If there was any doubt that Popeyes exited 2019 with a firm lock on the hearts and minds of chicken lovers, this just put it to rest.
On Canada’s Family Feud, a contestant botched the final question—costing her family $10,000—because the fast food chain was clearly the first thing to come to mind when she heard the word “Popeye’s.”
Asked “What is Popeye’s favorite food?”, Eve Dubois quickly buzzed in and, with exuberant emphasis, answered “chicken!” Of course, if she’d been a bit less quick on the trigger, she might have realized the question was about the cartoon character Popeye, known for loving spinach.
However, things worked out just fine for Dubois in the end, after the clip went viral on Twitter thanks to Canadian blogger Mike Morrison.
Seeing the clip’s rapid popularity, Popeyes agency Gut Miami pitched the idea of giving Dubois a thank-you gift. The brand tweeted that it had a $10,000 check with her name on it.
While Popeyes is no stranger to publicity since its new chicken sandwich became monstrously popular in 2019, the Family Feud clip was extra appreciated because it showed strong awareness of the brand in Canada, where it’s still establishing itself—and doesn’t yet offer the chicken sandwich.
“This happened in Canada, where we still don’t have our new chicken sandwich but a good and growing presence,” said Bruno Cardinali, head of North American marketing for Popeyes. “We tracked and saw a huge spike in Popeyes conversations up north since August, and her reaction and response was another great demonstration of how Popeyes is really part of culture and top of mind…even more so than the sailor man!”
Fernando Machado, global CMO of Popeyes and sister brand Burger King, said the brand was flooded with links to the clip as it went viral Friday.
“We started getting emails and tweets about the Feud in the morning,” Machado said. “Our reaction was surprise, delight and laughter. It’s amazing how Popeyes became so top of mind when it comes to chicken, all driven by the great tasting products we have, especially the chicken sandwich, which was the talk of the town in 2019.”
https://www.adweek.com/agencies/popeyes-will-give-10000-to-game-show-contestant-who-confused-chicken-for-spinach/