An argument between Popeyes and Chick-fil-A on Twitter to increase sales

After spitting Twitter with Chick-fil-A on chicken sandwiches, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen left with a bigger spike in its follower count – but that might not matter for its long-term sales .

Popeyes, which is owned by Restaurant Brands International, added a chicken sandwich to its national menu for the first time last week. With pickles and a buttered bun, it looks a lot like a Chick-fil-A sandwich.

Chick-fil-A, the largest chain of chickens in the US in terms of sales, alluded to the new sandwich Monday in a tweet that said "Bun + Chicken + Pickles = all [heart] for the original "on his own chicken sandwich.

Popeyes responded, asking the Atlanta-based company "… everything okay?"

Chick-fil-A has not responded, but other restaurant chains, like Wendy's and Shake Shack, have teamed up to boast their own chicken sandwiches. Social network users also shared their favorite chicken sandwich.

Popeyes started with about a tenth of Chick-fil-A followers on Twitter. As of August 18, the fried chicken chain had 107,229 followers, compared to 1,026,039 for Chick-fil-A, according to Thinknum data. Popeyes received more likes and retweets than Chick-fil-A on his tweet and walked away with about 25,000 new subscribers on Wednesday, Thinknum discovered. Chick-fil-A has only added about 10,000 new subscribers as a result of his tweet.

New subscribers may not result in new customers or slow sales for both channels.

"In general, a follower has less value for a brand than a regular person or influencer," said Sean Spielberg, co-founder and CEO of Instascreener, a specialized social media analytics firm. in the marketing of influence.

Spielberg said that brands tend to receive less commitment – fewer likes or comments, given its sheer number of followers – from its followers than ordinary people or influencers, individuals or celebrities capable of influencing the public opinion.

"More often than not, [follower count] is a metric of vanity, "he said.

Nevertheless, the debate over the two sandwiches and the resulting media attention is helping to raise awareness and create demand for the new sandwich. Leezandra, a 23-year-old girl from Nashua, New Hampshire, said she had tried to get the sandwich after watching the debate on Twitter, but that her local store had been sold out at full capacity. capacity. She eats both Chick-fil-A and Popeyes and tends to make her decision based on what is closer.

Local Popeyes of Leezandra is not the only place to miss.

"Many of our restaurants have found a strong demand for the sandwich, with enthusiastic guests eager to try," said Popeyes spokeswoman Dara Schopp in a statement. "Some restaurants have temporarily exhausted the sandwich and we are working to get more from them as soon as possible."

It is too early to tell if the chicken sandwich will generate traffic to Popeyes in the long run and help his sales catch up with Chick-fil-A.

The average location of Chick-fil-A generates more sales than a Popeyes store. In 2018, a franchised Chick-fil-A restaurant that was not in a mall generated sales of $ 5.7 million on average, according to franchise information documents. Popeyes has annual sales of $ 1.5 million a year.