A Popeyes employee from Louisville, Ky. was eager to share his buttering technique on social media. However, he claims he became a Popeyes ex-employee over the video he made. He is now looking to springboard from the experience to making his own biscuits.
The saga kicked off on Sunday with a video that Tyler, the creator in question (@lboujeekitchee2), made at a Popeyes. In it, he liberally butters a tray of biscuits, but misses one of them. This did not escape the view of multiple commenters—including, according to another creator’s screenshot, the Popeyes social media account itself.
That video has drawn a stunning 16.7 million views as of Friday.
An immediate back(firing)
But there was an unfortunate Part Two: On Tuesday, from his car, he filmed a video noting that he got fired for making the video, even though it provided quite a bit of advertising for the fast-food chain. (So did this one, in a sense, getting more than 2.7 million views as of Friday.)
“I just got fired. Like, really, over some biscuits,” he assessed. “Come on, Popeyes, damn. Like, I really wanted to work for y’all. I really genuinely wanted to work for y’all, then y’all just gonna fire me like for real, though. I don’t even know what I’m gonna do now. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
He continues, “I can’t even cry,” followed by a general plea, “If any of y’all got some jobs out there, please let your boy down. I’m in Louisville, Kentucky. My background is clean, squeaky clean.”
He did admit he might have been to blame in the caption accompanying the video, which noted, “I’m sorry I didn’t read the employee handbook! I was so excited to be a part of the team! Please [let] me back in; I was only trying to bring more customers. I promise not to record and post me working!”
He went back to the online well to try to recover, creating a GoFundMe page titled, “Support Tyler’s Journey After Job Loss.” It has so far raised a meager $120 from a $3,500 goal, and took to TikTok on Wednesday to show off his biscuit-making technique, with the aim of launching his own biscuit business soon.
‘You can’t force virality’
Perhaps ironically, Popeyes was featured in a December 2021 post on Nation’s Restaurant News about its knack for going viral.
In a section with the subhead, “You can’t force virality,” Popeyes chief market officer Bruno Cardinali reviewed the viral sensation that its chicken sandwich became in 2019, noting, “It just happened naturally. This has never happened before.”
The article also shared his views on TikTok: “Popeyes continues to have fun, to dare and to put ourselves out there. TikTok has a bunch of cohorts that you can work with. And then its about who are you trying to target? People who have engaged with your brand before or new content? […] The most important point is having a relevant content.”
A wave of support from viewers
Much of the commentary on the original video had to do with the one neglected biscuit.
“Bro had beef with THAT ONE BISCUIT,” one said.
“The one he missed is giving me anxiety,” another said.
But he became a more sympathetic figure in his just-got-fired video.
@lboujeekitchee2 How to butter #popeyes ♬ original sound – neva
“Oh no that’s crazy cus u made them biscuits look gooood,” opined one.
“Awwww boo!” another commiserated. “I really hope you find another job soon. I definitely understand the ‘I can’t even cry’ feeling.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and to Popeyes via email.
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