Eatery That Secretly Resold Popeyes Chicken Now Gets to Launch the Chain's New Sandwich

For Sweet Dixie Kitchen, the chickens have come home to roost … in a good way.

The Long Beach, Calif., eatery made headlines two years ago when it got busted for serving Popeyes spicy tenders in its $12.95 chicken and waffles plate. Kim Sanchez, Sweet Dixie’s owner, unashamedly defended the move, explaining that Popeyes’ product was the best she could find. 

Back then, the web clucked its collective tongue and dubbed the controversy #PopeyesGate. Now, Sweet Dixie returns to the spotlight, exclusively selling Popeyes’ first-ever chicken sandwich today and tomorrow ahead of the item’s nationwide rollout next week. 

“I have to say it’s beyond anything I could have imagined,” Sanchez says in the video below. “I kind of feel the universe is having a great sense of humor.”

Gut, the agency formed last year by former David executives Anselmo Ramos and Gaston Bigio, hatched the stunt, and Popeyes is running local ads encouraging folks to stop by Sweet Dixie and give the sandwich a try:

“People definitely remember the time a California restaurant was serving Popeyes chicken and presenting it as their own,” says Popeyes marketing chief Bruno Cardinal. “It was the talk of the town, and we thought it would be unexpected for us to acknowledge Sweet Dixie’s love.” 

Popeyes ran an “available-at-one-location” play in New Orleans a few months back with the Zion Williamson wingspan box (77 wings for $75!), celebrating the much-hyped baller’s selection by the Penguins in the NBA draft.

Such stunts drive significant coverage and punch well above their weight to generate buzz. “Guests enjoy these limited-time, special access offers,” says Cardinal. “It sparks excitement about the product, everyone wants to be a part of it.”

CREDITS

Agency: GUT Miami
Spot: Popeyesgate
Client: Popeyes
Founder, CCO: Anselmo Ramos
ACD, Writer: Jeff Hodgson
ACD, Art Director: Eliana Ferrer
Sr. Copywriter: Frank Garcia
Sr. Art Director: Giulia Magaldi
Managing Director: Ricardo Honegger
Management Supervisor: Monique Beauchamp
Producer: Cecilia Salguero
Jr. Strategist: Wonsik Cho
Business Affairs Manager: Karen Murillo

Client: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

Production Company: [REDACTED] Content 
Director: Alex Grossman
Executive Producer: Dave Bernstein
Production Supervisor: Aaron Bradley
Director of Photography: Eric Talesnick 

Editorial: Cosmo Street
Editor: Lorenzo Bombicci
Assistant Editor: Andrew Corrales
Producer: Chelsea Spensley
EP: Yvette Cobarrubias 

Online: Cosmo Street 
Finishing/VFX Producer: Chelsea Spensley 
Flame/VFX Artist: Shinya Sato 
3D Designer/Animator: John Erdman 

Sound Design: Beacon Street Studio 
Mixers: Amber Tisue 
Producer: Kate Vadnais 
EP: Leslie DiLullo 

Color Correction – Apache
Senior Colorist: Steve Rodriguez 
Senior Producer: Caitlin Forrest 
Executive Producer: LaRue Anderson