McDonald's Tried To Tease New Sauces But People Aren't Lovin' It

Poor McDonald's social media marketing team — sometimes, it just can't win. While Wendy's has built quite a reputation for Twitter trolling, McDonald's instead occasionally authors Facebook flops such as a recent "big reveal" that was met with a big "meh." Indeed, it just posted about a purported new sauce drop set to take place on October 9, using some pseudo-text-speak that harkens back to the flip phone era. But perhaps the worst part of this announcement was that there wasn't any hint as to what those sauces might actually be, nor whether they'd be available at all McDonald's restaurants or just a select few. In fact, there wasn't even a definite confirmation these sauces would, in fact, be delivered on the promised date.

Is it any wonder, then, that Facebook users received this non-announcement without much enthusiasm? It's kind of difficult to get excited over the possibility of new sauces when we don't even know what they are. Many took the opportunity to simply dig into McDonald's for grievances both sauce-related and not. Some asked for the return of long-discontinued items, such as the early '00s McSalad Shakers, while others piled on the chain about the ever-present issue of broken ice cream machines, something the chain has been promising to address for years. Those who did speak of the dipping sauces requested sweet chili and Szechuan, but some castigated the chain for being "stingy" with sauce dispersal, saying, "Not if you keep charging for extra sauce."

Does McDonald's ever learn from past mistakes? It tried the same teasing tactic back in March of 2022. A now-deleted Facebook post offered nothing more than vague hints about a new dip, which in hindsight we'd assume to be the re-release of Szechuan sauce (which has since returned to McDonald's discontinued dipping sauce graveyard). However, Facebook users didn't react favorably to the sauce drop tease at that time, either. Many commenters instead complained about the fact that Snack Wraps have yet to be revived, and 2023's Facebook sauce tease also attracted a flurry of comments from still unsatisfied Snack Wrap fans.

If you're more interested in new McNugget dipping sauces than discontinued McDonald's menu items, though, you might care to join us in some speculation as to what these new sauces might be. This past spring, the U.K. got "mega" hot sauce along with garlic and chipotle-flavored mayonnaise sauces (plus ranch; already on the US menu), while summer brought truffle mayonnaise and Buffalo sauce (the latter, again, a U.S. staple) to Australia. Lucky Malaysia gained six sauces this year: Cajun, Japanese curry, sweet chili, French cheese, barbecue, and sweet 'n sour. While we've already got the last two, could any of the first four be a possibility? Guess we'll find out in October.