Dive Brief:

• Popeyes is running classified ads in newspapers across the country, looking for workers with experience preparing chicken sandwiches and who are available on Sundays, a day in which competitor Chick-fil-A is closed, according to information shared with Marketing Dive.
• Popeyes reports that it has seen an increase in demand for chicken sandwiches since it brought back the discontinued menu item and is hiring to support this demand.
• The ads are running in The New York Times, New York Post, Boston Globe and Miami Herald. Applicants can send their resumes to [email protected].

Dive Insight:

Running the help wanted ads in major newspapers around the country is another way for Popeyes to emphasize that it is open on Sundays. The ads come as Popeyes has been ramping up its promotional activity around its chicken sandwiches in the wake of a gaffe by competitor Chick-fil-A, which mistakenly promoted National Chicken Sandwich, which fell on a Sunday in November, even thought its locations are closed on this day. Popeyes jumped on this opportunity to tease its rival and brought back its own previously sold-out sandwich for National Chicken Sandwich Day.

Popeyes introduced its new chicken sandwich in August, which quickly sold out. Since then, the brand has tried to drive ongoing interest, including encouraging consumers to bring their own bun to make a sandwich from tenders and releasing an ugly chicken sandwich Christmas sweater. The classified ads underscore the popularity of the chicken sandwich by suggesting that the chain needs help keeping up with demand. By emphasizing that Popeyes wants to hire workers for Sundays only and who have experience making chicken sandwiches, the ads also suggest that the chain is open to hiring people who already work for Chick-fil-A. 

However, the new effort also has the potential to call attention to reports suggesting Popeyes' employees are overworked as a result of the high demand for the new sandwich. Hiring more workers for Sundays could alleviate some of the stress on employees but, if the dominant impression is that Popeyes isn't doing enough to support workers, the brand could see a backlash. Competitor Chick-fil-A experienced its own consumers backlash when the conservative opinions of its CEO became headline news.