Popeyes says goodbye to chicken wars and unveils 'We come in piece' nuggets

Nearly two years after it sparked the chicken sandwich wars, Popeyes is looking to come to peace with its competitors as it launches chicken nuggets. The “We Come in Piece” campaign promotes the chain's chicken nuggets, which are now being sold in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. The launch is Popeyes' biggest chicken product launch since the August 2019 debut of its popular sandwich. The nuggets debut during a time of industry-wide chicken shortages. However, Popeyes is not allowing that to derail its peace offering. “We thought it was a nice way to leverage that cultural conversation that has been happening in the past two years around people debating who has the best chicken sandwich in the market. To really say goodbye to that debate and introduce and celebrate our nuggets because this time we come in 'piece' and in 8 pieces,” says Bruno Cardinali, chief marketing officer at Popeyes. A 30-second video shows a Popeyes employee traveling to rival chains to get their nuggets. The signs are blurred out, but eagle-eyed viewers will spot that these scenes appear to occur McDonald's, Chick-fil-A and Wendy's. Text reading “The Chicken War is over” appears on the screen while celebratory music plays. The video ends with the employee walking away with numerous bags of nuggets. The donation effort — despite the collection effort shown in the video — is actually for the Popeyes Foundation to purchase and donate the cash equivalent of one million nuggets, in the form of gift cards from fast-food chains, to Second Harvest. “Every single U.S. competitor has their place in the market, so we felt that it was a good way to not only say we’re putting an end to the chicken wars but actually do something about it,” says Cardinali. Customers can also donate on The Popeyes Foundation website or Second Harvest Food Bank, with contributions set to be matched and donated to a New Orleans-based organization. Cardinali is quick to recognize that Popeyes is late to the nuggets game, introducing its version years after rivals including overall restaurant leader McDonald's and chicken-focused leader Chick-fil-A. “I think our nuggets are here to stay," says Cardinali. "We’re very confident that we have a very good quality nugget in the market." The campaign includes two videos for social media, TV and radio spots, and a New York Times print ad. Agencies on the project include Gut on creative and Horizon Media on media.

Popeyes says goodbye to chicken wars and unveils 'We come in piece' nuggets

Featured Stories