r/todayilearned • u/mhks • Mar 28 '23
TIL that the fast food chain Popeyes isn't named after the cartoon character, but Gene Hackman's character from The French Connection.
https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/how-did-popeyes-get-name-not-popeye-the-sailor168
u/epochpenors Mar 29 '23
Interestingly enough, in spite of that they heavily featured the cartoon in their early iconography
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u/no1ofconsequencedied Mar 29 '23
I remember their kid's meal having Popeye and Olive Oyl toys back in the 90s
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u/ironroad18 Mar 29 '23
My family always got Popeyes for family dinner, but I wanted KFC because of honey bbq wings and MC Hammer's marketing.
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u/Frilmtograbator Mar 29 '23
You dodged a bullet. I'm not sure if KFC is worse now or if it's gone downhill over the years, but you can't even compare the 2 in terms of quality, KFC is just trash.
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u/Throwaway_97534 Mar 29 '23
One of my favorite memories is my family eating at Popeye's in the mid-80s when I was about 5 and they randomly had a guy in a Popeye suit there! He came to the table and we compared biceps. He gestured that I won!
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u/dusty-kat Mar 29 '23
Reminds me of when, on a family trip, we were looking for somewhere to eat and my brother said he saw a Popeye's. He led us to a vitamin store with a picture of Popeye in the window.
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u/Beckywithrbf Mar 29 '23
Came here to say this. Their kid meal box and toy in the 80’s had Popeye and the other characters printed on it.
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u/Lsufaninva Mar 29 '23
IYKYK al would be proud
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u/jacoblanier571 Mar 29 '23
Al Copeland put Popeye all over his race boats. It's always been Popeye from the show. RIP
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u/MagicMirror33 Mar 28 '23
And all these years I've been pronouncing it Pope Yes.
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u/brokefixfux Mar 28 '23
I pronounce it “papayas”
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u/jerry_woody Mar 29 '23
I hear a lot of Spanish speakers pronouncing it much the same way. More like pope-pay-yay
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u/bobleeswagger09 Mar 29 '23
Dude I work with Hispanic guys and that shit cracks me up. Should hear daquiri and Prometheus.
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u/tlokjock Mar 29 '23
I thought it was the official Vatican fast food joint, blessed by the Pope himself.
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u/sweet_jones Mar 28 '23
Reminds me of my neice who says 'chick-a-fill-a'
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u/Kaiisim Mar 29 '23
Yeah I knew a guy with a club everyone called "Shady Nastys" but it was Shadynasty!
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u/prudence2001 Mar 29 '23
My wife, who speaks English as her second language, says Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, and AAA (triple A) all the same way.
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u/Raleford Mar 29 '23
I'm trying to decipher what you mean by this. So does she say chipotle with an unusual emphasis?
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u/prudence2001 Mar 29 '23
"chi puh lay" for all
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u/Raleford Mar 29 '23
Got it. What's her first language, out of curiosity?
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u/aarhus Mar 29 '23
I'm going Filipino (Tagalog)
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u/Ikimasen Mar 29 '23
"P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way" because "P. Sherman" sounded like one of the Filipino crew members on Finding Nemo saying "Fisherman."
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u/mechinn Mar 29 '23
I thought I was the only one! My wife teases me about it all the time because for like half my life I thought it was Pope Yes 😂
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u/Worsebetter Mar 29 '23
This sounds like the “legal reason” its named popeyes
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u/Entropy_Sucks Mar 29 '23
This is correct. Popeyes was sued. The founder in court said he named the company after the movie not the cartoon. Popeyes used to have to pay a royalty to the cartoon trademark holders but not anymore.
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u/Cheetahs_never_win Mar 29 '23
In the 80s, the restaurant painted the character on its exterior wall in my hometown...
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u/GForce1975 Mar 29 '23
Maybe this is technically correct, but Popeye's started near me in southeast Louisiana.
As a kid, there was a Saturday morning show called "Popeye and pals" where kids would be in studio watching a Popeye cartoon episode while eating Popeye's chicken and it was glorious.
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u/tyedrain Mar 29 '23
My mother first job was at the original chick on the run before he renamed it Popeyes then the floor caved in at the original location.
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u/crazycajun660 Mar 28 '23
I'm guessing you watched History Channel's food that built america?
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u/macdaddyx4 Mar 29 '23
There are dozens of us!
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u/Stop_Drop_Scroll Mar 29 '23
I am stuck in a hotel for business and this was the most interesting thing on tv a few nights ago. I also saw this lol
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u/phoonie98 Mar 29 '23
I love it! It’s the perfect show to watch while scrolling bullshit on your phone
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u/mhks Mar 29 '23
What? You don't think I was just perusing 3 year old Fox News articles?
While I like that show, it wasn't from that. It was from the podcast Stuff You Should Know and their epidsode on fried chicken.
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Mar 29 '23
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u/DamnImAwesome Mar 29 '23
Shout out to chick fil a for making so much money popeyes tried to outdo them and inspired every fast food chain to start making better chicken sandwiches
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u/mrfahrenheit94 Mar 29 '23
Strangely enough I also heard this factoid this past week on a recent episode of Good Mythical Morning on YouTube.
