Back in 2019, Popeyes’ introduction of a fried chicken sandwich sparked a frenzy. The new item heated up the chain’s competition with dominant chicken purveyor Chick-fil-A and others.

Two years later, the world may have changed quite a bit, but the battle continues as hot as ever.

The old standards and the new entrants largely follow a similar format: fry a piece of white meat chicken, add pickles and sauce, put it all on an Instagram-worthy bun, and sell it for $3.99 or perhaps a bit more. While participation in the chicken sandwich wars seems almost mandatory among fast feeders, the advertising ideas vary widely.

See Ad Age’s 2021 Year in Review here.

Below, Ad Age recaps five of the chicken sandwich marketing moves that stood out—for better or worse—in 2021.

KFC bashes burger brands

​​“We make the chicken sandwiches around here,” KFC declared on billboards featuring its chicken sandwich resting atop its famous bucket, strategically placed in March near McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King locations. They served as reminders to patrons visiting the burger giants of KFC’s chicken prowess, especially in the weeks and months after each of the top three burger chains released its own new take on the chicken sandwich. A commercial amplified the sentiment.

Taco Bell enters the chat

Two campaigns from Taco Bell leaned into debates about food, with different conclusions. First up, it played on the chicken sandwich wars in ads promoting the return of its Naked Chicken Chalupa, which replaces a tortilla with a curved piece of fried chicken. The spring campaign featured philosophers in historical costumes debating the nuances of fried chicken sandwiches before opting for the chalupa.

Then, the chain took the “is it a taco or is it a sandwich” debate to commercials featuring “The Great Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco Debate,” which brought together college debate teams from the University of Georgia and South Carolina’s Clemson University to discuss the matter and a new sandwich/taco item on the fall menu.

Jollibee enlists a lawyer

Jollibee’s chicken sandwich campaign featured a late-night-TV-style lawyer aptly named Chris P. Poultry, who is out to get “chicken sandwich justice” for the masses in the form of a coupon for a free Jollibee sandwich. The detailed campaign included a website for the fictitious lawyer and even placed his business cards on windshields and ran an aerial banner over the beach in Los Angeles.

Bonus palate cleanser? Airheads chicken sandwich

This one fails to technically qualify, as it wasn’t served to the masses at a chain and therefore its marketing and its performance can’t really be measured in the chicken sandwich wars. Still, we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the oddity that was the Airheads chicken sandwich. Airheads Xtremes replaced the bun in this concoction, which generated plenty of buzz. Ad Age didn’t see the full bun beyond press images (like the one above) but did taste a bite-sized sample served on July 6, National Fried Chicken Day. 

Now, back to the list.

Popeyes plays on McDonald’s drop

McDonald’s leaned into the concept of exclusive product drops, sending fans to the site https://chkndrop.com/ for a chance to pay $5 for an early taste of its entrant into the chicken sandwich wars and score some merch. The thing is, that site wasn’t the easiest thing to spell. So, Popeyes quickly snatched up 50 similarly-spelled sites such as chikindrop.com. People who landed on those scored a free chicken sandwich—the Popeyes one.

See Ad Age’s 2021 Year in Review here.

A "Nightmare" at Burger King

“People are going chicken crazy,” the voice of Paul Giamatti declared in a commercial about Burger King’s Ch’King sandwich. The campaign, which comes from David Miami and was  introduced in June, featured plenty of throwbacks to past BK ads, and asked, “Will this cluckin’ nightmare end?” Based on the number of new entrants to the category this year, including Burger King’s version, the answer is a definitive no. 

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