# Can someone please explain this whole chicken sandwich thing?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 6, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061 "2019-11-06T01:53:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/1 "2019-11-06T01:53:09Z")
As a vegetarian, I’ve been ignoring whatever is going on with this chicken sandwich war or whatever it is. But now I see someone in Maryland has been stabbed to death over it. Could someone kindly explain the whole mess? Why in hell is anyone getting worked up about chicken sandwiches?
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### Author:  [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/2 "2019-11-06T01:55:19Z")
A lot of people are morons. That about sums it up.
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### Author:  [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/3 "2019-11-06T02:19:36Z")
Cable TV was out?
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### Author:  [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/4 "2019-11-06T02:21:43Z")
I haven’t tried the sandwich but I can’t help but think there’s no way I’ll be disappointed. I’m going to bite into it and think, “This wasn’t worth a human life.” Holy cow! What if it tastes that good though?
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### Author:  [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/5 "2019-11-06T02:33:52Z")
> [@Odesio](#):
>
> I haven’t tried the sandwich but I can’t help but think there’s no way I’ll be disappointed. I’m going to bite into it and think, “This wasn’t worth a human life.” Holy cow! What if it tastes that good though?
You can’t handle the truth.
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### Author:  [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/6 "2019-11-06T03:32:45Z")
They don’t seen anything special to me. They did invent the chicken sandwich, though. (ducking) Anyway, they took them off the menu for some reason and just brought the sandwich back.
Dennis
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/7 "2019-11-06T03:33:10Z")
Little help? any links to what you guys are talking about? 😕
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/8 "2019-11-06T03:38:30Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> Little help? any links to what you guys are talking about? 😕
[The Chicken Sandwich War](https://www.businessinsider.com/popeyes-chicken-sandwich-rise-and-fall-story-2019-8).
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### Author:  [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/9 "2019-11-06T03:39:19Z")
Someone was stabbed at a Popeye’s Chicken place in Maryland, apparently for cutting in line for the new chicken sandwiches. [Here.](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/photo-suspect-fatal-stabbing-over-popeyes-chicken-sandwich-released-police-n1076871)
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### Author:  [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/10 "2019-11-06T04:01:59Z")
Well, while a chicken sandwich certainly isn’t worth anyone’s life, queue-jumping is another matter entirely.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/11 "2019-11-06T04:30:13Z")
> [@kayT](#):
>
> Someone was stabbed at a Popeye’s Chicken place in Maryland, apparently for cutting in line for the new chicken sandwiches. [Here.](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/photo-suspect-fatal-stabbing-over-popeyes-chicken-sandwich-released-police-n1076871)
Well, maybe he was stabbed for cutting in line in general. That’s just rude.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/12 "2019-11-06T04:59:14Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> Little help? any links to what you guys are talking about? 😕
The bullet points version:
-Popeye’s, a fried chicken chain, introduced a new chicken sandwich in August and started a social-media war with Chik-fil-A, a chain already known for their chicken sandwiches. Soon other fast-food franchises joined the fray.
-The rivalry has political overtones because of anti-same-sex marriage statements by Chik-fil-A’s owner and donations to such organizations.
-Popeye’s sandwich was so popular it sold out in a few weeks and was discontinued.
-It was recently re-introduced, leading to long lines. On one such line a dispute led to a man being fatally stabbed.
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/13 "2019-11-06T12:16:38Z")
> [@dtilque](#):
>
> As a vegetarian, I’ve been ignoring whatever is going on with this chicken sandwich war or whatever it is. But now I see someone in Maryland has been stabbed to death over it. Could someone kindly explain the whole mess? Why in hell is anyone getting worked up about chicken sandwiches?
manufactured hype via marketing.
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/14 "2019-11-06T12:29:06Z")
What baffles me is, I could have sworn I’ve eaten chicken sandwiches at Popeye’s before.
Thought they were called Po Boy’s.
This whole thing feels like a glitch in the matrix to me.
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/15 "2019-11-06T12:39:53Z")
> [@Grrr](#):
>
> What baffles me is, I could have sworn I’ve eaten chicken sandwiches at Popeye’s before.
>
> Thought they were called Po Boy’s.
>
> This whole thing feels like a glitch in the matrix to me.
They appear to have discontinued the po’boys in favor of the new sandwich, which is a shame, as I always loved the shrimp po’boy myself. (Not that I could eat it anymore since I’m apparently allergic to shrimp now.)
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### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/16 "2019-11-06T12:59:06Z")
Fried chicken is delicious beyond words, but not eaten that much due to health concerns of frying. People don’t typically think of a chicken sandwich as fried chicken, so it avoids the unhealthy stigma of it but has the same taste. The marketing push now is to stir up interest in it. Also the sandwich is a easier to eat form then fried chicken pieces, which also allows toppings.
That’s about it.
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/17 "2019-11-06T13:00:26Z")
I still haven’t tried one, but Popeye’s chicken is quite good, and I’m sure this sandwich is, too. If only they’ll be able to leave the mayo off of mine. Talk about stabby!
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/18 "2019-11-06T13:06:41Z")
There are a lot of people who despise Chik-Fil-A’s politics but love their chicken sandwiches. Popeye’s somehow picked just the right time and chose the right strategy to introduce an alternative to Chik-Fil-A’s sandwich.
The whole thing blew up unexpectedly and Popeye’s didn’t have enough supply to keep up with demand, and ran out of its ingredients within a few weeks. They’ve now reintroduced the sandwich after a couple of months.
It’s a pretty good fried chicken sandwich, but it’s popularity is the result of cultural coincidences and a good marketing program.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/19 "2019-11-06T13:26:00Z")
I know of a case where someone was stabbed in an argument over a Little Debbie snack cake\*, so it’s not just chicken sandwiches that provoke violence.
\*it seems that most Little Debbie snack cakes are not vegan, but the Little Debbie cake donut is regarded as an exception.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-please-explain-this-whole-chicken-sandwich-thing/843061/20 "2019-11-06T14:38:41Z")
> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> It’s a pretty good fried chicken sandwich, but it’s popularity is the result of cultural coincidences and a good marketing program.
Yep. I’m still a little baffled as to why chicken sandwiches/chicken tenders (really any boneless fried chicken product) are so popular, but this whole Popeye’s thing is really just a combination of good marketing and I’m guessing social media buzz. I mean, they did have TV ads, but they weren’t anything too special. I’m guessing someone really liked it, and was in a position to relay that to a lot of people on social media who all agreed and did the same. And so on, and so forth in a chain reaction way.
One final observation- nobody’s really getting stabbed over a chicken sandwich; in my experience, it’s more about bad behavior and disrespect. Nobody’s thinking “I’m going to shank that fool in the liver because he may get a chicken sandwich and I may not.” What they’re waiting in line for is immaterial- it’s the fact that the line-cutter was disrespectful and ill-behaved that likely started the fight, and it escalated to a stabbing because that’s how that particular person chose to handle it.
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