Can Popeyes' 'Pizza Stalker' Get Delivery Customers to Swap Their Pies for Chicken?

To promote a nationwide free-delivery deal on its Family Meals, Popeyes dispatched a dude to tail pizza drivers for a few days in Portland, Ore. His mission: convince the hungry folks who placed those orders to swap their saucy pies for Popeyes' spicy chicken.

Naturally, he succeeds quite a bit, or we wouldn't have this fun project video:

"We know pizza is an easy delivery option for family dinners, and everyone loves pizza, but with the amount that people have been ordering in lately, we thought they might like an alternative," says creative director Eliana Ferrer of GUT, which developed the campaign with production house Society. "So, we decided to crash a few pizza parties with Popeyes Family Meals and see if people would make the trade."

Connor Martin channels early-career Matthew McConaughey as the stalker/driver—and he also directed! The team mounted GoPros inside Martin's car, and two camera operators trailed him from a distance with zoom lenses.

We're told Martin intercepted about a dozen deliveries over three days, though his actual chicken-conversion rate remains a closely guarded marketing secret.

Yesterday, Popeyes teased the free delivery offer—which asks consumers to order Family Meals on the chain's app instead of turning elsewhere for pizza—with this tantalizing one-word tweet:

pizza

— Popeyes Chicken (@PopeyesChicken) July 8, 2020

So … they're not introducing chicken pizza at Popeyes. Pfft.

CREDITS

Client: Popeyes
Fernando Machado – Global Chief Marketing Officer
Bruno Cardinali – Head of Marketing Popeyes North America
Paloma Azulay – Global Chief Marketing Officer
Nicole Alevizos Hurd – Head of Global Brand Marketing
Daniela Chamorro – Marketing Communications Manager
Agency: GUT Agency
Anselmo Ramos – Creative Chairman / Founder
Paulo Fogaca – Chief Operating Officer/Partner
Carmen Rodriguez – Chief Client Officer/ Partner
Juan Javier Peña Plaza – Executive Creative Director/Partner
Ricardo Casal – Executive Creative Director/Partner
Guido Fusetti – Head of Art
Jeffrey Hodgson – Creative Director 
Eliana Ferrer – Creative Director
Leila Moussaoui – Associate Creative Director 
Willow Ennen – Art Director 
Andrew Gonzalez – Art Director 
Renata Neumann – Head of Production
Alexandra Odriozola – Senior Producer
Aileen Echenique – Business Director
Jennifer Rangel – Account Supervisor
Samantha Lemoine – Content Director 
Sai He – Senior Copy Writer 
Wilmarie Velez – Account Supervisor 
Pablo Rosas – Director of Strategy 
William Ramos – Social Strategy Director  

Production: Society 
Connor Martin - Director
Harry Calbom - Executive Producer
Harry Calbom, Holiday Coles, Lucy Martin - Producers
Jov Luke - Director of Photography:
Connor Martin - Camera Operator
Brandon Daniel - Camera Operator
Zack LaRochelle, Jeff Martin - Production Assistants
Juan Melara - Colorist
Keith Keniff - Music
Rebecca Parenteau - Head of Production
Drew Brecker - Head of Business Affairs
Holiday Coles - Post Producer 

Editorial: Cosmo Street Editorial
Lorenzo Bomicci - Editor
Philip Gomez - Assistant Editor
Idalia Deshon - Producer
Yvette Cobarrubias-Sears - Executive Producer/Managing Partner
Nico Cragnolino - Flame Artist
John Erdman: AE Artist 

Mix: Studio Center
Debbie Manzione - Casting Director / Account Manager Audio
Shippley Watson - Engineer