Canada will have to keep waiting for a treasured retro fast-food offering to return after McDonald's deflated the hopes of an entire nation.

 When the international burger titan made the cryptic announcement "THE THING U HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR ARRIVES," hopes were high that we would finally see the return of the discontinued McPizza menu item, a fond memory for Canadians growing up in the 1990s.

What else could Canada have been asking for?

THE THING U HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR ARRIVES 08.31.2021

— McDonald’s🇨🇦 (@McDonaldsCanada) August 27, 2021

The top response to this tweet was an early clue that McDonald's was unintentionally tapping into some serious nostalgia and building up hopes in the process.

riot if not mcpizza

— Among Us (@AmongUsGame) August 27, 2021

It appears the McDonald's Canada's social media team realized they might have stepped on a millennial nostalgia landmine.

mcpizza is trending pls send help

— McDonald’s🇨🇦 (@McDonaldsCanada) August 27, 2021

This barrage of McPizza tweets may have been the point where Mickey D's realized their error in hyping up this mystery product reveal.

The PR team seeing McPizza trending knowing that ain't it. pic.twitter.com/qhZT4wS5Vy

— Chingyduster (@ChingyDuster) August 27, 2021

Capitalizing on the Twitter trend, McDonald's played with all of our minds one more time, posting a customized Canada Heritage Moment featuring McPizza. An entire country held its breath.

mcpizza...still just a part of our history, but i’ve been taking notes - social media person pic.twitter.com/tF0BWp91p8

— McDonald’s🇨🇦 (@McDonaldsCanada) August 27, 2021

The company then clarified — to the disappointment of practically everyone — that McPizza was not the much-hyped announcement.

it’s not mcpizza. think more spice, less slice. gonna marathon Ted Lasso and relax now. see u monday.

— McDonald’s🇨🇦 (@McDonaldsCanada) August 28, 2021

Some did not handle the news well.

Pretty sure no one asked for spicy nuggets, you lied to us again. Everyone wants MCPIZZA!!! pic.twitter.com/WUqZsHSkTn

— Michael Bertrand (@bertrand93) August 28, 2021

Speculation continued, with plenty of voices weighing in on what they'd like to see announced. Even the Toronto Zoo openly pondered what was coming.

If it's not McPizza, is it the McHotDog? In any case, we'd like both back 🌭🍕 #TheGoodOldDays pic.twitter.com/OBqaZcBA2F

— The Toronto Zoo (@TheTorontoZoo) August 27, 2021

Others made it clear that they weren't going to settle for anything less than McPizza.

Anything short of McPizza will be a disappointment… people have been asking for it during the pandemic… give the people what they want! pic.twitter.com/dGzRJGpVCu

— Mango Tango (@UnboxedCrayon) August 27, 2021

Well, it turns out at least some of us were asking for Spicy Chicken McNuggets? This item was discontinued much more recently and didn’t seem to resonate with Canadians on anywhere near the same level McPizza did.

#Canada Which ones of you were writing to McDonald’s to bring spicy nuggets back?.... I’ll wait.

— Walrus (@DefenderWalrus) August 31, 2021

The news is still very fresh, but it seems the reception to this menu item has been mixed so far.

I've never even heard of spicy nuggets, why would I want it from McDonald's? I'd take the McRib over that. This isn't convincing me to go back to McDonald's. 🤦🏽‍♀️ https://t.co/3yhG4bfgsA pic.twitter.com/LR3QMKz0Dd

— Mihkokwaniy🌹 (@awoobles) August 31, 2021

Some feel like the announcement's wording shows a disconnect between the social media team and actual customers. Others had never even heard of Spicy McNuggets before today.

Everyone in Canada who grew up in the 90s:
I hope it's McPizza! I miss that!

McDonald's:
Spicy Nuggets! You guys want that right? THAT'S what you wanted? Yes it is.

Everyone:
No. No one asked for this. Not even the Nugget Fairy wanted this.
Spicy McPizza would have been better.

— Kirk (@kirkoconnell) August 29, 2021

McDonald's is now serving their Spicy Chicken McNuggets at participating locations across the country.

To this day, one McDonald's franchise continues to sell the legendary McPizza. Unfortunately for Canada, this location is in Orlando, Florida. There are more than 1,400 McDonald's locations across Canada, none serving pizza.