# Who Really Won the Popeyes vs. Chick-fil-A Battle?

- Link: https://chatterblast.com/blog/who-really-won-the-popeyes-vs-chick-fil-a-battle/
- Published: 2019-09-11T18:25:52-04:00
- Author: chatterblastteam

Now that the dust from the biggest chicken sandwich debate in recent memory has 
settled, it’s time to take a look back and examine what _actually_ happened—and 
who won.  

In order to do this, we must first reflect on how this how debate started. 

On August 12, fried chicken-focused fast food chain **Popeyes** added a new item
to their menu: a simple chicken sandwich. At first, this just seemed like any other
fast food chain promoting a new addition to their menu. We see it all the time: **
McDonald’s** Shamrock shakes, **Wendy’s** spicy chicken nuggets, or **Taco Bell’s**
breakfast items. These chains are no strangers to mixing it up.

For Popeyes, this seemed like a logical addition to their menu—it makes sense that
a chain known for its chicken would offer a chicken sandwich. That is, of course,
until **Chick-fil-A** sent out the mother of all subtweets a week after the sandwich
was released.

> Bun + Chicken + Pickles = all the ❤️ for the original. [pic.twitter.com/qBAIIxZx5v](https://t.co/qBAIIxZx5v)
> — Chick-fil-A, Inc. (@ChickfilA) [August 19, 2019](https://twitter.com/ChickfilA/status/1163469422486523904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

As someone who enjoys seeing a good subtweet on my timeline, I have to tip my hat
to Chick-fil-A. This has all the qualities of a dagger subtweet: subtle enough to
seem like standard content, but passive-aggressive enough to get your message across.
Chick-fil-A came to this fight with a “If you come at the king you best not miss”
attitude, and rightfully so. Whether you support their misguided corporate beliefs
or not, they have _elite_ fast food chicken.  

Popeyes was not going to take this jab sitting down. It didn’t take long for the
relatively tame Popeyes social team to respond with a tweet that ignited true chaos:

> … y’all good? [https://t.co/lPaTFXfnyP](https://t.co/lPaTFXfnyP)
> — Popeyes (@Popeyes) [August 19, 2019](https://twitter.com/Popeyes/status/1163510538959069184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

This is what I call a top-shelf clap back. It’s rare for the party responding to
a subtweet to end up looking good, but Popeyes managed this feat with a simple, 
yet sassy “…ya’ll good?”

From there, as it so often does, the internet stepped in and sparked a debate that
spanned across multiple platforms and media outlets. People all across the country
rushed to their local Chick-fil-A and Popeyes establishments to buy both sandwiches
in order to form their opinions. Naturally, that turned into a meme war.

Let’s take a look at some of our favorite posts that resulted from the frenzy:

> Me enjoying my Popeyes chicken sandwich with Chic Fil A sauce [pic.twitter.com/UsI8hDCqPk](https://t.co/UsI8hDCqPk)
> — MR. RAGER (@Chris2Chill) [August 19, 2019](https://twitter.com/Chris2Chill/status/1163513789322596353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

>  [pic.twitter.com/5IxbxZA25W](https://t.co/5IxbxZA25W)
> — X (@XLNB) [August 19, 2019](https://twitter.com/XLNB/status/1163517358553460737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

>  [pic.twitter.com/SjJwp6w79x](https://t.co/SjJwp6w79x)
> — actioncookbook (@actioncookbook) [August 19, 2019](https://twitter.com/actioncookbook/status/1163512516854595584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

>  [pic.twitter.com/BeWtPqhXZp](https://t.co/BeWtPqhXZp)
> — Dalé Derek (@Derek_Munter) [August 19, 2019](https://twitter.com/Derek_Munter/status/1163510710325919745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Popeyes and Bojangles thinking they are on the same level as chick-fil-a's chicken
> sandwich [pic.twitter.com/j1RYp8gs1G](https://t.co/j1RYp8gs1G)
> — LoveDoctor (@Hitch_Atl) [August 20, 2019](https://twitter.com/Hitch_Atl/status/1163603926849134592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/yobDeon/status/1163871460408070144

To me, it seemed like all of the best/funniest memes came in support of Popeyes 
and the addition of their chicken sandwich, so I’m giving them the edge in this 
internet battle. 

In reality, both fast food chains benefitted greatly from this “controversy” as 
they both gained millions of free media impressions. Not to mention that in order
for people to properly weigh in on this debate, they needed to purchase sandwiches
from both restaurants. _(Editor’s note: Let’s not forget that on August 27, Popeyes
announced that they _[_literally sold out_](https://twitter.com/PopeyesChicken/status/1166443046361153537)_
of their chicken sandwiches due to the rush to try them. As of this publish date,
September 11, they are still out.)_

Congrats on the win, Popeyes! Now, please don’t turn into Wendy’s and feel like 
you have chime in with your two cents on _everything_. 

> Y’all out here fighting about which of these fools has the second best chicken
> sandwich. [pic.twitter.com/4v9RJFgy0T](https://t.co/4v9RJFgy0T)
> — Wendy’s (@Wendys) [August 19, 2019](https://twitter.com/Wendys/status/1163555101040140288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)