Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road? | The Untold Philanthropy Story Behind Popeyes, Al Copeland & Two Foundations

Everyone knows Popeyes. Fewer people know the incredible story behind founder Al Copeland, how he lost the company but retained ownership of its famous recipes for more than two decades, and how a $43 million deal reunited the brand with its signature flavor in 2014.

In this episode of Philanthropy N The Black, CellyCel explores the intersection of business, intellectual property, corporate philanthropy, and nonprofit strategy. You'll learn the history of Popeyes, the differences between the Al Copeland Foundation and the Popeyes Foundation, what the "9 Days of Al Copeland" campaign supports, and why this story raises important questions about founder legacy and mission alignment.

This isn't just a story about fried chicken—it's a case study in ownership, philanthropy, and the power of nonprofit partnerships.

#PhilanthropyNTheBlack #Popeyes #AlCopeland #Nonprofits #CorporateGiving #CorporatePhilanthropy #NewOrleans #Fundraising #PediatricCancer #501c3 #Leadership #NonprofitPodcast #Legacy #GivingBack

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Testing. Welcome, welcome. This is your boy Selly Sell. This is another episode of Philanthropy in the Black, the podcast, where we endeavor, discuss, and hope to help nonprofits stand the black, not only socially, morally, but also financially. Gotta have that money. So this episode, we're about to dig in. And when I say dig in, I mean the check-in. Then we're digging in to the chicken. Listen, clap it up. Welcome, welcome. Thanks for liking, sharing, subscribing, and keep following us on this journey. It is much appreciated. So let's talk about it. Now, this is a very specific case, and there's no endorsement, and I'm not saying what you should do. I mean, listen, it's it's real chicken in here. Like, I don't I'm not playing, all right. However, the way my cholesterol working and my hypertension, you know, we're gonna stick with these carrots. I'm sorry if you if you're listening and not watching, there's a box of chicken, but we're gonna we're gonna stick with the carrots because on this episode of philanthropy and the black people, we're gonna get into this some semi-business. And I always like to give my disclaimer we are not a business or law or political podcast, we are a non-profit podcast. This uh, how we're gonna get from the chicken to the philanthropy is where we're about to go because this episode is about ownership, intellectual property, and what I think is was a missed opportunity when it came to uh philanthropy in the nonprofit sector with these two foundations. So if you'll bear with me, let's start high right quick. For for a quick minute, we're gonna start high. Listen, on the screen, if you grew up anywhere in New Orleans or in the surrounding area, you know that this is the L Copeland. Listen, L. Copeland was not the man sitting next to the man sitting next to the man, he was the man. Point blank period, founder of Popeyes, what you all know across the world as Popeyes. But for us here in the Southeast, he was, you know, a character, like, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm talking power boats, I'm talking Christmas lights, probably millions of lights that you could see from space before there was an Elon Musk. There was L. Copeland, Lamborghinis, just big personality, which for this city that was perfect, right? But I'm gonna give you a little background quickly before we get to the philanthropic side. May I take it so L. Copeland had an even bigger ambition. Like he started somewhere in 72 uh with a chicken on the run or something like that in a place called Araby, Louisiana, here in New Orleans. Not I'm sorry, here outside of New Orleans. But here's the thing about success and failure. Sometimes they dance together before you get where you're going, right? So chicken on the run didn't work, right? So you would think my man would be like, I'm out of the chicken business. This back in the G, so this is no time soon or recent. Uh, we're talking the 70s, right? But no, not the L. Copeland. My man's went back to the to the to the menu, to the drawing board, literally. Went back to the drawing board, um, came up with something that was more Louisiana flavored, found those spices and seasonings, and we're gonna get back to that on the intellectual property front before we get to the philanthropy part. But remember, he failed initially, so to speak, with the chicken on the run. But he came, he went back, redid his uh recipe, did his research, found that flavor. Because if you from Louisiana, New Orleans specifically, you can't just be giving us no bland chicken, see. Came back, got the right recipe, got a new name. Now, before you think Popeye's is associated with the sailor in olive oil and Brutus, was it Brutus or Bruno? Brutus. No, it's not associated with the cartoon. He got the name from the