The fast food chicken sandwich wars will never end and here’s why
Nearly two years after it began, the battle over what fast food chain has the best chicken sandwich rages on.
Carl’s Jr., Burger King and McDonald’s recently entered the fray in the so-called chicken sandwich wars, and they’re not alone.
Kentucky Fried Chicken and Wendy’s have added new chicken sandwiches to their menu, and even Taco Bell has revived its Naked Chicken Chalupa, which has a shell made with chicken meat, as a contender in combat.
“Now it’s just required that everyone have a chicken sandwich,” said marketing expert Deb Gabor, author of “Irrational Loyalty,” a book about how companies bond with consumers.
Gabor, author and founder of Sol Marketing in Texas, likened restaurant chains putting the dish on the menu to a gambler placing an ante in a poker pot to get into the game.
“It becomes kind of a table stakes thing. I think chicken sandwiches are becoming table stakes for fast food and fast casual restaurants.”
When people talk about chicken sandwich wars, they are referring to the competition between restaurant chains that began in August 2019. That’s when Popeyes Louisiana Chicken added a chicken sandwich to its menu that was very similar to the chicken sandwich that Chick-fil-A claims its founder, Truett Cathy, created in 1964.
Chick-fil-A’s sandwich features pressure-cooked chicken sitting on top of pickle chips on on a toasted, buttered bun.
Popeyes’ sandwich featured hand-battered chicken, pickle and mayonnaise on a brioche bun.
It was a direct shot across the bow at Chick-fil-A, according to Gabor, and it created a sensation. Customers ordering at restaurant counters waited more than a half hour to try it, and lines of cars stretched out of drive-thrus.
Popeyes sold out of its chicken sandwiches by the end of August and didn’t bring them back until November 2019.
The sandwich paid off in publicity as well as sales. In a 2019 blog, Gabor wrote that Popeyes got more than $23 million in free publicity from the chicken wars, with customers taking sides on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
“There was a lot of excitement about being Team Popeyes versus being Team Chick-fil-A back in the beginning, chicken sandwich wars round one. I think that was 100% part of it,” she said, looking back on it.
She said she knew people who had never been interested in Popeyes who became fans because of perceived anti-LGBTQ stances by Chick-fil-A.
Burger King is apparently trying to reach those diners. It is promoting its new Ch’King chicken sandwiches throughout Pride Month. In a tweet, it said it would donate 40 cents to an LGBTQ advocacy group called Human Rights Campaign for every Ch’King sandwich sold in June, “even on Sundays.” Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays, a practice started by Cathy.
Although there isn’t much difference in many of the chicken sandwiches, they are being marketed to different audiences, according to Gabor.
Carl’s Jr. launched a campaign on OnlyFans, a subscription service known for its adult content to the extent that the New York Times called it the “paywall of porn.”
“Carl’s Jr. is an outlaw brand. They do everything in a way that runs counter to the rest of the category,” said Gabor.
“By going to OnlyFans, it’s very much what I would expect from Carl’s Jr.”
She said Popeyes goes for a wholesome family feel.
“It don’t think there’s a lot of crossover between the ideal customer of Carl’s Jr. and the ideal customer of Popeyes.”
“A brand is a magnet, and that magnet uses its values and beliefs to attract customers who share those values and beliefs.”
Even if the hype dies down, it’s unlikely the chicken sandwiches will go away. Gabor said they’ve become standard equipment the way luxury items like automatic windows have become standard equipment on cars.
“Today’s options package become tomorrow’s standard equipment,” she observed.