Canada, meet the chicken sandwich that wrecked havoc in the USA.
Who would have thought that a simple piece of battered chicken, some pickles, and a brioche bun would have caused such an uproar? Not even Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen could have imagined their success. In fact the company ran out of stock last year and was virtually “sold out” of the chicken sandwich for a months-long span. Are Americans just crazy? Or is the sandwich worth the hype? Canadians are about to find out soon. [Featured image: @girlbossfoodie]
Popeyes first opened in the 1970s. Soon the fast food chain became known for their southern fried Louisiana-style chicken. But it wasn’t until last year that the released their first chicken sandwich.
When their sandwich hit the market, Popeyes came out swinging. Immediately, Popeyes began an online war with fried poultry rival, Chick-fil-a. Tweeting at them merciless with an onslaught of memes and hashtags; Popeyes contended that they were coming for the crown of chicken sandwich king.
Chick-Fil-A watching everybody eating Popeyes new chicken sandwich pic.twitter.com/9rH9q3OR0L
— X (@XLNB) August 19, 2019
Well, the western world bought in. And soon, cities across America were hitting the Popeyes’ chain in droves. Chaos erupted online. Lines began warping around every Popeyes in sight. Chicken counters were swarmed. There were chicken scalpers, sandwich shortages, and reports of Popeyes’ lines of customers disturbing the piece in small towns.
absolute scenes outside my popeyes of people trying to get the sandwich pic.twitter.com/MoFWC1edJu
— harry (@harrylylesjr) November 3, 2019
It wasn’t long before the food chain sold out of the chicken sandwich. They ran ads and commercials advertising “BYOB” (Bring Your Own Bun) messages to their customers.
Y’all. We love that you love The Sandwich. Unfortunately we’re sold out (for now). pic.twitter.com/Askp7aH5Rr
— Popeyes Chicken (@PopeyesChicken) August 27, 2019
Finally, half a year later, the sandwich made its return. Now, its coming to Canada. On Friday, it was announced that Restaurant Brands International — which owns Popeyes, Burger King, and Tim Hortons – Chief Corporate Officer had confirmed plans to bring Popeyes to Canada.
Evidently getting the “iPhone of chicken sandwiches” across the border was more difficult than it seemed. Although the chain has restaurants in six locations across Canada, procuring the proper ingredients, having different partners, suppliers, and a different supply chain prevented Canadians from the chain’s magnum opus.
“The plan is later this year, though we have not announced when yet. We are aiming for later this year,” said the Chief Corporate Officer at RBI.
So like when is the Popeyes chicken sandwich coming to Canada? pic.twitter.com/U8zm3ISkTQ
— B (@baddiebooks) August 22, 2019
How will Canadians fair with fried chicken? We’ll see later this year.
