The free Texas Chicken bag has been the subject of much internet hype, with Singaporeans swooning over its adorable and quirky design.
It’s no surprise, then, that long queues formed at Texas Chicken outlets on 16 April, where the chain restaurant gave out free chicken bags with the purchase of its 13th-anniversary combo meals.
Like every other internet trend, however, it spelled disaster for its employees—a staff member was seen crying under the pressure of dealing with pushy customers enquiring about the promotion.
Staff Seen Crying At Outlet
A video posted on TikTok by a user known as Usman showed a staff member at a Texas Chicken outlet crying while facing a wall, with an older man trying to comfort her.
In the clip, she can be heard sobbing loudly, and another woman comes up to her in an attempt to calm her down.
The man who filmed the video then explained that the outlet had run out of chicken bags. Apparently, some customers had waited in the queue for four to five hours, but the bags had already been wholly snatched up, leaving them empty-handed.
The clip has since gained more than 14,000 likes, with commenters expressing confusion at why people were so desperate for the bags, and sympathy toward the staff member.
What Happened?
Allegedly, none of the customers had been rude, and they did not scold the staff member.
They were, however, pushy in their conservation with her, leading to her getting stressed and frustrated to the point of tears.
According to the same TikTok user, the uncle seen in the video had approached the staff member to enquire about the free chicken bag and the anniversary promotion.
He was told that the bags were out of stock, but the promotional meal was still available.
The uncle then told her to reflect his feedback about the promotion to management, saying that customers should be informed of how many chicken bags were available to prevent blind queuing.
Adding fuel to the fire, two other customers stepped forward to inform her that they, too, had waited up to five hours in hopes of obtaining the bag.
The uncle pointed out that customers who came up short after queuing should be given a free bag once it was restocked.
Upon hearing this, the staff member seemed increasingly distressed, and attempted to explain that the bags would not be restocked.
The uncle seemed to either disregard or misunderstand this, and kept repeating himself until the staff member burst into tears, running to a corner.
After this, the uncle and some passers-by attempted to comfort her.
Long queues were seen at Texas Chicken outlets across the island on the day of the promotion—apparently, the bags ran out at 11 am at their outlet in Seletar Mall, just three hours after it opened.
Even the chicken bag seemed to suffer from its fair share of scalpers, who sold the item on Carousell from around $25 to $60.
If you’re desperate to get your hands on a chicken bag, though, there’s no need to fork out an exorbitant amount of money to these scalpers. Unlike concert tickets, where you just might need to grit your teeth and hand over the money, these bags are actually available on Shopee for a much lower price.