Popeyes Go Three for Free

Popeyes — Go Three for Free

Turning Raptors Three-Pointers into a Province-Wide Chicken Ritual

Client Category
Food & Beverage · QSR · Sports Marketing

Services Provided
Brand Strategy · Campaign Creative · Digital Content · Mobile App Integration · Sponsorship Activation · Social Media

Business Challenge

Popeyes Canada had already partnered with the Toronto Raptors — but logo placement alone doesn’t move traffic.

Fans already loved both brands.
The real challenge was turning that shared passion into something felt, repeatable, and measurable — a ritual that lived beyond the arena and drove real restaurant demand across Ontario.

Popeyes didn’t need more awareness.
They needed to make fans even more pumped — and hungry — every time the game was on.

Strategic Insight

Sports rewards are usually trapped inside the arena.

They benefit the few thousand fans in the stands — while the real audience is everywhere else, following the game on their phones.

Raptors fans don’t stop being fans when they leave the building.
They carry the game with them.

The breakthrough insight:
If you link a high-frequency game moment (three-pointers) to a high-desire reward (free chicken), and remove the geographic barrier through mobile, you don’t just have a sponsorship…

You have a match made in hardwood heaven.

Creative Solution: Go Three for Free

We created Go Three for Free — an integrated promotion that turned every Raptors game into a live hunt for chicken.

The Mechanic

• Every time the Raptors scored 12 or more three-pointers in a single game
• Win or lose, home or away
• Fans across Ontario scored three free Popeyes tenders

Simple. Bold. Built for repetition.

Execution

Arena Takeover

• “Go Three for Free” messaging dominated Scotiabank Arena
• From entrances and concourses to in-game screen moments
• Every three-pointer reinforced the reward in real time

Mobile-First Integration

• To redeem the offer, fans had to use the Raptors’ official mobile app
• The promotion drove such explosive adoption that it quickly became known among fans as
  “that Popeyes basketball app”

Breaking the Arena Bubble

• Unlike traditional in-arena rewards, Go Three for Free wasn’t confined to the building
• Fans anywhere in Ontario could participate from their phones
• A local moment became a province-wide behavior

Results

• Off-the-charts engagement, outperforming all previous Raptors sponsorship benchmarks
• Massive restaurant traffic, with fans pouring into Popeyes locations to redeem tenders
• #1 driver of downloads for the newly launched Raptors mobile app
• Established the app as a primary platform for ongoing fan interaction
• Created a repeatable cultural ritual where every made three-pointer became a Popeyes moment

Category Takeaway

Popeyes proved that sports sponsorships reach their full potential when they move from the rafters to the retail counter.

By identifying a high-frequency in-game trigger and removing the physical limits of the arena through mobile integration, Popeyes turned a basketball stat into a business engine.

Hero to King

Go Three for Free didn’t just reward fans — it rewired behavior.

Every three-pointer rang like a dinner bell across Ontario.
Every game became a reason to celebrate.
Every celebration led straight to Popeyes.

That’s how you stop sponsoring the game
and start owning the celebration.

When fans root for their team and their stomach at the same time,
you don’t just join the conversation —
you become the King of it.