All language subtitles for The.Food.That.Built.America.S04E06.The.Chicken.Coup.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-NTb

[Narrator] Today,
Americans eat

160 million servings
of chicken a day,

forging a $55-billion industry.

But in the 1960s,

the fast-food game is
dominated by McDonald's.

For a long time,

the hamburger was the
quintessential American food.

[Narrator] Until a pair
of desperate entrepreneurs

fuel a fast-food craze.

Now, what am I gonna do
with a cartload of chicken?

[Narrator] By
revolutionizing chicken.

This is my special
Cajun-style recipe.

[Narrator] In their
own unique way.

He realizes this is something

his customers will
probably love.

He's 100% right.

[Narrator] The birth
of the chicken sandwich

will change fast-food.

Four more Chick-fil-A's.

What Popeyes and
Chick-fil-A created

was an entirely new
universe of food.

[Narrator] And transform
what Americans eat,

sparking a battle that
spills into the 21st century.

The Popeyes chicken sandwich.

The war was on.

[suspenseful music]

This was the
most insane battle

between different fast-food
chains I have ever seen.

[tense music]

[upbeat music]

[Narrator] It's 1961

and more Americans are consuming
red meat than ever before.

Beef is a staple of the
American diet in this period

and the hamburger
is one of these

important consumer products
that any restaurateur

is gonna want to be
part of their menu.

[Narrator] McDonald's
has already sold

over 400 million hamburgers
at its nearly 230 locations.

The average American eats
66 pounds of beef per year,

double that of 30 years earlier.

But one region of the country
has so far proved resistant

to the charms of the
quick-service burger joint.

Maybe it was the
culture of the South

or the slower-pace lifestyle,
but for the longest time,

fast-food did not
take off in the South.

It was almost like
a fast-food desert.

In fact, McDonald's had been
in business for 20 years

before they had a store
in the state of Georgia.

[Narrator] But
there's a Southern chain

that has found success.

If you are in Atlanta,

there is one thing you
are absolutely doing,

and that is eating
at Waffle House.

Everything there is
incredibly delicious

and it is a Southern institution.

[Narrator] Despite only
starting six years earlier,

Waffle House is on the cusp
of opening 27 locations,

four of them in Atlanta alone,

and the city is growing
into a bustling hub

of manufacturing and commerce.

They opened a
Ford Motors plant

and also air travel
was this new,

exciting mode of transportation.

And eventually Delta
was to open a plant,

creating opportunities
for entrepreneurs.

[Narrator] Right down the road
from the 120-acre Ford plant,

one Atlanta restaurateur,
S. Truett Cathy,

has, for the past 15 years,

been running a pair of
sit-down restaurants

called the Dwarf Grill.

[siren wailing]
[hose spraying]

But now he's down to only one.

Truett Cathy is someone
who put so much time

into this business.

He describes being
there six days a week,

almost 24 hours a day.

He started his second location.

That location burns
down and it's uninsured.

This is such, kind of a
heartbreaking moment for him.

So, I think a lot of
people might give up

at this point in time.

S. Truett Cathy, being this
salt of the earth man's man,

World War II veteran, is
a devoutly religious man

and he's always
believed in hard work.

And the idea to
put the Dwarf Grill

in the shadow of the Ford
plant was quite brilliant

because you know you're
gonna get this lunch crowd.

[Narrator] Now, his
uninsured restaurant

has left him in a
deep financial hole

and he'll need something
to dig himself out.

He has to find a
solution and quickly

that is not going to
be that expensive.

Truett.

Now, what's all this?

[Supplier] Delta Airlines
rejected a package of filets.

Apparently they were too big
to fit inside their meal trays.

Now, what am I gonna do
with a cartload of chicken?

At that time, Delta
Airlines served everything

on these sort of metal
partitioned cafeteria trays.

One of the things
they would serve

was a boneless chicken breast.

Well, they had a whole
bunch of chicken breasts

that were too big to fit

in the allotted partition
of a Delta tray.

[Supplier] Now, you'd
be doing me a huge favor

if you took these off my hands.

He probably didn't want
these Delta castoffs.

That sounds a little bit gross.

[tense music]

At a discount?

[Kate] But as a businessman,
he kind of starts thinking,

"How can I make
this work for me?"