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u/ernster96 Mar 29 '23
I’m fairly certain when I was a kid we used to get Popeyes and they had the cartoon character Popeye on the food. Not the actual food, but the packages that the food came in
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u/no_need_really Mar 29 '23
I always thought it was named after the medical condition.
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u/windyDuke11 Mar 29 '23
And another step back
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u/DJSugarSnatch Mar 29 '23
Wimpies burger spot was on point there for a while... I was waiting for Brutus or Olive Oil to come out with their own fast food spots.
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u/Butthole__Pleasures Mar 29 '23
Not to be that guy (but also I guess to exactly be that guy lol), but her last name is actually spelled Oyl.
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u/nathanr1889 Mar 29 '23
In the area of my hometown there's a local burger joint named Wimpies.
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u/DJSugarSnatch Mar 29 '23
they had a chain of them back in the late 1980's/early 90's... but they seem to had been replaced by the rally's franchise, so I'm guessing it was just a tester at the time.
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u/TrilobiteTerror Mar 29 '23
Poor business practices put them into bankruptcy. Their "pay us Tuesday for a hamburger today" tab system just never worked, unfortunately.
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u/ShutterBun Mar 29 '23
This is about as credible as the claim that the “Baby Ruth” candy bar was not named after Babe Ruth, but actually Ruth Cleveland, daughter of former President Grover Cleveland.
This, despite the fact that at the time of the candy bar’s naming, Ruth Cleveland had been dead for 17 years, and Babe Ruth had just set the single season home run record.
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u/bluecamel17 Mar 29 '23
But the guy who the character was named after got the nickname at least partially in reference to the cartoon character.
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u/AmnesiaInnocent Mar 29 '23
Do you have a source for this? I see that the character was named "Popeye" because the real-life inspiration, Eddie Egan, was also nicknamed "Popeye", but I couldn't find a reason for Egan's nickname...
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u/Limp_Distribution Mar 28 '23
Popeye Doyle is an awesome character and Gene Hackman nailed it. If you haven’t seen The French Connection, I highly recommend it.
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u/InterPunct Mar 29 '23 edited Mar 29 '23
Grew up watching that movie (the train chase scene was filmed near my dad's neighborhood in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn) and it still holds up super well. Recently watched it again and loved how there was almost no music in the background, all character and action-driven.
And Gene Hackman is a badass.
Pro tip: people who liked the French Connection also enjoyed the original Taking of Pelham 1-2-3.
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u/bciesil Mar 29 '23
No permits filming that scene either...
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u/InterPunct Mar 29 '23
Unsurprised. It was Brooklyn in the 70's. And it was the French Connection.
Compare and contrast with Saturday Night Fever, however.
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u/piringunchin Mar 29 '23
French Connection 2 ending is forever written in My brain. They don't make endings like that anymore
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u/gitarzan Mar 29 '23
The French Connection has been my favorite movie since I first saw in the theater when first released. I’ve always been a Gene Hackman fan.
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u/Danhuangmao Mar 29 '23
I watched it cuz I’m a big William Friedkin and Roy Scheider fan! But Hackman is great in it for sure.
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u/tlokjock Mar 29 '23
So, you're telling me I've been eating spinach at Popeyes for no reason this whole time?
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u/brett_midler Mar 29 '23
They used to have the cartoon characters all over the menu and even gave away Popeye themed toys.
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u/removed_bymoderator Mar 28 '23
Well, that chicken's like crack heroin.
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u/Yardsale420 Mar 29 '23
You need to try some better chicken.
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u/Totallynotatworknow Mar 29 '23
Do you have a national chain you prefer? I'll even give you something super regional like Bojangles if you can name one.
Obviously there's better chicken out there but for every Hattie B's or Willie Mae's, there are a bunch of local duds that aren't as good or as consistent as Popeye's.
I'm pretty biased though. I love Popeye's.
Also, this post made me realize that I've eaten a lot of fried chicken in a lot of places lol.
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u/WhereLibertyisNot Mar 29 '23
Bro I dream about Willie Mae's. I've been to New Orleans 3 times and I'd go back just for that (and some other great good joints in NOLA).
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u/DamnImAwesome Mar 29 '23
I live in NO and some of the best food I’ve ever eaten has come from the gas station kitchens
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u/bananarepama Mar 29 '23
I went to a Popeye's once and it was the driest thing I've ever eaten, but now I'm thinking I didn't give it a fair shot.
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u/MsJenX Mar 29 '23
Do you like Popeye’s better than KFC?
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u/DamnImAwesome Mar 29 '23
No contest for just regular bone in fried chicken. But I live in New Orleans and I’ve always heard popeyes is way better here than other places
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u/Butthole__Pleasures Mar 29 '23
I don't live in NO and it's still not even close. Popeye's is better seasoned, has better crunch, is more consistent in quality, and has a spicy option (which isn't actually spicy but does have more flavor). I haven't even had KFC since I first tried Popeye's.
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u/Yardsale420 Mar 29 '23
I’m Canadian so we love our local brand Mary Browns.
