KFC’s Bold New Sandwich Concept: Just Copy the Hell Out of Popeyes

You really have to chuckle, when a major fast food brand’s idea of a “NEW!” creation is just a thinly veiled re-creation of the exact thing that made their competitor famous a year earlier. It’s a phenomenon I’ve written about in the past, often with Burger King involved in some way—who could forget the time they copied the Big Mac exactly, 47 years after it was first created? But even by those standards, this new KFC chicken sandwich is pretty shameless about its intent to directly emulate the sensation created last year by Popeyes.

KFC announced the new chicken sandwich today, which will immediately begin its test run at 15 Orlando, Florida-area KFC locations. Just as the Popeyes sandwich before it copied the formula of Chick-Fil-A’s iconic chicken sandwich, KFC has likewise employed the exact same formula: a slab of Extra Crispy™ chicken on a brioche bun, topped with “crispier, thicker pickles” and “the perfect amount of the Colonel’s real mayo, and can be enjoyed as spicy or classic.” Why do we get the feeling that “the perfect amount” will correlated with “an irresponsibly gigantic amount”?

To their credit, KFC actually admits in the press release that their chicken sandwich badly needed an overhaul, in a move reminiscent of Domino’s classic “Yeah, we know our pizza sucks and we’ll try to do better” campaign from the early 2010s.

“We wanted a chicken sandwich that really lives up to our legacy as the fried chicken experts, and let’s face it, ours wasn’t the one to beat,” said Andrea Zahumensky, chief marketing officer, KFC U.S. “We knew an upgrade was necessary, so we painstakingly selected each ingredient to create a bigger, better and more premium sandwich than ever. I think we’ve unlocked a chicken sandwich that won’t just compete—it’ll win with fried chicken lovers everywhere.”

Although we’re wary of sandwiches that are implied to be “unlocked” in a lab full of bubbling test tubes, we’ll reserve final judgement until trying this new sandwich, which we have to assume will expand from Florida before too long. In the meantime, if you want to brave the pandemic to hunt one of these down for your “webcam in my car” YouTube food blog, the sandwich retails for $3.99 a la carte or $6.99 in a combo, and is available at the following 15 Orlando-area KFCs.

16800 W New Hwy 441
6217 International Road
502 S Alafaya Trail
5200 S John Young Parkway
4466 Pleasant Hill Road
3601 S Orlando Drive
2882 N Hiawassee Road
1130 W Osceola Parkway
5780 Central Florida Parkway
11302 S Orange Blossom Trail
510 U.S. Hwy 27
5680 W US Highway 192
250 Aloma Avenue
10825 E Colonial Drive
3009 W Colonial Drive