[tense music]

Okay, sure.

Just put it on my
tab for the month.

It'll be my good
deed for the day.

[Supplier] I owe you one.

[Narrator] He
doesn't know it yet,

but this delivery
of unwanted chicken

will lead to the creation

of the most popular chicken
sandwich in the world,

selling 400,000 per day and
propelling Cathy's business

into one of the most profitable
fast-food chains in America,

with nearly $6 billion
in revenue

and over 2,300 locations.

But right now, boneless chicken
is not nearly as popular

as its bone-in counterpart.

At the time, chicken has been
a Southern staple for decades,

but it was bone-in fried chicken

that was by far more common,

and it's been one growing
Southern fast-food chain

that has helped
put it on the map.

In the 1960s, KFC,

or Kentucky Fried Chicken
as it was known then,

became more and more popular.

People flocked to this product.

Once introduced to it, audiences
couldn't get enough of it.

[Narrator] Almost 20
years before McDonald's

first chicken item and KFC's
first chicken sandwich,

these fresh, boneless,
skinless chicken breasts

are not only unfamiliar
to Truett Cathy,

but also his customers.

S. Truett Cathy
very wisely thought,

well, if boneless
chicken breast

is something that appeals to
the jet-set and these people

that can afford and
experience air travel,

maybe everybody
might like them.

He began to think
what to do with them.

He wanted to be creative,

and the boneless chicken
breast was his canvas.

He's messing around
with the spices.

At one time, he's using more
than 20 different spices

to kind of flavor the chicken.

He tenderized it one way,
he seasoned it another,

and he eventually
landed on delicious,

crispy, wonderful chicken.

[pan rattling]
[suspenseful music]

[Narrator] Cathy has developed

his own unique piece of
fried boneless chicken

and it's wholly
different from anything

fast-food restaurants
are serving at the time.

So, now you have something

that there's no
example to follow.

He loved that he could
eat the whole thing.

It was portable.

So, he starts wondering,
how could he serve them?

[pensive music]

Usually, the dinner
roll or the biscuit

was an accompaniment to chicken.

You just picked up the
chicken and you ate it,

maybe with a fork or knife,

but the chicken was the chicken
and the bread was the bread.

Never the twain shall meet.

But because of S. Truett
Cathy, the twain met.

[Narrator] Cathy believes
his unique sandwich

can be the first to popularize
a new way of eating chicken.

So he moves to perfect it,

testing various combinations
of ingredients he has on hand.

[Adam] Cathy was going
to serve his chicken breast

with lettuce and tomato.

That simply didn't work.

So, he tries mayo,
mustard, ketchup.

[suspenseful music]

[Narrator] But
then, Truett Cathy

lands on the
perfect combination.

[knife clacking]

He felt that the
sourness and tartness

and saltiness of the pickle

was the perfect contrast to
the chicken breast itself,

Fried, crispy, and juicy,

on a buttered bun
you'd use for a burger.

It's handheld,
it's done quickly.

It's so, so simple.

It's the chicken, it's
the bun, it's the pickles.

A little butter on the
buns, but that's all.

[triumphant music]

Mm.

[Narrator] And a new
revolutionary chicken sandwich

is born.

But with little money to
employ his full waitstaff,

Cathy decides not to reopen
his Dwarf Grill restaurant.

So he looks for any other way

to sell his sandwich beyond
his doors and finds opportunity

in the most successful model
for selling chicken yet.

In the 1960s, the Kentucky
Fried Chicken franchise

is not the franchise
that we picture today.

Kentucky Fried Chicken was
just an item on the menu.

So, Colonel Sanders
franchised the recipe.

He franchised his
11 herbs and spices

for five cents a chicken.

For every chicken that
that restaurant owner sold,

they had to pay Colonel
Sanders five cents.

Five cents added up.

[Narrator] Cathy
figures he can use

the same licensing model to
popularize the chicken sandwich.

No one else has chicken
sandwiches at this point,

so he decides he's
gonna license them out

and start having them served
at different restaurants.

[Narrator] But first,

he'll need a name for
his original creation

as unique as the
sandwich itself.

So, he starts thinking,
"I'm using chicken filets.

Could I call it,
like, chicken filet?"

