Popeyes Biscuits

About

Popeyes Biscuits are one of the most popular side options at the fast-food restaurant Popeyes, known for its fried chicken and biscuits. The biscuits are often the subject of memes exaggerating their dryness, typically in image macros and skits, resulting in an internet challenge where people try to eat large quantities of the biscuits without a drink.

Origin

On June 12th, 1972, the first Popeyes restaurant, at that time called Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits, opened in Louisiana. The restaurant has since become a worldwide chain, with over 3,000 locations. The buttermilk biscuits (shown below) have remained one of their most popular menu items.

Some of the earliest memes relating to Popeyes biscuits are image macros referring to how good they are, appearing online around 2013 (example shown below).

Spread

These Biscuits Will Bless Your Soul

On June 15th, 2013, YouTuber^[1] Marcel Adams uploaded a video in which he eats some Popeyes, claiming it will "bless your soul," then holds up a biscuit and shrieks with excitement (shown below, left). The video gained over 1.9 million views in eight years and inspired a number of remixes on YouTube and Vine (example shown below, right).

When You Eat a Popeyes Biscuit With Nothing to Drink

On September 25th, 2014. FunnyJunk^[2] user CptSoapMacTavish posted an image macro, originating from a now-deleted tweet, featuring an image of someone being choked with top-text reading, "When you eat Popeyes biscuits With Nothing To Drink" (shown below). This is the earliest known meme joking about the dryness of Popeyes biscuits. On February 11th, 2015, Redditor u/ItsDavidsBacon posted the meme to /r/BlackPeopleTwitter,^[4] garnering over 1,300 upvotes in six years.

Exaggerating the dryness of the biscuits has since become a go-to joke in Popeyes memes. For example, on March 23rd, 2016, Twitter^[5] user @_KingJonez posted "Popeyes biscuits with no drink feels like" along with another image of someone being chocked, garnering over 330 likes and 500 retweets in five years (shown below, left).

On November 14th, imgur^[3] user miork uploaded an image macro reading, "Her: Choke me daddy Me: *feeds her Popeyes biscuits wit no drink*," garnering over 68,000 views and 1,800 points in roughly five years (shown below, right).

On July 28th, 2017, Facebook^[6] page All Def posted a video edit titled "When You Eat A Popeyes biscuit With No Drink" in which a man with a Popeyes biscuit for a head chokes another man, garnering over 17,000 reactions and 6,700 comments in four years (shown below).

On August 23rd, 2020, TikToker^[11] @alwuhu uploaded a video captioned "Popeyes biscuit with no bev" in which he eats a biscuit then feels extreme thirst, garnering over 6.7 million views in roughly a year (shown below).

Popeyes Biscuit Challenge

On July 27th, 2016, YouTuber^[7] Leroy or Elroy uploaded a video titled, "Popeyes 'No Drink' Biscuit Challenge With Kayla!" in which the two attempt to eat 12 biscuits without drinking water, struggling to do so (shown below).

The trend soon took off, with other YouTubers uploading similarly titled videos over the coming years and gaining significant success. For example on September 28th, YouTuber^[8] La Guardia Cross uploaded a video taking the challenge, garnering over 224,000 views in four years (shown below, left). On April 9th, 2018 YouTuber^[9] CashNasty uploaded a video taking the challenge, garnering over 1.1 million views in three years (shown below, right).

Ooh Popeyes Biscuits

On March 10th, 2021, TikToker^[10] @og_mosheh posted a skit in which he says "ooh Popeyes biscuits," takes a bite of a biscuit, then screams as everything around him goes blurry due to the dryness. He reaches for a drink but falls to the ground before he can reach it (shown below). The video gained over 2.9 million views in two weeks.

The sound for this video inspired a number of lip-dub videos, as well as videos in which TikTokers mimic the style of it, doing something that results in their vision blurring and passing out, although the majority do not have to do with Popeyes biscuits explicitly (examples shown below, left and right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References