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The Popeyes vs. Chick-fil-A War Will Be Fought Through Memes

Which chicken sandwich are you willing to die (i.e., be dragged online) for?

Fried chicken sandwich on a bun, sitting atop a wrapper. Popeye’s

Although a lot of chain restaurants have introduced chicken sandwiches over the last few years, none have garnered quite as much immediate buzz as the new one served at Popeyes. And now, less than two weeks after the dish’s nationwide release, it seems that battle lines are being drawn between Chick-fil-A fans and loyal Popeyes customers over which chain serves the One Chicken Sandwich to Rule Them All.

While Chick-fil-A has generally awful politics — the company famously funneled millions of dollars intro groups that oppose same-sex marriage — the chain ranks #1 in terms of customer satisfaction, and its pickle-laced crispy chicken sandwich is the star of its menu. Popeyes, meanwhile, is a chain that also has a rabid fanbase, and now it too has a chicken sandwich with a similar composition — a crispy fried filet on a cushion of pickles, hugged by a pillowy bun — that fans can enjoy on Sunday or any other day of the week without the guilt that comes from supporting a company with an anti-queer agenda.

The response from Popeyes fans was immediate and overwhelmingly positive on Twitter, and a number of publications — including the Takeout, Business Insider, and Eater’s sibling SB Nation — were quick to declare that Popeyes had pulled a victory over Chick-fil-A with the launch of this new menu item. Not content to leave well enough alone, Chick-fil-A took to Twitter this afternoon to attempt to claim ownership of the pickle-laced crispy chicken sandwich, a move that was instantly dragged by its rival:

As the chicken sandwich wars rage on, here are the best tweets about the great Chick-fil-A/Popeyes fan feud of 2019:

And now, as should be expected in this era of INTENSE brand Twitter engagement, every fast food brand with a chicken sandwich is trying desperately to get in on the action:

In conclusion:

Update: August 19, 2019, 6:08 p.m.: This article was updated to include some bad tweets from brands.

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