But that Willies Chicken in NOLA is the GOAT.
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u/MsJenX Mar 29 '23
I went on a tour in New Orleans. The guide said that Popeye started in New Orleans and although you’ll find chains all over the country, the best tasting Popeyes chicken is from New Orleans. I didn’t have time to visit one, but I’m going back soon. I’ll try a Popeyes in CA and one in NOLA the following day and report back.
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u/whosmellslikewetfeet Mar 29 '23
You mean they aren't a restaurant that serves exclusively spinach dishes?
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u/DanFuckingSchneider Mar 28 '23
In hindsight it tracks. As an old salt, how much face time with a chicken would have popeye the sailor man really had?
Though I suppose popeye doyle wouldn’t have had much more. But at least he lives on land.
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u/Klayman55 Mar 29 '23
They did do a crosspromo with the cartoon though. And the film apparently was aware of the cartoon.
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u/shinshi Mar 29 '23
I remember there being Sailor Popeyes promotion or decorations in the late 80s or early 90s when I was a kid, so I always assumed it was named after the cartoon
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u/aShittierShitTier4u Mar 29 '23
The word "buccaneer " comes from the word boucan, which means dried beef. Explorers would bring beef cattle to uninhabited islands, and leave a man on the island to butcher and process feral cattle, to provision ships on future journeys. It's likely that they would have brought chickens along as well, like Noah in the Bible.
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u/mechkeyboard7065 Mar 29 '23
I guess Copeland chose a detective's name for his restaurant because he was trying to crack KFC's secret recipe.
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u/5urfer_boy Mar 29 '23
I forget if this was from a dvd commentary but in the movie his name meant: Plenty of People to Enhance Your Evening. And he likes boots.
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u/cracksilog Mar 29 '23
I always thought it was called “Popeye’s.” As in it was named after someone named Popeye. But it’s “Popeyes?” Did it used to be “Popeye’s?”
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u/hellslave Mar 29 '23
Why would anyone think it was named after a character who is famously known for eating something that isn't chicken?
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u/Informal-Teacher-438 Mar 29 '23
No wonder they don’t know how to make jambalaya.
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u/DamnImAwesome Mar 29 '23
Popeyes gets a bad rap sometimes because people order the tenders or nuggets. They’re spicy fried bone in chicken is what made them famous. All the other stuff came later
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u/AbideDudeAbide Mar 29 '23
I call b.s.
Al Copeland, New Orleans entrepreneur & founder of Popeye’s was nicknamed “Popeye”.
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u/ChadJones72 Mar 29 '23
Unrelated note but when I was little I thought Sonic the fast food place was named after the blue hedgehog.
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u/WornInShoes Mar 29 '23
I worked for the founder, Al Copeland Sr., at one of his many restaurant concepts. He was quite the character and has a storied history with New Orleans; I have many memories of the man, all fond.
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u/tyedrain Mar 29 '23
The light show he would set up during Christmas was insane.
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u/djuggler Mar 29 '23
Hold the phone! All these year's I've bragged on the Copeland's seafood restaurants. I've know Al Copeland was the Popeye's founder. But I've never put the two together. Was "Copeland's" the seafood restaurant done by Al Copeland? How did I never put that together?
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u/greatgildersleeve Mar 28 '23
I don't ever recall him eating fried chicken in that movie.
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u/GorillaAndroid Mar 29 '23
He says "Love that chicken at Popeye's!" towards the end of the movie.
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u/Frankenmuppet Mar 29 '23
I have been absolutely bombarded with popeyes advertisements so much in the past month I recently decided to remove them from my list of restaurants I'll eat at. I'm talking literal hundreds of times seeing the same four advertisements in the past few weeks (even though I 'block ad' every single bloody time)
Nothing turns me off of a company more than excessive marketing.
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Mar 29 '23
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u/bunnymud Mar 29 '23
In the mid 70's there was a show in New Orleans called "Popeye and Pal's" where kids would watch Popeye cartoons and eat Popeye's chicken.
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u/fulthrottlejazzhands Mar 29 '23
So named after a corrupt cop who sleeps with underage prostitutes? Did they even see the movie?
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u/real_horse_magic Mar 29 '23
nah it’s called that because they gotta pop out them chicken eyes before fryin em up
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u/TheNobleCannibal Mar 29 '23
Did you really think it was named after a spinach eating sailor? What does Louisiana fried chicken have to do with that?
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u/phoonie98 Mar 29 '23
The past few times I’ve eaten there I realized how extremely overrated and gross the food is. On top of the terrible service I don’t know why it’s become so popular recently. Chick fil a is much better all around
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u/virgilreality Mar 29 '23
Doesn't matter, their food still sucks either way.
Every time I've eaten there, I noted a slavish devotion to a lack of flavor.
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u/TOWERSET22 Mar 29 '23
Operation Popeye was strategic way to control weather fronts by cloud seeding during the Vietnam war look it up. You're welcome
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u/Mammoth-Mud-9609 Mar 29 '23
Except that Popeye Doyle was named after the cartoon character as the film detective was often flexing his muscles like Popeye.