1 gallon jug of 1992 McDonald's McJordan barbecue sauce sells for $9,995 on eBay

"That 1992 vintage of McDonald's McJordan BBQ sauce, which was on eBay yesterday, has actually been sold to an anonymous buyer in Chicago, Illinois for the "Buy it Now" price of $9,995."

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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Boundegar

Yum.
mccrum

I didn’t recall this burger at all. It turns out that the sauce is the same recipe as the one you get with McNuggets. But in a larger container. And Jordan’s name. And worth ten grand to someone. Who I sincerely hope is surprised one day to come home and find their grandchild enjoying some McJordan flavored grilled chicken.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/michael-jordan-mcdonald-brand-barbecue-sauce-yours-off-162449025–nba.html
- http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
  
  Maybe it was for McRibs? I can’t remember 1992, cept it was fun
OldBrownSquirrel

A buyer in Chicago? Why am I not surprised.
- Thad Boyd
  
  It was probably Jordan.
  - gamophyte
    
    It was Obama in my guess
    - cdh1971
      
      Why?
      - http://twitter.com/intensitystudio Antonio Carrasco
        
        Everything is barack obama’s fault!!!
        
        Now he’s raising the price of BBQ sauce!!!
- Walter Dexter
  
  I’d be surprised if it were anywhere else. Between Jordan’s Chicago connection and the fact that McDonald’s is headquartered in Oak Brook, IL (a Chicago suburb) it seems inevitable.
  - ocker3
    
    I was wondering if someone in corporate office decided to grab it to keep it out of public circulation, or to avoid someone adulterating it and trying to poison people
    - Sigmund_Jung
      
      Or maybe a PR stunt? Now we (and many more) are discussing how people love their McD burgers, and it only cost them US$ 10,000.
IronEdithKidd

That…is disgusting.
- http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
  
  I’m very curious of what’s become of the goop inside. I’ve had three year old ketchup packets turn black. Tomato products don’t seem too stable for long term storage.
  - IronEdithKidd
    
    Yeah, generally preserved tomato products are not to be trusted beyond two years.
Jim Davison

Well, there is cross-over collectibility both on the Michael Jordan/Sports Memorability side as well as the vintage McDonalds side.
- Boundegar
  
  You laugh now, but when it resells in 6 months for $40,000, the BBQ Rush of 2013 will be on.
  - http://twitter.com/el_otro_vladi Vladi
    
    Rush to the bathroom perhaps
esquire

Some poor hungover person has a surprise waiting for them in their credit card statement.
- Chrs
  
  Michael Jordan doesn’t really care too much about $10k charges.
  - http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
    
    I was going to imply that the NBA probably has poor retirement hence all the washed up athletes endorsing local car dealers but then I remembered his shoes still sell for 100+ bucks.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher

Coming up tonight on Pawn Stars…will Rick’s gamble be a bust when Chumley, Big Hoss, and The Old Man fire have a barbecue in the back?
- http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
  
  Chumley: Geez, this sauce tastes like old man.
  Old Man: What’s that supposed mean? My sauce is way better than this drivel
  Chumley: No, I mean this sauce tastes like it was MADE from old men.
Linosolas

In an effort to save some money and the fact that I don’t trust those ‘Quicky Lube’ type oil change places, I’ve decided to change my own. Only dilemma…how to responsibly and properly dispose of the old stuff. Who’d of thought that after a fresh 4 quarts of 20W-30, and topping off my windshield washer fluid I could utilize the empty jug (after slapping a new ‘McSauce’ label on it of course), to not only, Reduce-Reuse-Recycle but make a few bucks on Ebay as well.
Nash Rambler

Thank goodness that $10,000 wasn’t wasted on a charity, or (god forbid) educational tuition!
- mccrum
  
  Those people wouldn’t know how to appreciate such a gift! [sitting back sipping a champagne flute filled with McJordan sauce]
Guest

So for those who didn’t recognize the taste, here’s proof that there’s a preservative in that stuff. (hmm, does thatwork in English?)
- http://profiles.google.com/marc.k.mielke Marc Mielke
  
  Was there any doubt? I’m pretty sure everything McD’s uses has preservatives. Practically all store-bought food does.
  - http://twitter.com/MartianEmpress Rezeya Montecore
    
    (FYI: You’re dead right, but I think was hoping his pun in German would translate. “Präservativ” is German for “condom”.)
    - elix
      
      Préservatif in French, as well.
      
      Which leads to the occasional hilarity on food labels and containers in Canada, if a company half-asses the translation when preparing bilingual labels.
      
      Boy, I’m glad my yogurt doesn’t have birth control in it.
- Ipo
  
  Präservativ? No.
- http://twitter.com/MartianEmpress Rezeya Montecore
  
  Unfortunately, no! The closest term we have in English is “prophylactic”, and believe me, the lame puns come out when we use it in the sense of “protective device that is NOT a condom.” :)
LeakyBucket

We will soon see a pair of unworn 90′s Air Jordan’s covered in McJordan Sauce on Ebay for a super cheap $20,000
BillGlover

At a price just barely under the Bank Secrecy Act $10,000 reporting requirement, my guess would be money laundering.
- http://twitter.com/MartianEmpress Rezeya Montecore
  
  I’m not sure I’m convinced it’s true… but my god, it’s a brilliant idea.
  
