The new Popeyes chicken sandwich is good enough to kill for, literally. In November, a man at a Popeyes restaurant in Maryland fatally stabbed another customer in line over the beloved sandwich. This incident was not alone with other countless altercations happening at Popeyes restaurants across the nation.  The sandwich has even exceeded the demand of other popular items like the iconic Unicorn Frappuccino at Starbucks. Many Americans are at a crossroad wondering whether or not the chicken sandwich is really worth the endless and headache-causing lines.

The chicken sandwich craze began back in August of 2019. It picked up steam fairly quickly, even drawing comparisons to the classic sandwiches of other fast food chains. The item was so popular that it was sold out in a matter of two weeks and had to be taken off the menu until a further date. When the sandwich returned to stores in early November, customers lined out the door to get a taste of the new and improved sandwich. The second release also struck up a feud with other fast food restaurants. The Twitter controversy between Chick-fil-A and Popeyes has some onlookers calling it the “Chicken War”.

The Popeyes sandwich is delicious and popular enough to be worth the hype. The fried chicken sandwich is synonymous with American culture ever since the creation of Chick-fil-A’s original chicken sandwich back in 1964. The taste of a satisfying chicken sandwich is what true Americans desire. The chicken sandwich is a staple on American palettes. The Popeyes chicken sandwich has also struck a chord with the African American community. The sandwich is a fairly cheap and filling meal. The sandwich alone only comes up to four dollars! Going back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, fast food chains really started to advertise in predominantly black communities. The CDC has found that black consumers are more likely to consume fast food than white consumers. Race-based advertising has kept some minority groups on the line for the products of major corporations including the craze over Popeyes chicken. 

On the other hand, the chicken sandwich does have some downsides that makes the popularity seem unreasonable. The release of the sandwich is more of a burden not only to employees, but to customers as well. The chicken sandwich is not very healthy whatsoever, coming in at a whopping 690 calories. The high number of calories and other nutritional facts including saturated fat and a high level of sodium has raised questions on the health of consumers. In addition, the sandwich poses as a safety concern to both employees and customers regarding the stabbing in Maryland. Obviously, there cannot be a delicious enough sandwich to warrant a stabbing, so overreacting is clearly a common theme. This also proves to be harmful to the company’s public image.  The hype has led to tempers flaring among the Popeyes faithful.

In conclusion, the Popeye’s chicken sandwich fulfills the hype, but some people have simply taken it too far.  Violence over a sandwich just does not seem to be justified. However, the success of the sandwich has sparked a very interesting nationwide phenomenon. Only time will tell if the craze will die off quickly or will be here to stay.