After starting a social media debate for the ages in 2019, Popeyes’ Chicken Sandwich has finally made its way to Canada and has brought some new competition from KFC with it.
When it comes to the two new chicken sandwiches on the market in Canada, Popeyes Chicken Sandwich has the better bite and KFC’s Famous Chicken Chicken Sandwich leaves a dull taste in your mouth.
Popeyes is no stranger to competition in the market for chicken sandwiches. When they launched the sandwich in America, it was held to the standard of Chick-fil-A’s, which does have a location in Toronto you can visit, if you can handle supporting a business who has donated to anti-LGBTQ organizations in the past, but the franchise doesn’t have the same cultural relevance in Canada.
Enter the redundantly named KFC Famous Chicken Chicken Sandwich. A sandwich exclusive to the Canadian market that launched on Sept. 7, just one week before Popeyes’ launch on Sept. 14.
It doesn’t take a marketing genius to figure out what KFC’s end goal is here: a failed attempt to ride the hype train around Popeyes sandwich.
Both sandwiches follow the same basic formula of a brioche bun, a healthy dose of pickles, a deep fried chicken breast and your choice of either spicy or regular mayo with the only difference being KFC’s decision to use a “double shot” of mayo.
The fact that they’re so similar highlights the major difference between the two sandwiches. Popeyes’ quality of ingredients is higher than KFC’s: the pickles have more flavour, the bun is softer, and the flavour and crunch of their chicken breast are the best on the fast-food market. The double shot of mayo on the KFC sandwich only serves to drown out any of the 11 herbs and spices that you may be able to taste on KFC’s dry chicken.
KFC’s sandwich suffers from a long list of quality control issues that make the sandwich too inconsistent to be worth spending your money on. You may encounter chicken breasts that cover only half of the sandwich, leading to bites of just bread and mayo or even worse, you may just get the standard chicken breast that they would use for the Big Crunch sandwich, which is a significantly smaller portion of chicken than what they advertise. Both of these issues have been widely reported since the release.
When you compare and contrast the two sandwiches, it becomes apparent that KFC’s Famous Chicken Chicken Sandwich is just a cheap attempt to cash in on the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich craze crossing the border to Canada.
Spend your money wisely and buy the real thing.