The online chicken sandwich wars rage on.
September 20 seemed like just another Sunday in America, and Chick-fil-A wasn't bothering anybody.
It was resting as it always does on Sunday, with all of its 2,500 U.S. stores closed.
That's what prompted Popeyes to throw a jab at its fast-food rival on Twitter:
"It's the 'closed on Sundays' for me."
If the wording seems weird, it's a nod to the #ItsForMe challenge,
a viral trend on TikTok where friends exchange embarrassing but
good-natured insults about each other. And that ribbing-on-the-square is what's happening here.
Popeyes, which is open seven days a week, chose a Sunday to drop this particular #ItsForMe bomb on
its competition. One commenter underneath Popeyes' tweet was eagerly awaiting Chick-fil-A's response:
"You gonna take that?"
Another commenter came back cleverly,
"We won't know till Monday."
"Oh, snap."
Some Chick-fil-A fans rose to their preferred chain's defense, citing customer service
and quick drive-thru times as areas where Chick-fil-A edged out Popeye's. One tweeted,
"The drive through can be wrapped around the
building and I still get my sandwich in ten [minutes]."
So far, Chick-fil-A has held its tongue. Maybe its marketing team is still crafting the perfect
comeback, or they're just taking the high road in this particular chapter of the chicken sandwich
wars, which came to Twitter more than a year ago. The flashpoint was when Popeyes added a
sandwich to its menu that was clearly meant to compete with the sandwich at Chick-fil-A.
Within a week of introducing its sandwich, Popeyes had the attention of the social media managers at
Chick-fil-A. They wanted to remind their followers who came up with the sandwich first, tweeting:
"Bun + chicken + pickles = all the [love] for the original."
Popeyes responded with snide faux sympathy, asking simply:
"... y'all good?"
Then fans of the two chains lined up at the drive-thrus to support their
favorite sandwich with their dollars. Popeyes wasn't prepared for the rush,
and eight days after the tweet exchange, Popeyes had reportedly run out of sandwiches.
Popeyes didn't bring its sandwich back until two months later,
on November 3rd. Popeyes may have chosen the date because it was National Sandwich Day,
which also happened to fall on a Sunday. Chick-fil-A, eager to keep a competitive edge,
sent a promotion to customers asking them to come enjoy their sandwich on National
Sandwich Day, forgetting all their restaurants would be closed that day.
What followed was a red-faced apology from Chick-fil-A and yet another retort from Popeyes:
"seriously ... y'all good?"
Though Chick-fil-A hasn't responded to Popeyes' latest jab,
fans of the "original" are speaking for them. One Chick-fil-A loyalist wrote:
"If you think Popeyes customer service or products
are even close to the great quality of CFA you are high!"
The comeback, from a Popeyes partisan, was probably inevitable:
"Popeyes customer service is better than CFA's on Sundays."
Popeyes and Chick-fil-A's bickering hasn't been relegated to Twitter, either.
In December 2019, Popeyes decided to make its presence known in the print
"help wanted" section of several major newspapers, including The New York Times,
New York Post, Boston Globe, and Miami Herald — on a Sunday, of course.
Popeyes asked for prospects who were free on Sundays and have experience building a
chicken sandwich from its components of a bun, chicken and pickles. Interestingly,
they were only looking for people to join their team "one day a week," which was,
of course, a direct dig at Chick-fil-A. They were also hoping applicants loved serving
people chicken sandwiches, and to apply through a "Sunday Openings" email address.
Chick-fil-A has always been closed on Sundays,
even in busy airports and in football stadiums. As noted on the company website,
"Our founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first
restaurant. [...] Truett saw the importance of closing on Sundays so that he and his employees
could set aside one day to rest and worship if they choose - a practice we uphold today."
That decision definitely comes with a cost,
estimated by 24/7 Wall St. at $1.2 billion each year - as well as the cost of having
Popeyes come for the business its rival is leaving behind as Chick-fil-A fans are left
with a closed building and empty tummies if they're craving a chicken sandwich on a Sunday.
Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy says it's all worth it, though:
"It's my belief that our food tastes just a little bit better on Monday."
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