The season of the Rib is upon us once again.
McDonald’s mythical McRib sandwich is more than just an amorphous pork patty slathered with barbecue sauce between some buns: it’s a pop culture icon. After its bizarre scarcity throughout the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, the McRib has become a cornerstone of the fast food hunter subculture, a UMA sandwich that enthusiasts are constantly on the hunt for like pictures of Bigfoot. In recent years, though, McDonald’s has become more cognizant of the pop culture power of the McRib, so in addition to its sporradic sightings around the USA, it’s made more of an effort toward at least one nation-wide rollout per year. That time is nearly upon us again.
On Wednesday, McDonald’s posted a cryptic message to its official Twitter page that read “turn on ur notifications for the most important announcement tmrw.” The simple message set off a storm of theorizing, as it typically does, but the answer came soon enough this morning: the McRib is returning again this year, this time on November 1, 2021. This is fairly close to when the sandwich made its first national release last year in October, and apparently this is by design.
nobody:
me: i think it’s time to bring the McRib back 11.1
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) September 30, 2021
According to Mike Bullington, McDonald’s senior archives manager, the McRib is best enjoyed during the colder seasons. “Whether you’re a McRib loyalist or first timer, there is no denying that the McRib is one of the most iconic sandwiches of the last four decades and we have thousands of emails and tweets from fans to prove it,” Bullington said in a statement.
No word yet on what the sandwich will cost per location or for how long it will be available, though since they’re billing the event as “McRib season,” it’ll probably stick around for at least the entire month of November.