Death By A Chicken Sandwich

Death+By+A+Chicken+Sandwich

Yes, it is back, the infamous Popeyes Chicken Sandwich. I’ve personally never had it before, but I have heard accounts of it being very tasty. However, it is absolutely ludicrous that someone would actually get stabbed over it.

This what happened in a Maryland Popeyes chain restaurant on Monday night. The victim was a 28-year-old man who happened to cut the line at the Popeyes in order to purchase his sandwich and got in an altercation with another man. The end result was being stabbed in the torso and death when he arrived to the hospital.

I mean, this is really out of pocket. First of all, it is a sandwich. It is nothing to die for, no matter how good it is.

Secondly, I think the whole Popeyes Chicken Sandwich craze is really comical. It has become quite a phenomenon.

The story behind the sandwich according to Eater.com comes from a Southern California restaurant called Sweet Dixie Kitchen who was caught selling Popeyes fried chicken in a sandwich during brunch.

This led to a collaboration between the two which resulted in the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich which is essentially a fried chicken filet, sour pickles, and mayo on a brioche bun.

The sandwich suddenly became celebrated by fast-food eaters during its early August release. Competitor Chick-Fil-A argued with Popeyes claiming ownership of the chicken sandwich and other fast food companies chimed in on Twitter.

The Popeyes Chicken Sandwich became sold out nationwide since they did not expect its large success. Popeyes received over $23 million dollars in free publicity and were reportedly selling 1,000 sandwiches a day.

 

We have to remember, companies spend millions of dollars on advertising. The advertising business is huge and is what drives a lot of our media. With the internet, some companies (like Popeyes) and even small business owners have become very lucky by getting free publicity via the Internet.

 

The internet certainly did it for Popeyes with Twitter being the most popular platform in which fans shared their love of the Chicken Sandwich. I believe that people were not really interested in the sandwich but instead had some ulterior motive that involved showing the sandwich off to their social media following.

 

It is almost like when suddenly everyone started buying air-pods or fidget spinners. There is always some kind of intrinsic want for people to want to feel like they aren’t being left out.

To me, what is crazy is the fact that this time it wasn’t a fidget spinner or a Juul pen, instead, it was a sandwich from a fast-food restaurant and it would go on to sell so much.

 

I have to ask, why do people want it so bad? Why can they not wait? I’ve read reports of customers asking for 15 sandwiches at a time. No one eats 15 sandwiches in one sitting. Is the need to fit in really that bad? Are people seriously having that much FOMO (fear of missing out?)

My other concern is how the workers at Popeyes must be treated. I’ve also read accounts of customers pulling out guns on the fast-food workers and even threatening to file lawsuits. Even now I can see videos on Twitter and Instagram showing customers arguing in line and being disruptive.

This poor behavior is inexcusable. There should be no reason that people would become violent or belligerent at any time but most certainly over a food item at a fast food joint. And especially not when you could literally just pick something else to eat.

Workers are already subject to low wages and having to work awful hours. Now, this with the added stress of getting people their chicken sandwiches because there are more than 100 people in line is the pressure that nobody working for minimum wage or over little minimum wage should have to deal with.

It is also completely unfair to workers to take anger out on them when they are working to their fullest capacity. We, the public who are not Popeyes employees do not know if they are receiving bonus incentives for their work at Popeyes, I would highly doubt that they are benefiting from the large success of the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich.

Companies always make a lot of money and seldom give it back to their employees having to deal with angry, irrational or just plain ignorant customers.

 

We shouldn’t have to follow these absurd trends just to get on our hands on something to tell other people that they couldn’t get it. It is actually very stupid. I really hope that the Popeyes craze ends soon before anyone else gets hurt.