movie French Connection, in which Gene Hackman played a character, a detective, I believe, called Popeye Doyle or something like that. Look it up. Went back, got a new name, got that flavor right, and the rest was Popeye's history, people. Popeye's history. So you would think that's the end. My man got the paper, he he the Popeyes is off and running. No, stop it. What happens is we have competition in the market in New Orleans, churches chicken, this kind of chicken. So uh Popeyes, L, they have this aggressive uh expansion where they're acquiring all of these places, and now there's bankruptcy. They go into bankruptcy and they lose everything, they lose err thing, however, they lose everything except the recipes for the chicken. His company diversified foods and seasoning, kept ownership of the proprietary spice blends and recipes that made Popeye's taste like Popeye. See, when so when people used to say Popeye's chicken in Utah doesn't taste like Popeye's chicken in New Orleans, you're damn right, people. Because guess what? You wasn't getting them flavors. I think those people held something back. That's why your chicken tasted funny in California and New York. It wasn't that southern Popeye's chicken, but let me stay focused, all right? But so the Copeland family owned the flavor, like they really owned the heart and soul of what Popeye's was, right? For more than 20 years, the Popeye's new ownership and corporation, they paid royalties to the Copeland family because they couldn't legally use uh the name in its own recipes without them, right? So it was a it was this weird have my face, but I'm keeping my soul type thing, and Popeye's was paying for it. Fair enough. Then somewhere in 2014, there was a deal made between the new owners of Popeye's the brand and the Copeland family, where they turned over the recipes finally, right? They gave them the juice, dog. They gave them the juice. Listen, at that point, now Popeyes has the recipe, they don't pay the royalties anymore. There's a big lump sum payment, I believe. All my NBA uh grads can break that down. But for the first time since the bankruptcy in night in the 90s, Popeye's the brand, has the Signet recipes under one ownership for the first time. But that's basically what happened, right? So that's L. Copeland, the Christmas lights, the philanthropist, because he was uh did a lot of things in Jefferson Parish and Orleans and so on and so forth. Great guy. That right there concludes that deal of the past. Now let's move forward to Copeland family today. So today's the Copeland family and their businesses, it's run by uh L's son, uh and it's L. Copeland Jr. I mean, you don't get more spot on than that, right? So L. Copeland Jr. Um is leading the family's business interest through a company or LLC or corporation called L. Copeland Investments. The family still owns Copeland's restaurants, which I think they're local. I don't know if they're throughout the country, but Copeland's restaurants are pretty dope. Uh, he has they have a few Popeyes um locations that they retain throughout the transition to the corporate ownership. But perhaps no work is more important to me and for this show and where we're about to go than their philanthropic arm of what they do in the community. So let's dig into that. Here we go. Two foundations, right? There's a Popeyes Foundation on the big boy scale, and then there is the L. Copeland Family Foundation, I believe it's called. Two foundations, same roots, right? Same beginning as it relates to founder, but different missions. And let's get into the missions, all right? So the L. Copeland Foundation, uh, they exist to support physicians and patients in the fight against cancer by funding education, screenings, and groundbreaking clinical trials, particularly with a strong commitment to pediatric cancer. Keep that in mind, because um L himself, the founder, passed away from I believe, cancer complications in 2008 or so. So here is the the family foundation um being very focused, very measurable, disease-specific, very local, not a problem. Love it all. Now, the Popeye's Foundation has an absolutely broader mission, right? Because we're talking about an international, national company. So the purpose of their existence is this strengthening communities through food security and supporting Popeye's team members during times of need. Its flagship efforts include disaster response, hunger relief, employee assistance, and partnerships with places like Feed the Children. That's dope. Nothing wrong with that. We we all all those things are good. Different mission, different priorities, different beneficiaries. Not a problem. Listen, listen, I did not know there was a fried chicken day, a national fried chicken day. I had no idea. Listen, I mean, hey, I guess, but I'm watching the news, and this fried chicken day festival comes on, and I'm listening, and they're talking about the Al Copeland Foundation, and this is where we're going. This is