The Popeyes Chicken Sandwich is back. The chicken chain has announced its official return date. Let the second-round of chicken wars begin.
After two months of waiting, fans of Popeyes‘ chicken sandwich are in luck as the Louisiana-based chain brought it back to menus nationwide on Sunday, as they look to throw themselves back into the fray of the ever-growing chicken sandwich wars.
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Following ingredient shortages and staffing issues, Popeyes August launch for their chicken sandwich lasted only two weeks before selling out, with company officials claiming the fried chicken franchise could not keep up with the incredible demand.
“This is not a drill… We’re fully stocked,” Popeyes’ official Twitter account tweeted on Friday.
The return of the Popeyes chicken sandwich happens to fall upon National Sandwich Day on Sunday, the one day of the week where their biggest competitor and rival, Chick-fil-A, is closed.
WHY IT TOOK MONTHS FOR POPEYES TO BRING BACK ITS CHICKEN SANDWICH
Efforts were made by the fast food chain to get its chicken sandwich back on menus and into costumers’ stomachs, however a number of factors led to the two-month wait.
First, Popeyes had to find suppliers for the sandwich’s brioche bun and small chicken breast after initially procuring three months’ worth of chicken sandwich ingredients prior to its Aug. 12 launch.
However, the fried chicken chain ran into issues securing suppliers, as many of them had exclusive existing contracts with Popeyes’ rivals such as the aforementioned Chick-fil-A as well as KFC and Wendy’s.
Second, Popeyes beefed up staff by hiring 400 new employees, with at least two new staff members per franchise dedicated specifically to meeting the chicken sandwich demand.
POPEYES’ CHICKEN SANDWICH HAS COMPETING STOCKS WORRIED
“Our franchisees have worked to increase staffing,” Restaurant Brands International Inc, Popeyes’ parent company told Bloomberg prior to the sandwich’s return. “We have been working diligently to bring the sandwich back to our restaurants soon, as we know our guests are anxiously anticipating its return.”
A search for the term “Popeyes’ Chicken Sandwich” on Twitter yields thousands of tweets about the sandwich’s return, from people commenting on the extremely long lines of customers and cars lined up for blocks to get to the drive-through window, to reviews of the sandwich from those who have been waiting two months to try it.
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The return of Popeyes’ chicken sandwich will almost certainly reignite the chicken sandwich war they’ve been engaged with Chick-fil-A on social media, with both chains taking shots at one another in recent months.
Popeyes has expertly utilized social media to promote their chicken sandwich and has received free promotion for their efforts by fans of the product. Vikings wide receiver Stefan Diggs fashioned a pair of custom cleats to look like a Popeyes chicken sandwich advertisement in honor of the sandwich’s long awaited return.
Meanwhile, another NFL player offered some free publicity for the chicken sandwich, which went viral shortly thereafter.
“The eye is great. I’ll tell you the key, it was Popeyes’ spicy chicken sandwich that I ate this week,” Deshaun Watson told a sideline reporter when asked about his injured eye.
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The sandwich itself has become a viral sensastion, and was a top trending search term on Twitter Sunday, with over 169,000 tweets about the sandwich’s return.
