4 outright says it's stupid. Diamond doesn't really hate it strongly, but feels like it's douchy.

The rest of the comments are ranging from being fans to being on the fence about it to not watching it any more. There is no outpouring of hate as which you described.

For the record, I think it was stupid of McDonald's to do this in such a manner. Perhaps it was a way to test actual interest in it (and if so, mission accomplished), but they did bungle. Like one store was listed to have 20 packets but it was never delivered.

That being said, outrage on the levels of police needing to be called in a few different states due to a cartoon's obsession with a sauce being aped into a segment of the fanbase is upsetting. McDonald screwed up logistically. But they didn't harass employees, turn to violence, or threatened other people's safety while taxing police mobility to deal with serious crimes because thousands of people were angry about a sauce most probably didn't know existed until a comment in a cartoon a few months ago.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Why is it that McDonald's is not getting any of the blame here? A quick skim of just the four linked articles in this thread show that not every McDonald's had the sauce, some locations lied about having the sauce for hours while making customers (who thought they were getting their sauce) buy food. And the locations that did have the sauce only had twenty packets each.

Because an actual decent human being who doesn't get a packet of sauce just shrugs and goes on with their life. McDonald's mess up should have resulted in people being disappointed and nothing more

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

It's Fight Club all over again.

I want to personally thank you. This one sentence blew up in my mind.

It is like Fight Club all over again. Where people looked past the deconstruction of a mind so removed from society as a whole, his pitiful attempts to ape it lead to him at once cry for acceptance while schisming from it so vastly his secret desire was to burn it to the ground.

It's like the Gregory Houses that would much rather use his intellect to belittle instead of tackle his own issues, but people laud him as great because he's smart and cruel.

It was like the first season (series) of Sherlock.

I find nothing wrong with disenfranchisement. Yes, we have a society built on vanity and inanity. Substance is far and fleeting. But instead of building something, instead of being part of the solution, we have a ton of people who think they are onto something ground breaking when they hear "Let the world burn". While decrying it, they wholeheartedly buy into the society's vapidness by stalwartly refusing to become people of worth or adding anything to the social construct of which we all find ourselves in... by becoming the very thing they hate.

They become the meme pushers. They become those who take from society with nothing replacing it. They become the masses that future generations will look at, think nothing about this society matters, and they'll join whatever counterculture figures of their time.

... Wow. Shot of Bleakness right into the arm.

I think often people who are fans of smart jerks in TV shows may imagine that the smart jerk would be their buddy as opposed to just tearing into them

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

From what I understand, McDonald's kind of fucked up this promotion from a logistical standpoint. Most participating outlets got less than 2 dozen of the sauce in total and there were a bunch of locations that were advertised as participating but had no stock whatsoever.

Yeah people went nuts, and yeah let's laugh at the idiots, but this really was a logistical mess on McDonald's side.

I rather think failing at their promotion of the sauce is pretty minor and dumb, not something to care much about. People rioting over it tho, that's more of a concern and more of a failure than the promotion being done poorly

 

[Saelune]

Schadrach did bring it up, but alot of people just want to hate on Rick and Morty. I used to think I was very aggressive against fandoms I dont like, but I have learned I am not so bad.

My mistake. I kinda skimmed the thread and just saw a bunch of Rick and Morty hate.

Not really criticizing you. You raise a good point, I just think Shadrach deserves credit for being the only other person to bring it up.

 

[JemothSkarii]

It's funny, I'd kinda forgotten the show had brought up the sauce, even despite people getting sent promotional bottles of the stuff. I ain't going to say I saw this coming, but there were definitely alarm bells going off when I first encountered Pickle Rick.
It was one of those 'Aw hell, the internet is gonna go nuts' moments. Perfect meme material.
What evaded me was the goddamn sauce meme. THAT was also perfect, gotta love them fourth wall breaks after all. I don't think anyone didn't see that becoming huge.
Well, except me of course.

I enjoy the show, but it definitely feels like it's pandering to the fans. Pickle Rick has that Mr Meeseeks feel to it, something the fans will sink their mitts into.

https://www.thewrap.com/rick-and-morty-season-3-finale-pickle-rick-dan-harmon/

Oh.

?I make no bones about that I?m a little bit of a sociopath creatively, in that if the audience doesn?t like something, then I don?t like it,? the ?Community? creator said. ?I follow my bliss and try to go with my own definitions. I don?t operate in the writers room in terms of what I think is going to make people happy. I make myself happy because I know if I don?t do that, I?ll fail.?

He was quick to add, ?However, the entire time I?m doing that, following my own bliss, I?m thinking, ?Geez, is anyone going to like this?? And if they don?t, then I blew it because it?s TV, not a personal massage device that there?s going to be one consumer for ? weird metaphor. Pickle Rick?s my favorite because it?s everyone else?s favorite.?