We all love a good chicken sandwich. But have you ever had a chicken so good that it causes you to act irrationally?
One man from Maryland was just minding his own business when he suddenly met a tragic fate due to an argument over a chicken sandwich.
If you love fried chicken, then you’ve probably heard of Popeyes. It had its humble beginnings in New Orleans, Louisiana back in 1972 and now currently holds the record for the second-largest “quick-service chicken restaurant” next to KFC. It has over 3,000 stores in 40 states and is now continuing to expand globally.
Everyone just loves popeyes! But recent incidents seem to prove that their chicken was too good that it’s capable of causing chaotic incidents…
It was just a normal day at a Popeyes branch in Oxon hill. Popeyes have just restocked their popular chicken sandwich and customers immediately flocked to the fast-food chain. People were going about their usual business, eating and enjoying themselves when suddenly, a tragic event started to unfold in full speed right before their eyes. An eyewitness was thoroughly disturbed by what he saw.
He tried to recall the scene as best as he could for the sake of getting an accurate police report. It happened so fast but fortunately, he was able to catch everything.
The eyewitness vividly described the scene as he recalled them. He said that a man cut in line due to his excitement over buying the restocked chicken sandwich. It resulted in a heated argument with a fellow customer. He remembered how the two customers took their fight outside and just like that, the man who cut in line got stabbed.
Blood was splattered all over the street and people started to panic. When local authorities arrived, almost everyone in the restaurant was in a state of shock.
When the authorities arrived, it was already too late. The man was lying in a pool of blood, lifeless and cold. It was truly a horrific incident.
They tried rushing him to the hospital but he was already dead. The police are now currently investigating the case. Popeyes has also released their official statement regarding the incident. “'We do not yet know whether this was the result of a dispute over one of our products or something unrelated, but there is no reason for someone to lose their life on a Monday night in a parking lot,” a representative from Popeyes said.
It seems some customers are starting to get impatient. There have been several incident reports of customers acting violently either towards the staff or towards other customers possibly in relation to the restocked chicken sandwich.
But what could possibly be the root cause of all this chaos aside from the sandwich?
Some people speculate that the timing must have had a major contribution in the incidents. It was National Sandwich day and Popeyes saw this as a good opportunity to restock their beloved Chicken sandwich.
National Sandwich day happened to fall on a Sunday, when their competitor, Chick-Fil-A was closed. Since then, several videos have surfaced online.
A video filmed at the Popeyes Ellenton branch surfaced on the internet. One particular customer got attacked by a random man. He was just minding his own business, giving his order at the drive-through window when suddenly, another man started pounding at his SUV.
The SUV owner, annoyed at the random man, leaped out of his SUV and fought him. As other people tried to stop them, the SUV owner then yelled obscene remarks at the random man, trying to scare him away.
It was a busy day at the Harlem, New York Popeye branch. The staff at the branch were trying to attend to as many customers as they can but no matter how many people they serve, it seems to have no end to it. Customers would go in and out of the fast-food chain and as the number of people increases, some of the customer’s patience would also decrease. One customer couldn’t seem to control his temper anymore and started screaming at the staff.
He thought that the staff was taking too long when in fact, he ordered 10 sandwiches in total. If you think that was crazy, wait until you hear this next story.
A man from Tenessee decided to sue Popeyes for running out of their famous chicken sandwich! Craig Barr was demanding the fast-food chain to pay him a total for $5000 for the damages.
He felt that his time was not only wasted, but his car also suffered serious damage just because of the sandwich. What is it with Popeyes that makes everyone go crazy?
It was 8:45 in the evening and his stomach was growling. Todd (name changed to protect his identity) spent almost his day patiently waiting in long lines of the Popeye’s fast food store located in Texas. But he was determined to get that chicken sandwich. Suddenly, a voice resounded the whole store announcing that they’re already sold out.
Angered boiled up to his head that made his vision red. Todd along with his four other friends, furiously marched towards the counter. The customers screamed in horror when he pulled out a deadly weapon.
Todd skimmed through the counter and pointed out the gun to the manager. In desperation to get the sandwich, Todd shouted threatening words to him. The customers by then were disrupted and shaking in fear. But the staff including the manager, tried their best to be in a calm demeanor.
He again informed Todd that they ran out of ingredients therefore, they can’t make the chicken sandwich anymore. Yet the gun was still pointed towards his head. The air became tenser when Todd and his group made the next move.
The group started stepping back. Todd realized the commotion he just made so he drew back his gun. He grabbed his friends and ran away outside the store. No shots were fired from the incident and they weren’t arrested.
But he didn’t know that the scene was actually caught on a surveillance camera, and the Houston police were already searching for them. With all these mayhems that happened in every Popeyes food stores... was their chicken sandwich really that good that people started betting their lives? What if we told you that they actually have the secret formulas and we ranked them into top 5.
The chicken sandwich features crispy chicken breasts, pickles and mayonnaise inside a bun. The customers can even choose if they wanted it spicy or not. But it wasn’t just a chunk of chicken breasts.
The CEO of the food chain explained the reason behind their 2 months’ interval after the sell out was because their ingredients were one of a kind. The chicken breasts they cut were very specific that you cannot just ge it down the street. They had to negotiate with their special suppliers and formulated ingredients exclusively for the sandwich.
Popeyes roots made the people intrigued. They had the good history from New Orleans which was famous for the Cajun cuisine.
Its traditional method of cooking focused in utilizing available ingredients cooked in a simple but exquisite way. And Popeyes inherited the Cajan culture that helped them formulate their famous chicken sandwich.
What made the Popeyes’ chicken sandwich unique than the other food chain sandwiches was because they set aside the nutritional values. They admitted that health was not their top priority because the food will become “too boring.” They wanted the Popeyes to be an escape for people’s everyday bland healthy foods.
So they created their tasty chicken sandwich full of calories and MSG. In fact, their competitor Chick-fil-A had lesser calories and they were defeated.
If you don’t know, MSG is an additive that enhances the flavor of the food. It was alleged that the Popeye’s signature spice blend was the MSG itself.
And scientifically speaking, when we ate too much MSG, it will produce chemicals to our brain called “Excitotoxins” which creates fire impulses that excites our taste buds and makes the chicken sandwich very addicting.
Their ultimate secret to success was actually given free by their competitors. Chik-Fil-A, the renowned food chain, tweeted a photo against the Popeyes’.The Popeyes immediately tweeted back in simple, “Y’all good?” And made a massive internet engagement more than the Chik-Fil-A’s original tweet.
But another competitor tried to get into the twitter fight.
The Wendy’s, also a reputable food chain brand, tweeted “Y’all out here fighting about which of these fools has the second best chicken sandwich.” With attached photo of their own chicken sandwich. Then the Popeyes responded in an instant, “Sounds like someone just ate one of our biscuits.
Cause y’all looking thirsty.” Once again, the Popeyes won the argument with thousands of retweets. Now here’s the best part...
The fast food chicken sandwich war made the people considered that their newly debuted chicken sandwich was in the same level and competition as the established Chik-Fil-A and Wendy’s sandwiches. Resulting in a chain of events like Youtubers making comparisons, reviews, and mukbangs videos about their sandwiches.
The hype gave an urge to the masses (and even celebrities) to wait in long heavy lines just to get a taste of the Popeye’s chicken sandwich.