$4.99 Popeye's Chicken Deal Causes Police Intervention, Chicken Shortages
Several Popeyes Chicken restaurants in the Rochester, NY area were overrun with customers responding to an offer of eight pieces for $4.99. The restaurants actually ran out of chicken and had to turn hungry customers away.
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle says that the first location to run out was in Rochester, with cars filling the parking lot and spilling out onto the street. Hungry chicken fans then drove to another location, which also ran out of chicken.
"It was quite the promotion," a shift manager at a local Popeye's told the paper. "It was phenomenal. We had people trying to place multiple orders. The promotion allowed only one order per person. It got crazy at the end."
Meanwhile, on Long Island, police were called in after chicken-related traffic started to cause serious problems during rush hour. Eventually, the entrance to the Popeye's was cordoned off with crime scene tape.
Popeye's runs out of chicken in Rochester [Democrat & Chronicle] (Thanks, Tristan B.!)
(Photo:Morton Fox)
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Comments:
So...is fried chicken like the new crack or something? No wonder we're a rather portly nation.
Cue minority stereotype comment in 3...2...1...
And no one got shot at and 911 was not called! Whooo who!
At least two restaurants in Albany, N.Y., sold out by 5 p.m., too. They're willing to make up for it, though: They're running the same promotion from 5 to 10 p.m. next Wednesday:
Same thing happened when White Castle had their 75th
anniversary back in '96...they sold sacks full (20 in a sack for $2)
There was blood spilled that day...
I remember the ambulances screaming to the scene...
"Offering chicken at this price is a way to get people who would otherwise not spend - to spend. It's a good way to stimulate the economy."
I would venture to guess that lowering prices in a recession to spur consumer spending is a good idea for ALL sectors of business!
@bologna_wallet: Damn humans! With their eating! Why can't they use a free source of energy like the sun?
I think we have one Popeye's in the whole state of MN and I guess they decided not to honor this promotion but people still heard about it anyway and caused a big scene. I can't seem to find a news link about it even though they played it on the radio.
@WOPDingo: To be fair, fried chicken done right, and portioned right, is perfectly healthy. ONE piece, and an apple or some other fruit used to be a southern field workers staple for years. Heck in the summer thats my lunch with my wife, we each get a cold piece of fried chicken and a light salad or a piece of fruit and go to the park near our work.
The problem is no one eats just ONE piece of chicken.
The sides they offer though, yuck.
I wish there was a Popeye's close to my house. I would have been all over that deal. Plus, I love the red beans and rice; they aren't like authentic red beans and rice, but they are good!
I ordered two meals yesterday, without a problem in the Chicago area. Guess the weren't holding to the 1 per customer limit.
Of course I pulled the skin off to make it healthier, then ordered biscuits to completely negate the skin-free healthiness.
@bnelson333: I can verify this, that Popeye's is not so far from my house- and there were tons of people standing in line and milling about, and the cops were there.
El Pollo Loco will be handing out free chicken soon, as will KFC. I also got coupons for additional free KFC chicken. It's a month filled with chicken!
@bologna_wallet: True story, the Popeyes by me is EXACTLY where you would expect it to be based on stereotypes. When they built it I could only shake my head at how stereotypical it was being located.
Worse, its right across the street from a join called (I kid you not) US Pizza and Chicken.
Should this be labeled "Recession Watch" or "Flavor Watch"?
Am I the only one surprised they have these up North? For some reason I thought this was a regional thing.
Recession watch? I'd wager this deal would have been popular regardless of economic conditions.
I love Popeye's, but all I can hear in my head when I think of it is Adam Sandler as Little Nicky, saying "This Popeye's chicken is fucking awesome!"
in Minneapolis they just didn't honor the deal.
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/Fracas_over_Popeyes_Fried_Chicken_Price_april_22_2009
Wow, people have no class. Offer them cheap chicken, and they behave like people who truly have no purpose in life.
Mind you, if someone where handing out MKS's for $5, well, then that would be worth my time. But c'mon, chicken?
@WOPDingo:
Stuart Mackenzie: Well, it's a well known fact, Sonny Jim, that there's a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as The Pentavirate, who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as The Meadows.
Tony Giardino: So who's in this Pentavirate?
Stuart Mackenzie: The Queen, The Vatican, The Gettys, The Rothschilds, *and* Colonel Sanders before he went tits up. Oh, I hated the Colonel with is wee *beady* eyes, and that smug look on his face. "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!"
Charlie Mackenzie: Dad, how can you hate "The Colonel"?
Stuart Mackenzie: Because he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes ya crave it fortnightly, smartass!
@Russ Savage: How about a disemvowel for Russ?
Calling people stupid, fat and cheap then wishing a car accident on them is low class and adds nothing to the discussion
Am I the only one who laughed at the term "chicken-related traffic"?
Must be vegetarian in-joke humour.
I had no idea that getting 8 pieces of chicken for $5 was such a big deal until my mom and I went there to get our boxes of chicken. It was chaotic definitely and the wait was forever for some subpar rushed chicken. But hey, I got a whole mess of their fries as a consolation when they messed up part of my order :D
Then it took just as long to get the chicken as it did to get out of my parking space.
@edwardso: But he gave us a good start on our Consumerist bingo board.
"You should make your own *insert food here* anyway...it's cheaper and better for you, plebes!"
@LegoMan322: How sad is it that I opened the post fully expecting some sort of violence? Somehow, running out of food just doesn't seem as newsworthy anymore...
@Russ Savage: Fast food isn't hard to understand, it's getting it to understand you that's the problem.
@snowburnt: One of my favorite quotes repeated every time my husband drives by a getty station or KFC
@Russ Savage: Hey, facebooker! I want to play "Who's Holier-Than-Thou?" My turn!
I'm really glad that I just have no taste for the flesh of defenseless animals. I get a huge one-pound bag of TVP from the bulk store down the street for $1.49.
And now, for the nonsensical ending statement about wrecking into each other in chicken-fueled fury... um... nope. Sorry. You win.
@edwardso: We also have "you're a fat American slob" and an overly harsh sentence for an innocuous crime--getting in a car wreck over fried chicken. It's like a triple bonus play!
Damn, damn damn
I wish I would have known about this, I love Popeyes and there is one about 2 minutes from my house. Too bad I didn't venture out in that direction.
I love popeyes and propose they rename their biscuits to orgasm pucks, because that's what they are