Well, the ‘chicken wars’ between Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, and others is not over yet, and it appears as though Houston, Texas is ground zero for the cultural fiasco. Houston Chronicle reported on August 27th:
Houston is front and center for the great Chicken Wars of 2019.
On Aug. 12, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen released a revamped chicken sandwich. The new dish has been so popular that customers at many of the chain’s locations around the nation are temporarily out of them.
On social media, some continue to claim that the Popeyes’ version has overtaken Chick-fil-A’s version as the No. 1 fast-food chicken sandwich in America.
And one Houston Popeyes, located near Almeda Mall, decided to poke fun at the fact that Chick-fil-A is not open on Sundays (due to the religious stance taken by founder Samuel Truett Cathy).
The newest incident: a man actually pulled a gun out at a Houston Popeyes due to his fury and frustration.
“Southeast officers are at 7100 Scott. Male pulled a gun on employees of restaurant after they ran out of chicken sandwich. 202”
That’s what the Houston Police tweeted out last night over an incident following many others, where customers went berserk over the short supply of the new Popeye’s chicken sandwich. In the tweet, Houston Police only describe the suspect as ‘Male’, with no further description.
SEE TWEET FROM @houstonpolice BELOW:
Southeast officers are at 7100 Scott. Male pulled a gun on employees of restaurant after they ran out of chicken sandwich. 202 pic.twitter.com/xC6jlmwJeD
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) September 3, 2019
The same Houston Chronicle reported again this morning on the situation.
A group of people, including at least one with a gun, threatened a Popeyes chicken restaurant manager when he told them they were out of chicken sandwiches, Houston police said.
Police were called out to a Popeyes restaurant a little before 9 p.m. Monday at the 7100 block of Scott Street on reports of a disturbance with a weapon, Lt. Larry Crowson said.
a Larger outlet, The Hill picked it up as well and tweeted out their report on the story:
“Man pulled gun at Houston Popeyes over lack of chicken sandwiches”
SEE TWEET FROM @thehill BELOW:
Man pulled gun at Houston Popeyes over lack of chicken sandwiches https://t.co/QUEgZWtGJb pic.twitter.com/qIWZAtz9Ao
— The Hill (@thehill) September 3, 2019
Not much in the way of political discussion has been spurred from these situations, and the story of the man pulling the gun hasn’t managed to make its way into the gun control debate that’s being juggled by those such as Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, although Texas Governor Greg Abbott did participate in the cultural chicken sandwich phenomenon as he made a video of his own where he appeared to be ‘cheating on’ his Chick-fil-A with Popeyes. This comes after he recently signed a ‘Save Chick-fil-A‘ bill.
SEE VIDEO TWEET FROM @GregAbbott_TX BELOW:
Caught red handed… Cheating on @ChickFilA.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 27, 2019
I swear it’s a one time fling. #PopeyesVsChickFilA pic.twitter.com/i8GChcZLMP
Popeyes’ official Twitter account has a pinned post saying that they are already out of chicken sandwiches anyway, and some have speculated that running out early was a publicity stunt. If it was a publicity stunt, perhaps they could have provided a few more sandwiches than they did, and maybe it would have prevented some of the awful situations that have come about from this pop-culture disaster. In an older video from earlier last month a man even jumped through the drive-thru windows out of anger from not being able to get his hands on one of the sandwiches.
SEE TWEET FROM @PopeyesChicken BELOW:
Y’all. We love that you love The Sandwich. Unfortunately we’re sold out (for now). pic.twitter.com/Askp7aH5Rr
— Popeyes Chicken (@PopeyesChicken) August 27, 2019
SEE VIDEO BELOW, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!:
