Unless you live under a bridge, you've heard of the new chicken sandwich from Popeye's Chicken. It looks delicious. According to many, it IS delicious, and worth the long wait in lines to get one.
So we decided to go to the one and only Popeyes in Florence and try this new deliciousness. They were sold out. Three people were ahead of us in line, and they had all come for the sandwich too, but according to the manager their sandwiches had sold out on the first day and they hadn't gotten restocked. The menu even had them crossed out.
We walked away disappointed and full of questions. Where could we get one? How could they sell out that quickly? Was it really that good? Was it better than Chik-Fil-A?
Thinking that we might could drive out of town to get a sandwich, we got online but quickly realized that we were completely out of luck because the sandwiches are officially sold out nationwide.
We have to taste it for ourselves before we can answer whether or not it deserved all the hype, or whether it was better than Chik-Fil-A so we'll have to table that discussion for another day. However, we did find some answers as to how this could have happened. Apparently, Popeye's should thank their competitor, Chik-Fil-A.
When Popeye's first announced that they were launching a chicken sandwich, no one was really talking about it. There definitely wasn't the type of hype we've all been seeing this past week. So what happened? Chik-Fil-A tweeted that they were the original, Popeyes quote tweeted them asking "Y'all good?"
BOOM! It was on. Now EVERYONE was suddenly asking themselves if Popeye's sandwich was any good and they lined up around the block to get it. Popeyes expected their sandwich supplies to last through September, but they sold out nationwide in two weeks. Plus, they didn't spend a dime advertising on Twitter because Chik-Fil-A, who had 10 times the followers Popeyes did, took care of that for them.
This has got to be a lesson in staying in your own lane and being confident in your own ablities. Sure, Chik-Fil-A got some exposure, but it helped Popeyes more than anything. If Chik-Fil-A had just kept quiet, kept their heads down and continued doing what they do, the great chicken debate of summer 2019 probably wouldn't have happened. Now, Popeyes of course recommends that you download their app so that you can be the first to know when the sandwiches come back. Whether or not their sandwich tastes better didn't matter, after you calculate the boost in publicity and new digital/social media followers on top of the sales, Popeyes came out the winner.