Adweek spotlighted the “new” Popeyes campaign from White advertising agency McKinney, which feels like a hackneyed—and culturally clueless—redux of past campaigns.
The tagline, “We Don’t Make Sense, We Make Chicken,” makes little sense, reportedly based on an “authentically New Orleans” strategy. To declare that the city’s uniqueness doesn’t make sense reflects ignorance of its cultures and traditions—as well as its people. Not surprising from a White advertising agency with offices in multiple locations, excluding New Orleans.
Besides, does anyone really care about Popeyes’ Louisiana roots any more than KFC’s background from Kentucky? That’s some contrived and lazy strategery.
Also disturbing is the Black woman featured in the commercial. Is she supposed to be Annie the Chicken Queen 2.0? Can’t help but wonder if she’s “authentically New Orleans,” or like the original Annie character, just an actress faking it?
In summation, the “new” Popeyes campaign is disingenuous dookie that presents authentic cultural cluelessness.
McKinney’s First Work for Popeyes Debuts an Authentically New Orleans Ad Strategy
The brand wants you to know it doesn't make sense. It makes chicken.
By Olivia Morley
McKinney’s first work for Popeyes debuts a new positioning for the brand, fittingly titled “We Don’t Make Sense, We Make Chicken.”
The 30-second spot revolves around New Orleans culture and is set to air on digital channels next month, before nationwide out of home and TV activations launch in June. The short ad packs a punch, capturing all the eclectic and memorable sites and scenes one might take in while strolling the French Quarter.
Popeyes, founded in New Orleans in 1972, wants consumers to remember the city it hails from. It also wants them to recognize that just like New Orleans, it does things a little differently than its competitors. It’s got colorful beads, bikers and rolling reclining chairs—the endearing things that have become New Orleans’ cultural staples. The brand wanted to make an authentic campaign that captured things you couldn’t find just anywhere. In pursuit of authenticity, the brand also hired New Orleans-based actors to star in the spot.
“Popeyes has been a brand that was really good at spikes of interest,” said the brand’s CMO Jeff Klein. He recalled the “Chicken Sandwich Wars” that took the brand viral on social media and led many locations to sell out of sandwiches.
It was clear that the food (plus a savvy social strategy) could hype customers. But Klein wanted a brand strategy that could become deeply ingrained in customers’ minds—a narrative that could define Popeyes for the next three-to-five years. If all goes according to Klein’s plan, the campaign slogan will become part of consumers’ “vernacular.”
“What we really needed was a creative framework where we could improve our messaging to consumers kind of on an everyday basis…We want to build memory structures over time,” Klein said.
The spokesperson is a place
That tracks with McKinney’s purview as described to Adweek earlier this month: Highlight Popeyes’ New Orleans roots and sell more chicken. Although the brand’s (technically) called “Popeyes, Louisiana kitchen,” consumers tend to just call it just Popeyes. To remedy this accidental disconnect from its New Orleans heritage, the brand’s decided to focus on New Orleans in its marketing.
“When you have something that can’t be copied, that you can own, that is authentic…then you should lean into it,” said Jonathan Cude, McKinney’s chief creative. “And in this case, that was what happened. Popeyes has something in its heritage, in its DNA, that is authentic and comes from a certain place in the world.”
At the heart of the campaign, and what Popeyes hopes viewers understand, is that its approach to making chicken is different than its competitors. The cooking method is uniquely New Orleans—the slow-marinated and hand-breaded food’s got Cajun spices and fresh ingredients. Its time-consuming cooking techniques might not make sense for a so-called fast-food restaurant to employ, but as the creative describes, they work for Popeyes.
“It doesn’t really make sense. If you were trying to make chicken the most profitable, efficient way, you wouldn’t go through all the trouble that Popeyes does,” Cude said. “[New Orleans] defies logic. It’s a town that was intentionally built below sea level, right?”
When conflicts of interest benefit clients
The new brand strategy follows several changes within the organization. Klein joined Popeyes last year after departing his former role as marketing lead at Little Caesar’s. The CMO brought a pre-existing relationship with McKinney along with him. The agency, which still services Little Caesar’s, became Popeyes’ interim partner for a six-month trial period before eventually winning the AOR role. When that change went into effect, Popeyes parted ways with its former agency Gut, which had handled its creative since March 2020.
While Klein admits he and McKinney had a successful prior working relationship, he maintains that the agency is the right fit for Popeyes specifically because of its deep retail and franchisee experience. Popeyes’ biggest opportunity as a brand, Klein believes, hinges on its expansion via successful franchises. And to succeed, franchisees must execute the overarching marketing strategy on a hyper-local level. Historically, franchisees worried that brand messaging felt disjointed, and according to Klein, are now excited to have more overarching direction.
“It’s very important that the advertising works really hard today…The best way for us to grow our business is for franchisees to make money,” the CMO added.
Spokes-pelicans and Easter eggs
The tagline “We Don’t Make Sense, We Make Chicken,” lends Popeyes some flexibility to experiment and get a little weird. By its own admission, it doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t have to. Consumers might expect to see eclectic campaigns and a punchy social strategy. Klein is willing to experiment, even if some concepts are a little funny.
“What if we had a spokes-Pelican?” he wondered, adding, “that makes no sense. It does for New Orleans, but not for a chicken chain.”
The brand’s also building out a digital experience strategy. It has hidden 12 images of Popeyes’ chicken icon, Poppy, in an interactive commercial on the Popeyes website.
You’d need to watch the commercial frame-by-frame to catch them all, Klein said. The ad asks viewers to navigate a digital version of “Where’s Waldo” to unlock more yet-to-be-disclosed brand experiences.
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