We know how many of you feel about the McRib, even after seeing it in its frozen form. It’s special, it’s almighty, it’s your heart’s desire every year for the short time it’s available. But there’s no guarantee you’ll get your mouth on one this year, as McDonald’s isn’t launching a national rollout of the sandwich but instead is leaving it up to individual franchises.

It’s too hard for Mickey D’s to push its plethora of new menu items and focus on the McRib, reports the Associated Press, so it says franchise groups will have to decide if they want to offer the pork sandwich.

In the last three years, McDonald’s put the McRib on the national menu in order to boost sales in the last part of the year.

But this year, a spokeswoman says the company had “other national priorities,” effectively turning the McRib into a regional offering.

It’s unclear how franchise groups will decide or how the McRib will be marketed, but if you’re really set on getting it, it probably won’t hurt to tell your local McDonald’s that you want it. Or just start tuning the tiny violins you’ll have to play for yourself when there’s no McRibbing to be done.

No national launch for McRib amid menu changeup [Associated Press]

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