[pensive music]

He's like, "Ooh, how about
I mess around with it

a little bit more?"

[suspenseful music]

Truett Cathy said
that the capital A

stands for grade-A quality.

[Narrator] Cathy approaches

a popular Southern
chain of restaurants

in the hopes of
getting them to sell

his Chick-fil-A sandwich.

One of the most deeply
beloved eating institutions

in the South, Waffle House,

see an opportunity to
actually incorporate

this incredible chicken
sandwich onto their menu.

Back in the '60s,

you could get a Chick-fil-A
sandwich at Waffle House.

[Narrator] The deal is an
instant moneymaker for Cathy

and soon, his
Chick-fil-A sandwich

is a hit at Waffle
Houses across the region.

Got four more Chick-fil-A's.

Now, stop and
think about that.

Chick-fil-A sandwiches
were sold at Waffle House.

So, that place that you go
to in the morning after bars,

or so I've been told, the place
with the great pecan waffle,

sold Chick-fil-A sandwiches.

Here's the problem:

The sandwiches became more
popular than the waffles.

And if your business is called
Waffle House, it's a problem.

[phone ringing]

Yes, it's Truett speaking.

Oh, I see-

And the founders of
Waffle House didn't like it,

severed the ties that bind.

Well, I'm very
sorry to hear that.

[Narrator] After
tasting success,

now Cathy's Chick-fil-A
sandwich sales

are dead in the water.

[ominous music]

Meanwhile, 470 miles away,

a donut maker can't
help but notice

the success of a new
restaurant in town.

Al Copeland, he was
a very interesting guy.

He grew up poor in a housing
project in New Orleans

and he dropped out of high
school at the age of 16.

Al Copeland,

who was eventually
called Big Al Copeland,

he began working at grocery
stores, was a soda jerk.

He eventually started
working at a donut shop

that was owned by
one of his brothers,

and that was really
his first entrance

into the restaurant world.

It was like a
24-hour operation.

And here was this KFC,
basically across the street,

doing like twice the
business in less time.

And he was like, "I've gotta
start selling fried chicken."

[rousing music]

[Narrator] Copeland's pivot

will throw him into
a battle with KFC,

help push chicken
further than ever before,

and turn his business

into a billion-dollar
chicken powerhouse.

[Narrator] By the mid-1960s,

the hamburger still
reigns supreme

in the world of fast-food.

But in New Orleans, Louisiana,

a frustrated donut maker
has given up everything

to jump in on fast-food's
newest experiment.

Al Copeland was a
very confident man

and really, really aggressive.

He worked really hard and he
really wanted to be successful.

[Narrator] Copeland believes
chicken can be his moneymaker

if he can reinvent fried chicken

and make it better than KFC's.

So, he looks to the
popular Cajun flavoring

of his native Louisiana.

Cajun is a reflection of the
people who live in Louisiana.

People often associate
it with seafood,

but it's the seasoning,
it's the spices,

and it's something that
he captured in a bottle.

Copeland came up with the idea

of doing a very
spicy, hot chicken.

Cajun food, of course, is much
more complicated than that.

His particular take on
it used a lotta cayenne.

[Narrator] Copeland's Cajun
variety of fried chicken

also contains a unique
blend of turmeric,

cumin, paprika,
and mustard sauce.

When restaurateurs like Al
Copeland take a risk like this,

it can either win
big or can lose big,

and there's certainly
lots of examples

of restaurateurs trying
new flavor profiles

that fall really flat.

It can really go either way.

[Narrator] In 1971,
Copeland turns his donut shop

into a fast fried chicken joint,

serving both spicy and
regular fried chicken.

He had fried chicken

and he had a few spicy
items on the menu

that fit more with the
character of New Orleans.

[Narrator] He calls
it Chicken on the Run.

And it had a slogan.

"You get your chicken
before you get your change."

Let's call it a day.

[Narrator] But
within six months,

Chicken on the Run
has slowed to a crawl.

He just noticed that customers
were more loyal to KFC.

[tense music]

So, Chicken on the
Run was losing money.

[Narrator] With his
business on life support

and already $10,000 in the hole,

Copeland's restaurant is only
grossing about $1,100 a week,

$900 short of breaking even.

It was a failure.