  If I ever find myself in a position where I need to know this trick, I’ll send you 1% of the take. :)
PathogenAntifreeze

Weak sauce… ahem. But if someone was selling a bunch of Mulan-promotion-era Imperial sauce (which they offered, along with chopsticks, for the chicken nuggets), I’d be quite tempted.
- http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
  
  Ah, I entirely forgot about that fine example of cultural appropriation.
https://nomen-nescio.myopenid.com/ Nomen Nescio

i’m just hoping the stuff actually HAS gone bad by now. about the only way to make this story any more depressing would be if it were still edible…
- mccrum
  
  Given the high acidity of tomatoes and vinegar, the likelihood of HFCS used in the production, and the amounts of preservatives in barbecue sauce, I’m pretty sure that 20 years in a sealed plastic container isn’t going to do too much to it. Especially if it was in an area free of light. There’s just not that much there for bacteria to feed on.
  - Shibi_SF
    
    I agree. It’s probably still edible.
    - Ipo
      
      If it ever was.
  - bcsizemo
    
    I don’t know…Ketchup has a tendency to turn brown after a few years on the shelf. Maybe if it was in an opaque container, or something metal.
    
    As Bert says, plastic is not an oxygen barrier.
  - cdh1971
    
    I agree that it likely is no more likely to kill you than on the day it was manufactured. I cannot really guess whether or not it would taste better than, or not as good as when it was first produced. But I’d bet you 10,000 pennies that if kept in a cool, dry place, it might taste much better, kind of like a fine wine. Recall that this is a vintage McDonald’s sauce (If genuine!)
    
    (IIRC, concoctions as sugary and acidic such as this have a really long shelf -life if kept sealed and protected from extended, excessive heat.)
    
    I read the label and it does contain HFCS – one of our society’s crowning culinary/health supplement achievements, second only to Radium Water — which treats all sort of autoimmune diseases and makes our thoughts sprightly and proper. It was a red-communist conspiracy to ban and suppress Radium Water and unfortunately they won. However…you can easily roll your own, just do a Bing search (suppressed on Google for obvious reasons.)
    
    However, I seriously doubt that this jar sold for 10k and if the auction did close for this amount, did the winning bidder actually pay? Also, say the winning bidder did pay 10k for this — how can he or she be sure that the contents are actually bonafide? With fine wine, fine Corinthian Leather and other luxury commodities, there are definite and standardized methods of assuring authenticity and provenance. I really question the ability to verify this object’s authenticity.
    
    (pic below is of me distressing a collectible in preparation for an online auction, the other is of a younger me serving on a Royal Navy submarine.)
  - http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
    
    Bacteria and botulism are one thing, but enzyme heavy tomato products don’t seem to be too stable. I’ll have to ask my mom but jarred tomatoes only seem to last like three years. I wish I had a (tin) can to see what they put in there to preserve it.
- http://codeflow.org/ Florian Bösch
  
  I’m pretty sure it’s still perfectly edible. It’s like a ton of preservative, salt and vinegar, bottled at steaming temperatures then pasteurized and knowing McDonalds paranoia probably irradiated with UV light and a quick shot of ionizing radiation. I’m sure that stuff’d be edible in about 1000 years.
http://twitter.com/el_otro_vladi Vladi

Thats not BBQ sauce! its more like diarrhea sauce! D:
- http://twitter.com/MartianEmpress Rezeya Montecore
  
  Diarrhea is usually chunkier.
  - http://twitter.com/el_otro_vladi Vladi
    
    Have a taste of that stuff and You’ll get my point.
bolamig

Right now there is a horder feeling a rush of adrenaline.
- cdh1971
  
  Adrenaline and cruel, cruel, bitter regret. Much like the emotions and memories that flood when I think of my ex-Flymo.
  
  The necessity caused by relocating and perhaps the disapproval of my friends and family caused me to part with my Flymo.
  
  The attached pics are web-finds because my sorrow caused me to misplace my personal pics of that carefree period of my life.
  
  Damn you Adele! Jealous of a ground-effect lawnmower? I should have at once seen that as a sign of your many, many pathologies.
http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns

Ok I’ve never made bbq sauce but why would you need brown sugar, HFCS, corn syrup, and molasses? Isn’t molasses what makes brown sugar brown? Also I’m surprised that only sodium benzoate is the only ‘artificial’ preservative listed.
http://codeflow.org/ Florian Bösch

So vintage fast-food sauces are a thing now. Much like say a bottle Macallan 1938 (Spaymalt) Sherry Cask for $7000.
msbpodcast

High Fructose Corn Syrup killed it for me … and it won’t be killing me.

I’d sooner eat something made with battery acid.
TheChanDroid

That’s no Barbeque Sauce – It’s a Space Station!
Philboyd Studge

It’s a canopic jar from the tomb of Ronald McDonald.