ATLANTA — Remember the chicken sandwich ribbing between Popeyes and Chick-fil-A when Popeyes introduced its chicken sandwich in August?
Well, Popeyes is at it again, and some social media experts say this is the kind of banter consumers love.
After selling out of the chicken sandwich in just weeks, Popeyes is bringing it back this Sunday and turning to social media to get attention and make a dig at its big competitor.
To announce its return, Popeyes tweeted out a video making a very clear dig at Chick-fil-A, saying that its restaurants are open Sunday. Chick-fil-A, as everyone in Georgia knows, is closed on Sundays.
"They lost a few weeks of momentum and social media moved on, so they had to come back and being petty and funny and going after Chick-fil-A the first time, so we're going to do it with this," said Meredith Pierce, digital supervisor with the Wilbert Group.
The sparring caught people's attention in August -- the day Popeyes started selling its chicken sandwich, huge lines formed.
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Digital media experts say customers really connected to the back-and-forth teasing among companies.
"It's like one brand talking to another. It's not a brand advocacy for itself. It's priceless," Montana Stuart, digital marketing specialist with the Summit Group.
This time, so far, Chick-fil-A hasn't responded to Popeyes' social media jabs.
"I'm interested to see if they're going to respond. They might take the high road," Pierce said.
"I also think Popeyes needs to keep thinking, 'What comes next? We can't keep coming after Chick-fil-A. We've got to kind of think: what are we going to do next to keep this audience?,'" Stuart said.