[pensive music]

[Narrator] And in Atlanta,
S. Truett Cathy is left reeling

after Waffle House pulls
the Chick-fil-A sandwich

from its menu.

It's wild to think about
if the franchising industry

had gone a different way,

it could be something
where you'd be getting

a Chick-fil-A sandwich
at McDonald's.

You'd be getting a Chick-fil-A
sandwich at Burger King.

Who knows what
could have happened?

[Cathy sighing]

[Narrator] Now,
Cathy knows he'll need

a new way to sell it.

So, after trying to license
the product for a few years,

Truett Cathy is like,
"Okay, this is over.

If we're gonna serve up
Chick-fil-A sandwiches,

I'm gonna serve
them up myself."

[Narrator] But still
in a financial hole

since losing his uninsured
restaurant in a fire,

Cathy knows he needs a
store with low expenses.

It takes a lot more
money and capital outlay

to open up a
standalone restaurant.

I think the next step up

was in between a restaurant
and a public venue,

which was shopping malls.

[pensive music]

So, the first shopping
mall opens in his area

and they're looking for tenants.

And Cathy sits back and goes,

"Hmm, I wonder if I could
open a store in this mall."

[Narrator] By the mid-1960s,

malls are popping up all across
the suburban United States,

with 45 mall-style
shopping complexes opening

in just four years.

As the consumer moves
out to the suburbs,

that's gonna give rise
to the shopping mall.

As more people are heading
out to those shopping malls,

other businesses
then will relocate

within the malls themselves.

[Narrator] Although
the shopping mall

is gaining traction,

the idea of serving
food inside a mall

remains relatively unheard of.

It's not really a thing for
malls to have restaurants.

There's no mall food court.

[Narrator] S. Truett Cathy
invests in a small-scale store

inside Atlanta's Greenbriar Mall

and he chooses to name
the pint-sized eatery

after his signature sandwich.

[pensive music]

The first Chick-fil-A
is really remarkable.

It's just this tiny little spot.

Apparently, the mall's
operator was like,

"I'm not sure about this.

You're gonna stink up our mall
with your fried chicken."

[Narrator] Measuring a
modest 384 square feet,

Chick-fil-A shares space among
the other shops in the mall.

Putting food in
proximity to shopping,

it's brilliant marketing,
it's brilliant placement,

and Chick-fil-A certainly
took advantage of that.

[Narrator] As the
only option available,

it proves a huge draw for
the mall's captive audience.

It was brilliant because you
had foot traffic from people.

They went to the
mall to do shopping,

but then the wafting of
fried chicken sandwiches

pulled them in.

[Narrator] And despite
the mall being open

seven days a week, Truett
Cathy takes a principled stand

on how his restaurant operates.

Cathy made it clear
from the very beginning,

"I'm a devout Southern Baptist

and we're not gonna do
business on Sunday.

You can get your sandwiches
on Saturday and Monday,

but not on Sunday."

You're basically sacrificing
a seventh of your sales,

so you don't see anyone else

in the restaurant
business doing that.

[Narrator] But
Chick-fil-A is so successful,

the mall operators are
willing to go along with it.

Cathy sinks his profits into
opening seven mall locations

from Atlanta to the Carolinas.

I think it's safe
to say Truett Cathy

was the father of
the mall food court.

[Narrator] Truett Cathy
is the undisputed king

of the chicken sandwich,
[pausing] for now.

[pensive music]

Al Copeland's mission to
reinvent fried chicken

and earn a fortune
doing it is failing,

but he makes a
surprising discovery.

He noticed that
customers kept coming back

to get these spicy
items on his menu,

the Cajun-based spicy version
that he had developed.

This is Louisiana.

People love spicy
food in Louisiana.

That's what worked there.

[Narrator] With
his Cajun flavor

outselling his
regular fried chicken,

Copeland realizes it's what
differentiates him from KFC

and now he wants
to go all in on it.

Big Al Copeland's always said,

"If you're gonna
dream, dream big,"

and Louisiana was about
big, bold flavors.

So, he decided,

"We're just gonna rebrand
this whole thing."

[Narrator] To keep his
struggling business afloat,

he has to pull off the
rebrand in record time.

He did it over three days.

Changes the procedures,
changes the insides,

and contacts a sign company
to develop a new sign.

