The McDonald's Vs Chick-Fil-A Sign War Has Escalated
McDonald's restaurant owners are happy with the new Crispy Chicken Sandwich (via Business Insider). The obvious imitation of Chick-fil-A's signature sandwich has exceeded sales expectations since its February release. However, some of these owners are starting to get a little cocky, too, taking jabs at Chick-fil-A on the readerboard signs found just underneath the Golden Arches. And at least one Chick-fil-A location isn't having it.
It all started less than a week ago, but it has escalated since. First, a McDonald's at an undisclosed location put a message on its readerboard that said, "Chicken on Sunday our pleasure" (via Reddit). Those five words managed to poke at Chick-fil-A twice without even mentioning the chicken chain's name. For one, McDonald's is trying to one-up Chick-fil-A because it's open on Sundays, while Chick-fil-A is not. Popeyes executed a similar "closed on Sundays" dig against Chick-fil-A in a tweet back in September 2020. Secondly, "our pleasure" is the Chick-fil-A employee's standard response to customers instead of "you're welcome" (via Southern Living).
Just a few days later, a separate Reddit post by the same user revealed another shade-throwing McDonald's sign. This time, it came with a response from Chick-fil-A.
McDonald's signs throw shade at Chick-fil-A for being closed on Sundays
In an apparent second round of the McDonald's vs. Chick-fil-A sign wars, posted to Reddit on May 27, a different McDonald's restaurant had this to say on its readerboard: "We sell Crispy Chicken Sandwiches on Sundays." The person in charge of the sign at this McDonald's did not have the same economy of words, but they were making the same point as the first McDonald's sign. We get it: Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays.
Someone who makes readerboard messages at Chick-fil-A, however, could come back with this interesting business fact, as highlighted by Entrepreneur: Chick-fil-A makes more money per store in six days than McDonald's, or anybody else for that matter, makes in seven. When you work that hard, you deserve a day of rest.
Instead, the May 27 Reddit post included a photo of a Chick-fil-A readerboard with the following message: "Our ice cream machines are always working." True enough, but Chick-fil-A won't score points for originality with that comeback. McDonald's Twitter account has even cracked a joke at its ice cream machines' expense.
Looking at the bottom line, Chick-fil-A probably is not too worried about McDonald's version of its chicken sandwich — not to mention the variations on fried chicken sandwiches sold at KFC, Burger King, Jimmy John's, and elsewhere. Even with all the new competition, Chick-fil-A continues to dominated the chicken sandwich wars. Business Insider reports that Chick-fil-A has a 45% share of all online sales of the sandwich.