Popeyes is going back to the one thing it believes can pull the brand out of its slump.
The chain has launched "THAT Chicken from Popeyes," its first campaign with new creative agency Anomaly.
It establishes its hand-battered chicken, Cajun seasoning, and Louisiana kitchen traditions as the clearest answer to a packed chicken category.
The campaign went live the same week Popeyes brought back its $6 Big Box, the second run of the promo in under three months.
Anomaly's real assignment is to make "best-tasting" and "best-value" read as one claim.
The move comes at a difficult point for Popeyes.
U.S. same-store sales fell 5.2% in the second quarter, marking the chain’s sixth consecutive quarterly decline.
Restaurant Brands International executives have named value, food quality, and restaurant operations as the turnaround priorities.
They have also pushed Popeyes to aim its advertising at core items like tenders, sandwiches, and bone-in chicken.
The campaign gives the chain a tighter argument for why someone should pick it at all as rivals compete hard on price, novelty, and convenience.
Inspired by the brand’s "Love That Chicken from Popeyes" jingle, the campaign uses the familiar musical property as a bridge to a new proposition.
There’s chicken, and then there’s "THAT Chicken from Popeyes."
Anomaly's music-video-inspired hero spot puts a working Louisiana kitchen on screen.
The camera stays on the hand-breading and the cooks doing it.
Popeyes says the creative is designed as a sensory experience, inviting viewers to hear the crunch, feel the steam, and imagine the flavors.
The setup echoes the U.K. platform that Truant made for Popeyes back in April.
That work also used sound and performance to pull people toward the food.
Popeyes U.S. and Canada CMO Matt Rubin framed the work as a return to the kitchen itself.
"Popeyes has always been rooted in the traditions of a real Louisiana kitchen, where bold flavor, quality ingredients and generous portions come together in every meal," Matt said in a press release.
The campaign arrives as Popeyes tries to make its long-standing brand identity more useful to the business.
Its Louisiana roots have anchored the chain's positioning for years.
The new work gives these cues a direct job in the taste and value argument.
The Meal Makes the Case
Popeyes is supporting the campaign with a familiar value proposition, bringing back the $6 Big Box for a limited time.
The meal includes two pieces of Signature Chicken or three tenders, two regular sides, and a buttermilk biscuit at participating U.S. restaurants.
The offer started as the $5 Bonafide Big Box in 2014 and came back as the $6 Big Box in 2022, 2024, 2025, and twice this year.
And this repetition is deliberate.
RBI said that the chain’s $5 value platform has been driving higher repeat purchase behavior.
Meanwhile, the $6 Big Box and $20 Family Meal are part of its effort to make value easier for guests to understand.
Popeyes is also introducing three limited-time pineapple drinks starting at $3.49:
- Pineapple Lemonade
- Frozen Pineapple Lemonade
- Pineapple Iced Tea
The drinks drop Popeyes into the middle of a busy fast-food beverage push, with Taco Bell and Chick-fil-A running pineapple flavors right now.
The combination gives Popeyes several reasons to visit and keeps chicken at the front of its value proposition.
Popeyes Puts Its Oldest Asset to Work
Popeyes' strength lies in its most recognizable brand asset.
What it needed was a way to attach current offers and products to the same promise.
This matters in a category where brand loyalty is valuable but increasingly difficult to own.
Circana found that loyalty members account for 39% of U.S. restaurant visits, and they visit the brands they enroll in at twice the rate of nonmembers.
They also eat at 20 different chains a year, the same number as everyone else.
Anomaly's job is to make Popeyes the one chain on that list of 20 people can picture before they order.
Several key lessons stand out for brands trying to turn established assets into business drivers:
- Make the signature product do the talking: If one product carries the strongest memory structure, build campaigns around the reasons it deserves that reputation.
- Connect brand advertising to an immediate reason to visit: The $6 Big Box gives the campaign a concrete purchase opportunity.
- Refresh familiar assets instead of discarding them: Reworking the iconic jingle gives Popeyes continuity while allowing Anomaly to establish a new creative platform.
The test is whether "THAT Chicken from Popeyes" sticks at the moment someone is deciding where to eat.
Our Take: Can Popeyes Make Chicken Feel Important Again?
A chicken sandwich can become the supporting actor in its own commercial, and we've watched enough fast-food commercials to know that.
Popeyes is smart to put the messy, noisy business of making its food back on screen.
We think that this is where the brand has something that competitors can't simply discount away.
The interesting question is whether the same idea can become an organizing principle for other executions.
If the Louisiana kitchen shows up in packaging, in stores, and in the app, Anomaly has created a brand platform.
If it stays a hero spot, then Popeyes has a good ad running next to a coupon.
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