[Narrator] For a name,
Copeland is inspired

by the main character in a film

that just won the 1972 Academy
Award for Best Picture.

He asked his wife what she
thought, and she thought

it was the stupidest
thing she'd ever heard,

and so he said that he
would go ahead and do it.

[Narrator] Copeland
names his new venture

after the hero of "The
French Connection."

All right, Popeye's here!

[Narrator] It's a
name that will forge

a $1.8-billion chicken empire

and thrust him into an all-out
fried chicken war with KFC

and eventually a
battle to create

America's favorite
chicken sandwich.

[Narrator] In 1972,

Al Copeland officially
opens Popeyes.

How are we looking
in here, guys?

We just sat a 10-top,

so we're gonna need
a lot more than that.

[Narrator] Featuring
his signature,

Louisiana-style
spicy fried chicken.

[Al] You gotta get all that
at the bottom of the pot.

[Narrator] His original
menu also features

Southern comfort
dinners like gizzard,

liver, clam, and
stuffed flounder.

How we looking? This is
good? This is good to go?

[Narrator] All of which are
available with rice dressing,

barbecue beans, coleslaw,
or corn on the cob.

[Al] Coming out!

[Narrator] Copeland's
new menu is an instant hit.

All right, beautifully done.

[Narrator] And now,
even though he only has

one small location, he
wants to take the fight

directly to his
biggest competitor.

As anyone who's ever
watched SEC sports,

you will learn quickly:

Southern states,
southern universities

have a pretty healthy
rivalry between one another.

So, the attack ads began,

making it Louisiana
versus Kentucky.

Big Al versus the Colonel.

Spicy versus bland.

[Narrator] Copeland
boldly places newspaper ads

featuring Popeyes spicy,

Louisiana-style fried chicken.

He even uses his own
money to create TV ads

featuring a jingle by
a Grammy Award winner

and future Rock and
Roll Hall of Famer,

New Orleans' own Dr. John.

♪ Love that chicken
from Popeyes ♪

I love it.

[Narrator] And his
aggressive marketing pays off.

Just three weeks after
opening, Popeyes sales exploded.

They brought in about
$2,100 in a week,

which is approximately
$14,000 today.

[Narrator] Copeland finally
begins to turn a profit.

By 1973, his single
Popeyes location

is starting to eat into KFC's
business in New Orleans,

as he rakes in
over $5,000 a week.

Americans like
what they're used to.

But when Al Copeland decided
to introduce the world

to Cajun seasoning, it
was really a huge hit.

[Narrator] And yet, Copeland
is unable to find a bank

willing to finance
his expansion.

So, to take on KFC and its
over 3,000 restaurants,

Copeland will instead
grow through franchising

under the name Popeyes
Famous Fried Chicken.

In the 1970s, KFC was

one of the biggest restaurant
chains in the country.

For a while, it was bigger
than the McDonald's,

which is kinda hard to imagine
today, but it was everywhere.

[Narrator] As
Popeyes franchises

become a hot
commodity regionally,

Copeland is confronted
with a major problem.

[pensive music]

So the 1970s, there
were a number of factors

that were kind of playing
into the prices of food.

Part of it was a recession,

part of it was the price
of oil was spiking,

and then there was
the price of beef,

which grew more expensive, as
there was a cattle shortage.

Restaurateurs have
to think differently

about what they're
going to offer.

Beef will be replaced to a
certain extent by chicken.

[Narrator] Across the country,

fast-food chains are forced
to rethink their menus.

By the late-1970s,
chicken sales jump.

Other restaurants are looking
for their own alternatives

to replace the burger.

So, what Burger King comes up
with is the chicken sandwich.

It's a hoagie roll
with ground chicken.

It's a pretty simple concept.

And in 1983,

McDonald's releases the
Chicken McNugget worldwide.

[Narrator] The
rush towards chicken

not only ensnares Copeland,

but now Cathy's small
Chick-fil-A chain

is caught up in
the fight as well.

Both will now have
to compete directly

with multiple industry titans.

[Adam] Could you
imagine these two guys

that built this thing
from the ground up

with their own passion,
their own hard work,

now you have to compete with
McDonald's, Burger King?

The war was on.

