Popeye's Chicken Sandwich Sells Out, Gets Company $23 Million In Free Advertising

The past month has been an unexpected one for Popeye's, the once distant-third in the round-up of most popular fried chicken-based fast-food restaurants, and all it took was a bun. By placing their Louisana-spiced food product between two pieces of bread, the company sent the nation into a fervor, as the hungry masses clamored for the country's most sought-after fast food menu item: Popeye's fried chicken sandwich.

And now it's all gone. The dream is dead. The roosters have come home to roost. The chicken has crossed the road and didn't get to the other side. And so on and so forth. The chicken sandwich is no more.

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

According to Popeye's, their fried chicken sandwich is sold out for the time being. While you may still get lucky and pick one up at your local depository, it's no longer a sure bet. The company, who expected their inventory of miscellaneous poultry parts and pickles to last through September, we're apparently not prepared for the surge in popularity.

In a statement to Delish, the company elaborated:

It has been amazing to see our guests share their love for our brand and for the new Chicken Sandwich on social media and beyond, and we are truly humbled and grateful for their support. The demand for the new Chicken Sandwich in the first few weeks following launch far exceeded our very optimistic expectations. In fact, Popeyes aggressively forecasted demand through the end of September and has already sold through that inventory.

How are people taking the shortage of chicken sandwiches? Really well. Wait, did I say "really well"? I meant poorly, very poorly. Videos of irate customers attacking service workers have begun to surface. Obviously, it's never ok to attack someone over a chicken sandwich, but fast food restaurant workers are among the least deserving, laboring away in some of the most high-stress, low reward professions in the country. They deserve our admiration (and higher wages), not our anger over some dumb chicken nugget sandwiches.

Popeye's doesn't appear to be sweating the sellout. All the news about the sandwich, including pieces like this one, helped them secure $23 million in free advertising. So all those stories about the chicken's popularity and their social media wars with other billion-dollar corporations helped fuel the nation's appetite for fast food and brand identity.

The good news is you can expect more of this. No, not chicken sandwiches--brand wars on Twitter. Other chains and marketing executives have taken note of the corporate stanning and plan on leveraging it for whatever they got next. Whether that be Taco Bell's "Doritos-dusted Matzoh Taco" or Dunkin Donuts "Vegemite-stuffed Cronut", brand roast battles will likely be the way to turn online conversation into long lines at restaurants.

Jonathan Maze, the executive editor of Restaurant Business Magazine, a trade publication, told the New York Times, "Look at how much attention they’re getting -- it’s impressive. All this is really going to do frankly is embolden other chains to do similar things when they introduce new products.”

So for the time being, you can give your taste buds, heart and arteries a rest. Maybe eat a piece of celery or go for a run before the stock is replenished. Of course, you could always pick one up from Quavo from Migos for a cool $1,000.