where we're going. This is I'm bringing it home, people. I'm bringing it home. So Fried Chicken Day is was June 6th. National Fried Chicken Day was June 6th. But before that, on June 28th, many years ago, our former governor of Louisiana, Buddy Romer, I believe, uh, made June 28th the uh a loc uh state holiday day of recognition or something for L. Copeland, the founder, June 28th. So the days between June 28th and July 6th, nine days. So they the L. Copeland Foundation hosts a nine days of L. Copeland. That is what I saw on the news. That's what piqued my interest, and I was like, whoa, this is pretty dope. Customers dining at a Copeland's establishment, Copeland specific, not Popeye's, um, they're invited to donate to the foundation's patient assistance fund for families caring for children that are battling cancer. Listen, and on top of that, every donation uh made was matched by the Copeland family dollar for dollar. Drop a bomb for that, man. Come on. That's big, that's big, big, that's dope philanthropy. That is a foundation putting their money where their mouth is. Like, that is awesome. Okay, but here's where I get in my feels. Here's where, here's where this is all going for me, right? You have a founder who's charismatic, dynamic, awesome. You have a deep history uh of philanthropy and entrepreneurship, and and here's where I went with it when I saw that commercial. Could the Popeyes Foundation, which is a completely separate mission, completely separate company, could they have supported the effort of the Copeland family on a larger scale? Now, listen, notice I said could and not should. Listen, I I went through and tried to find the donations and donors, and I couldn't verify whether Popeye's Foundation donated to the Copeland campaign. Now that that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, it just means I couldn't find it. But imagine the possibilities if the Popeyes International National Foundation supported the L. Copeland Foundation's nine days of L. Copeland campaign. Come on, dog, come on, man. I mean, Popeye's customers around the world, and I'll just stay with America around the country, have the opportunity to donate. Franchisees join together, employees volunteer. Like, listen, National Fried Chicken Day could become a big patron um big fundraising effort for L. Copeland Foundation's pediatric cancer fundraising. That's what I thought. Now, please understand this isn't a criticism, but it's a fundraising thought experiment. It is what if because of the shared legacy, there was one campaign, thousands of restaurants, millions of customers, one founder's legacy. That's the kind of skill that corporate philanthropy can create when mission is aligned. Dope. Look again, you know, back to the chicken. Listen, listen, the episode isn't about chicken, all right? Chicken is good. We love chicken. Chicken is good, but it's not about chicken, it's about intellectual property, it's about legacy, it's about mission alignment, and what happens when founders leave? Listen, in New Orleans, we have Xavier University of Louisiana, Dr. Norman Francis, great guy, passed away recently. He was the face of the institution, wasn't the founder, but for decades. The face. What happens when the founders leave? So Al Copeland walks away, uh or passes away. They sell first pass away. There's corporate takeover or selling of spices and things of that nature, and all of a sudden, there's a disconnect. His family did transform part of the legacy into philanthropy through this foundation and these nine days of L. Copeland, which I had never heard of before, and I've been doing nonprofit work for almost 30 years or more, and I had never heard of this. That's why it hit me the way it did. Because it's such a great cause and mission, right? So I'm going, man, what more can I do? How can I get involved in what could have been? So I want to be clear that neither mission is wrong. They're both doing their thing. But when two organizations share a founder, history, public identity, people like me, like me, maybe just me, naturally wonder who and where does the legacies intersect, right? And whether there are opportunities for even greater impact through collaboration. That's the question I'm asking with this podcast and this episode, especially in philanthropy. When I tell you that that family's legacy and history runs deep in Louisiana and now the world through Popeyes and its expanded uh operations, I just feel like there was a great opportunity for those two things to connect, right? But here we are. Good for them. Uh Popeye's Foundation, great mission, doing great work. L. Copeland Foundation, great mission, doing great work. But what if? What if? This has been another episode of Philanthropy in the Black. This particular episode, again, was about not just philanthropy and giving money, but who owns the story, the mission, the legacy. Hell, who owns the recipes, mama? And once you know that, you can move forward. Peace.