[suspenseful music]

[Narrator] After
creating a revolutionary

chicken sandwich, S.
Truett Cathy's Chick-fil-A

has grown to over
250 stores by 1982,

all located in malls
across the Southeast.

But as cattle prices soar,

the giant fast-food chains
like McDonald's and Burger King

have added chicken
for the first time

and it's taking a chunk
out of Cathy's bottom line.

This is like code
red for Chick-fil-A.

The only year in
Chick-fil-A history

that has seen declining
sales is 1982,

so this is kind of
a crisis situation.

[Narrator] To get
Chick-fil-A back on track,

Cathy forgoes his personal
salary for an entire year,

ensuring his employees
won't suffer any pay cuts.

He also brings in
his eldest son, Dan,

as director of operations
to see the company through.

Dan believes in
trying new things.

He believes in
making Chick-fil-A

much bigger than his father did.

[Narrator] After the
company's worst year on record,

Cathy and his son know
they'll need something

to re-energize their brand.

These are the best.

For a long time, they've
really just been relying

on the chicken sandwich, but
at this point they realize,

"Maybe we need to add
new items to the menu."

[laughing] Who eats
fries one at a time?

You can't get enough
ketchup. [snickering]

[pensive music]

[Narrator] But beyond
adding a new item,

Cathy sees an opportunity

to rethink the french
fry's ubiquitous shape.

In 1979, an inventor
named Edgar Matsler

came up with a machine to cut
potatoes into a waffle shape,

something that,
three years later,

is still unfamiliar
to customers.

While most fast-food chains

are offering only
traditional french fries,

Cathy begins funneling money

into selling the unique waffle
fry at every Chick-fil-A.

The waffle fries
get added in the '80s.

Honestly, one of the most
iconic items on the menu.

[Narrator] He rolls out their
new ridge-cut waffle fries,

hoping that the revamped
menu can provide a jolt

to Chick-fil-A's profits.

And Cathy's sales skyrocket
by more than $8 million.

Well, your numbers aren't bad.

[laughing] Why would they be?

[Truett laughing]

[intense music]

[Narrator] With the
increased profits,

Cathy finally looks to push his
chicken chain even further.

Truett and Dan Cathy
both wanted Chick-fil-A

to be something people knew
about and not just a mall brand.

[Narrator] On the outskirts
of northern Atlanta,

Cathy opens the first
Chick-fil-A standalone location.

The spot is an instant sensation

and fuels the start of an
aggressive expansion plan,

but it's one that puts
Cathy on a collision course

in the increasingly
crowded chicken industry.

More and more people are
opening fast-food restaurants

and serving chicken

and it really saturated
American culture

in a way that wasn't expected.

[Narrator] In San Antonio,

a retired chicken incubator
salesman, George W. Church,

grows his restaurants to
become the #2 chicken chain.

But right behind Church's
Chicken is Al Copeland.

And although the
larger hamburger chains

have begun selling chicken,

none offer it on the bone
like KFC and Popeyes,

allowing Copeland to
grow exponentially.

He'd grown through franchising

and they were opening
a lot of locations

all over the country.

[Narrator] With
over 400 locations

and closing in on third place,

Copeland now wants to
fortify his growing empire.

See, in 1984, Big Al Copeland

created a company called
Diversified Food Seasonings.

Sounds super-official, right?

But their only
purpose was to sell

Popeyes' secret original recipe
to all of their franchises

and it's its own entity
apart from Popeyes,

and that was done
by Big Al Copeland.

[Narrator] The move
secures the secret recipe

to his Cajun fried chicken

and keeps it under
Copeland's control.

And now he can
refocus his attention

to becoming number one.

[tense music]

To do it, he'll
offer his customers

something his biggest
competitors don't have.

Popeyes has watched
what Chick-fil-A has done

and they're like, "Why
can't we do this?"

[rising dramatic music]

[Narrator] A one
ounce, Cajun spiced,

square chicken patty

with pickles and a mayonnaise
sauce on a toasted bun,

called the Little Chickadee.

Not only did Popeyes get
into the chicken sandwich game,

but KFC did it as well.

It was a slider version.

Both were massive
failures. [laughing]

It's always been
very, very difficult

for any bone-in chicken
chain like Popeyes or KFC

to sell a chicken sandwich.

