Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen's bold pickle-themed marketing campaign transformed a limited-time menu launch into a cultural event, driving record guest traffic and widespread consumer engagement. As a result, Popeyes has been named the recipient of the 2026 Chicken Marketer of the Year award.
The Chicken Marketer of the Year award recognizes exceptional marketing achievements across retail, foodservice, direct-to-consumer, producer/integrator organizations and companies that demonstrate creativity, innovation and measurable success in promoting chicken consumption.
“We are proud to recognize Popeyes as the winner of the 2026 Chicken Marketer of the Year,” said Elizabeth Doughman, editor of WATT PoultryUSA and Poultry Future. “This year's finalists showcased outstanding creativity and strategic thinking, but Popeyes stood out by building an immersive campaign that extended far beyond the menu. Every customer touchpoint reinforced the same message, creating excitement, driving conversation and ultimately delivering measurable business results.”
The trophy was presented at the 2026 Chicken Marketing Summit held July 27-29 at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. The award was accepted by Shelli Laskowitz, senior manager, poultry innovation and Shivangi Singha, senior manager, innovation & activation, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.
Rather than launching a single pickle-flavored menu item, Popeyes built an entire campaign around pickles. The promotion featured five pickle-inspired menu items, a pickle-themed transformation of its flagship Times Square restaurant, coordinated digital components and a campaign built around the message, "Truly obsessed people don't go half pickle, they go full pickle."
The campaign began with a teaser released on April Fools' Day that deliberately sparked uncertainty among customers. The strategy generated organic conversations and media interest, resulting in 1,049 earned media placements before the product even hit menus.
The integrated campaign also included gaming activations on Fortnite and Uber Eats, and an immersive store experience giving visitors a reason to become content creators, creating a coordinated customer experience across multiple channels while driving record guest traffic for the brand.
The Chicken Marketer of the Year award was sponsored by Rooster, marketing experts rooted in the values of agriculture who help brands unlock growth through insight, storytelling and performance-based solutions.
Chicken Marketing Summit is the essential networking and educational conference for poultry business leaders. Serving a unique cross section of the chicken supply chain, Chicken Marketing Summit explores issues and trends in food marketing and consumer chicken consumption patterns and purchasing behavior.
The annual Chicken Marketing Summit is produced in collaboration with the National Chicken Council and with support from the National Protein and Food Distributors Association.
To learn more, visit ChickenMarketingSummit.com.
