In 2019, Popeyes launched their chicken sandwich, which went viral and sparked a “Chicken Sandwich War” with our biggest competitor, Chick-Fil-A. The demand for Popeyes’ sandwich caused a nationwide sellout. After two months, Popeyes was finally ready to bring it back.

We decided to bring Popeyes’ chicken sandwich back on the one day of the week Chick-Fil-A is famously closed: Sunday. In fact, they’re legally required to have a “Closed Sunday” disclaimer underneath their logos on highway road food signs. So, we found a sign with our logos next to each other and simply added a sticker that said, “OPEN SUNDAY” to the Popeyes logo. This subtle poke at our biggest competitor was designed to get the Internet talking and spark conversation from the media who were all hungry for the next chapter of the “Chicken Sandwich War.”

Two months after the Chicken Sandwich Wars, Popeyes was finally ready to bring the sandwich back, so we needed to renew everyone’s interest. We did so by playfully poking at our biggest competitor by announcing that we were bringing back Popeyes’ sandwich on the one day Chick-Fil-A is closed. We sentthe film of a Popeyes employee altering our highway sign to say “OPEN SUNDAY” to press, and posted iton Popeyes’ social media, including Twitter, the platform which had initially sparked the Chicken Sandwich Wars.

We found the perfect highway sign with Popeyes’ logo next to Chick-Fil-A and their “CLOSED SUNDAY” disclaimer. We then filmed a Popeyes employee walking up to the sign and placing our “OPEN SUNDAY” sticker underneath the Popeyes logo. An art card announced that the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich would return the next Sunday. We released the short film digitally, and the Internet and the press took it and ran with it.

Open Sunday generated positive press coverage in top publications including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Washington Post, Hypebeast, and Good Morning America. In total, the campaign garnered over 4.2 Billion earned media impressions, totaling over $86 Million in ad value. It also increased traffic 300% on Sunday, and resulted in a 2.5x growth in market share.