It looks like Popeyes is the clear winner in the fierce battle of chicken sandwiches with rival Chic-Fil-A. Popeyes Chicken racked up $20 million in sales since introducing its new spicy fried chicken sandwich this month. Black Twitter users who raved about the new chicken sandwich triggered stampedes at many Popeyes locations.
A chair-throwing brawl broke out when one store ran out of chicken sandwiches, and there are reports that some hungry customers climbed through a drive-in window after a restaurant ran out of the sandwiches (see video below)
“I’m angry because I wanted to try that sandwich,” said one customer, whose grandmother wanted a sandwich and fries, too. “Now I gotta call her and tell her they don’t have it,” he said.
One woman was outraged that a Delaware store tried to trick her after they ran out of sandwiches.
“They put two tenders on a sandwich and sold it to me,” she said. “I figured I would come here before I drive home and see if they had them here, but they didn’t, so I just got something else.”
Lines stretched down the block at many Popeyes locations.
“It’s good for business, but bad for customers who either have to wait for them to be made, or if they come and we run out,” said Beverly, the manager at the New Castle-area location.
“We got cursed out last night,” she said, referring to the crowd reaction when her location ran out of sandwiches.
Now Popeyes is dealing with the downside of a viral marketing campaign.
Popeyes corporate office denied rampant rumors that one location manager dipped chicken sandwiches in cocaine powder. “There is no truth to the rumor,” said one corporate executive.
me and my siblings wanted to call popeyes to see if they had the chicken sandwich before heading over there and… LMFAOOOO pic.twitter.com/LzYAskVW0f
— Bèl Blak (@curlymekee) August 22, 2019
Brockton out here wildn over that Popeyes Chicken Sandwich ??? pic.twitter.com/09mN2zZHwF
— Boston World Star (@BostonWorldStar) August 23, 2019
Here’s the breakdown of the chicken sandwich debate between Chick-fil-A and Popeyes … pic.twitter.com/JuMiUwhhAo
— Sniper Barbie (@LadyRed_6) August 23, 2019