Their consumer wants
bone-in chicken.

And people who want
chicken sandwiches

don't want bone-in chicken,

so Little Chickadees was a
short-lived chicken sandwich.

[Narrator] If Copeland
can't innovate his way

to the top of the chicken
chain, he'll try a new approach.

[pensive music]

Yeah, I don't care if
they're not interested.

So, make them an offer.

So, Church's Chicken, with
1,500 different locations,

comes up on the radar of who?

Big Al Copeland.

Church's is a
Texas chicken chain,

whereas Popeyes had a
different flavor profile,

but essentially they're serving
fried chicken on the bone

to the same market.

Big Al Copeland really
wanted to become

the biggest chicken
chain in the country,

and he thought a good
strategy to do that

would be to buy the
second-largest chicken chain.

Big Al Copeland takes
out, I kid you not,

a massive $398-million loan
to buy Church's Chicken.

I'll find the money.

You just close the deal.

But what he did not count on

was the fact that
Church's was struggling

and very nearly a
failing business.

[intense music]

[Narrator] With a loan
of over $900 million

in today's money,
Copeland will soon control

a combined 1,900
locations in 35 states,

a fried chicken empire
second only to KFC's 7,000.

But taking over Church's
large and struggling chain

will be Copeland's
biggest mistake.

[Narrator] After
popularizing his

spicy version of fried chicken,

in 1989, Al Copeland
purchases Church's Chicken

and its nearly-1,500 locations,

catapulting Popeyes
into the country's

second-largest chicken chain.

But just one year
after the bold move,

he finds himself in
serious financial trouble.

Al Copeland just wanted
to shortcut his way

to multiple franchises.

He said, "I'm just gonna
throw a bunch of money at this

and buy a bunch
of these stores.

High quality, low quality.

You want a franchise?

Here's a franchise,
let's roll."

And I think that
haphazard attempt

may have been his undoing.

[Narrator] Having borrowed
most of the $398 million

to acquire the chain,

Copeland is now scrambling to
come out of the deal alive.

[glass clinking]

Well, their plan was
to sell some restaurants

to franchisees to raise
money to help pay off debt,

but they didn't get as much

as they thought that
they would get for that.

They very quickly
started falling behind

on their debt payments

and then they got into
trouble with their lenders.

Nothing would really
save this foundering ship.

And then Al Copeland, the man
who created Popeyes Chicken,

files for bankruptcy

and actually has to sell
the brand that he founded.

[Narrator] In 1991,

the courts hand over control
of Popeyes to his creditors,

who bring in Arby's former
president to head operations.

Al Copeland has been pushed
out of his own company.

But Big Al Copeland has
one more ace up his sleeve.

$31 million? [scoffing]

You can tell them to
shove it up their ass!

Remind your friends
that I own the recipe.

Diversified Food Seasonings.

He still owns that, which
means he still owns the recipe

to Popeyes fried chicken.

If they want Popeyes,
they go through me, period.

[phone slamming]

He says, "No. My recipe.

I'm gonna hold it forever

and you're gonna still
license it from me,"

to the tune of $3.1
million every year,

giving him a monthly check
of over 245,000 bucks!

[envelope ripping]

Not a bad retirement package.

[Narrator] Al
Copeland receives

his massive monthly paycheck
for the next 17 years

until 2008, when he passes
away at the age of 64.

Al is put to rest with a
traditional funeral procession

through the streets
of New Orleans.

When Copeland dies,

his estate sells his
proprietary spicy chicken recipe

to the Popeyes chain.

For how much?

$43 million.

That's some spicy chicken.

[pensive music]

[Narrator] Back in
Atlanta, by that same year,

S. Truett Cathy's Chick-fil-A

has become a
fast-food juggernaut,

now with locations
from coast to coast.

But in 2014, they're
dealt a blow.

At the time of
Truett Cathy's death,

Chick-fil-A continues
down his path

of expansion into
standalone restaurants

with over 1,800 and an
astounding $5 billion in sales,

the largest of any chicken
restaurant chain, including KFC.

Truett Cathy goes out on top.

He has an incredible business.

Three million customers a
day, $1.1 billion a year,

thousands of restaurants
across the country

and still growing.

