A Popeyes customer was distressed to find that her chicken tenders were less appetizing than she’d expected. Ash (@trixyogurthead) made her displeasure known in a July 20 that’s TikTok that’s since pulled in more than a million views.
What was wrong with the tenders?
In the video, Ash shows a box of suspiciously flat chicken tenders. As she picks up each one and drops it back down in the box, with palpable disgust, she says, “So, I ordered Popeyes, right, and I got chicken tenders. What the hell is this? These are not chicken tenders.”
She also tags the fast-food chain in a caption that simply reads, “Ummm,” with an emoji further underscoring the side-eye she was giving her order.
Despite Ash’s dissatisfaction, Popeyes got praise in a recent Business Insider article looking at tenders from eight different national chains. The writer praised the Louisiana chicken purveyors’ tenders for their “crunchy outside” and “flaky and moist” meat. The writer also declared, “I also thought the batter was quite flavorful — I could taste hints of seasoning and buttermilk, although they weren’t quite as buttery-tasting as the Chick-fil-A tenders.”
Popeyes did, however, rank below three other chains in the writer’s estimation, with rival Raising Cane’s faring best.
Ash isn’t the only flabbergasted chicken finger fan
In April, a creator did a similar “what is this even”-style video, putting Wingstop under a microscope for thin chicken. That TikToker declared, “I ain’t even going to bite this d*mn plastic bag that they fried up and put on the sandwich” as part of a wide-ranging food review that rated said chicken sandwich a 0 out of 10 and the Original Hot tenders a 2 out of 10. The reviewer did, however, give high marks to the Hawaiian tenders for their pleasing flavor profile.
@trixyogurthead @Popeyes ummm 🤨 #fyp #foryou #popeyes ♬ original sound – ♡ ash
Commenters brought their thoughts on Popeyes to the table
One viewer said they had a similar experience. “No bc my brother ordered me tenders and it looked just like that,” they shared. “I ate a few not wanting to waste food and it gave me the nastiest stomachache.”
“Don’t leave us hanging girl,” another commenter requested. “Cut them in half so we can see what’s inside hahaha.”
Someone responded, “It’s chicken inside.”
The original commenter retorted, “Bold of you to assume.”
Ash obliged the request in a follow-up video, puzzled by what she saw inside. (While it did appear to be chicken, there was less of it than the Business Insider review might lead you to believe.)
“Is Popeyes not supposed to be like this?” another commenter observed. “We stopped getting it years ago bc it was little strips of leathery sadness like this.”
“That’s why I stopped eating Popeyes,” someone else said. “They always skimping out on my chicken, and will count the thinnest lil strip as a tender.”
Another commenter reasoned that the tenders looked like schnitzel. A few others even expressed enthusiasm for the tenders, with one simply saying, “That honestly looks good.”
Update 10:27am CT, Aug. 5: Ash told the Daily Dot she did “end up trying a little bite to see if it was chicken” and that “it just tasted like fried rubber.”
“Thousands of comments have been coming in about several opinions such as it looks like fried napkins, fish, bat wings, basically anything aside from chicken. A couple former employees made comments on it saying they were old or not battered correctly. Popeyes was tagged thousands of times but did not address, comment or contact me. They have since been active on their TikTok and has not reached out regarding this incident,” Ash added.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Popeyes via email.
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