After nearly two years of trying to beat chicken burger, the fast food giant has entered the battle for chicken sandwiches.
This week, McDonald’s will become the newest American restaurant chain to jump on the chicken sandwich craze that sparked Popeyes two years ago, rolling out its version with original, spicy and upscale variations on February 24.
Popeyes was also long a runner in the war for fast food supremacy, focusing the appeal of its Louisiana-inspired offerings and menu largely around chicken and shrimp. But that all changed in 2019 when it debuted its chicken sandwich in what became a historic event in the annals of fast food. Unobtrusive in appearance, the sandwich became an indispensable treat, driven by hype and scarcity as well as taste.
The sandwich sparked too many lines of thinking, hit a cashier at gunpoint, and disrupted Popeyes’s supply chain for months. It also broke the internet (and bits of the US national road network) and increased the stock of its parent company, Restaurant Brands International.
While Wendy’s, Burger King, KFC, and others ran to catch up, McDonald’s continued to have a chicken sandwich makeover – until now.
“We’ve heard our customers loud and clear, and we know they want more chicken options,” Linda VanGosen, McDonald’s president, said in a statement. “We are convinced that all chicken fans – from traditionalists to spice aficionados – will discover a new menu favorite that will keep them coming back again and again.”
While delicious and filling, chicken sandwiches are hardly new to fast food chains. Popeyes created a frenzy by first drumming up and then leaning into the fervor his sandwich caused on the Internet, sparking excitement for his product and traffic to his site and standalone app with every annoyed opinion piece or joyful review on social media. Along the way, it showed that internet buzz can turn a second-tier brand into a category leader.
Even if McDonald’s new sandwich gets hidden in the next few weeks near a shopping street or business complex near you, Popeye’s may have already won the early publicity contest by hijacking McDonald’s online promotion.
To create excitement for its new offering, McDonald’s has released limited-edition chicken-themed merchandise such as hoodies and a 7-inch vinyl record. McDonald’s sent users to the newly announced CHKNDrop.com, but failed to keep an eye out for the world’s spelling mistakes. Popeyes took the opportunity and offered 500 free sandwiches to the first users to type in one of dozens of near-missing URLs, such as chikindrop.com
“If you have a chronic spelling mistake, you have some guarantee that you won’t get a 404 not found message if you get them [website] when you try to type in your search bar, ‘said a statement from Popeye. “You might just find a free Popeyes Chicken Sandwich instead.” The 500 free sandwiches were quickly picked up by avid fast foodies.
McDonald’s sheer number of locations and its brand awareness will likely turn this chicken war into an unfair fight in terms of crude sales, but McDonald’s will have to do more than rest on its bows to beat Popeyes at its own game.