[tense music]

[Narrator] While Popeyes
and its over 2,000 locations

helped popularize fried
chicken in America,

now in 2016, as sales
and profits tumble,

the company's new
leader, Cheryl Bachelder,

must bring the company back
from the brink of bankruptcy.

She takes aim at something

that Al Copeland failed
to successfully achieve:

a premium chicken sandwich.

So, she does a
buttermilk chicken breast

in something akin
to a tempura batter

to create this lighter,
crispier, crunchier shell,

but still maintaining that
spicy Popeyes chicken essence.

They initially were gonna serve
it with lettuce and tomato,

but it's all about the pickles.

[tense music]

[Narrator] After four
decades of competing with KFC,

Popeyes is finally
about to go head-to-head

with Chick-fil-A.

The Popeyes Chicken Sandwich.

[[tense music]

[Narrator] In 2016, after
five months of development,

Popeyes CEO Cheryl Bachelder
has her eyes set, not on KFC,

but on cutting
into Chick-fil-A's

sandwich dominance.

The buzz surrounding Popeyes'

spicy new chicken
sandwich was huge.

Even before it came out,
people were talking about it.

[Narrator] With a
quarter-pound breast

of Popeyes spicy fried chicken

sitting between a
sweet brioche roll,

the sandwich is slathered

in Blue Plate mayonnaise
from New Orleans

and topped with barrel-aged
pickles from Chicago.

[dramatic music]

Give me a sec.

Shut up and eat this.

[intense music]

Wow.
[chef laughing]

[pensive music]

[Narrator] After two
years of development,

in 2019, Popeyes
finally releases

their prized culinary creation

and their Twitter
account explodes.

They were also actively
engaging with their audience

on social media and
it suddenly became

this complete cultural moment

that had everyone in the
social universe involved.

I've never seen a new
product attract this much buzz.

It just explodes.

You have people just
lining up down the block

[car horns honking]

and everyone wants to
find out for themselves:

Is Popeyes' new chicken sandwich
better than Chick-fil-A?

[car horns honking]

Back in Brooklyn where I live,

there were people that were
pounding on the doors of Popeyes

after-hours to get them.

Think about that for a minute!

The rabid desire for
fried chicken on a bun

got to the pitch and scope
that armed security was needed

to protect a
fast-food restaurant

serving a chicken sandwich.

[Narrator] With an
almost cult-like following,

it rakes in $5.1
billion in 2019,

pushing quarterly
sales up nearly 40%.

The next two years
will see KFC, Wendy's,

McDonald's, and Burger King

tout newer, crispier,
juicier chicken sandwiches,

all strikingly similar to
Chick-fil-A's original classic.

The Chicken Sandwich Wars

were a momentous
occasion in fast-food.

As a fast-food reporter, this
was the most insane battle

between different fast-food
chains I have ever seen.

[Narrator] Today,

despite having fewer
locations than Popeyes,

Chick-fil-A, with 2,600
locations worldwide,

is the third-largest restaurant
chain in the world by sales,

behind only McDonald's
and Starbucks.

But their success does not
come without controversy.

It's tough to bring them up

without acknowledging the
fact that in recent times,

they've faced a lot of criticism

for their donations to
anti-LGBTQ organizations.

Some people were frustrated,
disappointed, angry.

[Narrator] After
much public outcry,

in 2019, Chick-fil-A announces
their charitable foundation

has ended its donations
to organizations

that have been criticized
for being anti-LGBTQ.

And today, each of
Chick-fil-A restaurants

continue to net an average
of $8 million a year,

even though they're
still closed on Sundays.

It's hard to believe,

when foods are as
popular and as ubiquitous

as the chicken sandwich, that
one person ever created 'em.

But one person did create
the chicken sandwich.

That's Truett Cathy.

The only question is:
Did he perfect it?

Many Popeyes customers feel

that the new spicy
chicken sandwich

is the perfect culmination
of Cathy's original creation.

[Narrator] And with 1,000
more locations than Chick-fil-A,

their over 3,700 restaurants

generate more than
$1 billion a year.

I think that in the Popeyes
vs. Chick-fil-A battle,

both brands really thrived
on people talking about them.

So, while it seemed like it
was a war between the two,

they ended up kind of
helping each other out.

[intense music]