Long John Silver’s rebrand clucks like a positioning landlubber.
Jessica Simpson famously asked, “Is this chicken what I have, or is this fish?” The clip was played and played and played — “It’s called Chicken of the Sea, but it’s not really chicken. It’s tuna.” — and the singer/reality TV star was mocked endlessly.
Now it appears she’s the head of marketing at Long John Silver’s, the seafood QSR (Quick-Service Restaurant) that recently swapped a fish silhouette for a chicken silhouette in its logo (the fish was facing right, but the chicken is facing left for some reason). The descriptor underneath actually gives chicken first billing (Chicken + Seafood). Even the species involved don't understand this Long John Silver’s rebrand.
For decades, you could rely on Long John Silver’s. You get fried breading shaped like clams, and you pretend they’re clams … you get fried breading shaped like shrimp, and you pretend they’re shrimp … you get fried breading shaped around a taste-free white slab, and you pretend it’s cod … and you get fried breading shaped like a ball, and you call it a hush puppy. Plus fries. Simple, easy, clear positioning: fast food seafood of sorts.
“The Great Chickening”
Eater.com calls it “The Great Chickening,” in which all restaurant types are chickening out on their menus. As America’s #1 Positioning Ad Agency, Innis Maggiore understands the pressure to capitalize on the continuing growth in the popularity of chicken. The fast food industry reports that the mention of “crispy chicken” has grown on QSR menus 16% since 2021. Chicken restaurants outperform all others, with a rise of 4.3% vs. overall QSR at 1.3% and fast casual restaurants at 2.4% in the past year. Hamburger chains are suffering the most, with McDonald’s experiencing its most dramatic loss since the pandemic (3.6%), with Wendy’s dropping 1.1% while planning to shutter hundreds of stores. Meanwhile, chicken items show up in 40% of GrubHub orders. That’s poultry in motion!
But there is a big difference, actually the defining difference, between fast food companies running around like you-know-whats with their you-know-what cut off in their haste to add chicken items to their menus vs. dramatically changing a brand position that’s been in place since 1969. In short, the Long John Silver’s rebrand is a positioning nightmare.
Every chain is trying some form of crispy chicken sandwich, chicken strips, and chicken nuggets. As long as these chains remain true to their main offering in conjunction with their brand position, we can’t argue with that. Just don’t overdo it.
This Long John Silver’s rebranding is a whole other kettle of fish (or kettle of chicken). I actually thought this was one of these temporary public relations gimmicks to get some attention. More accurately, I hoped it was. No such luck.
Polly want a wing?
Innis Maggiore didn’t spend over 50 years establishing ourselves as the nation’s leading positioning ad agency to roost quietly about something that clucks this loudly in opposition to the rules of brand positioning.
The PR release pretending that the fried breading shaped like Jessica Simpson was actually the real top person at the Long John Silver’s company allegedly said with no sense of irony that chicken was always the chain’s “secret weapon,” but that “seafood will always be part of our DNA.” I can only hope this isn’t a clue that there’s some Frankenstein-like laboratory experiment to graft a chicken together with a fish.
No matter, even with the popularity of chicken, reversing 56 years positioned as a fast food seafood chain to suddenly become yet another chicken chain is not a great rebranding idea. And fooling oneself that you can have it both ways as a “Chicken + Fish” fast food chain may be even worse. Trends can’t be allowed to blow up the essence of your company like it has with this Long John Silver’s rebrand.
What about the character the chain is named after? Long John Silver, from Robert Lewis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, was a sea-cook and pirate. He was on a ship, not a chicken coop. He had a peg leg, not a chicken wing. The parrot kept saying, “Pieces of eight,” not “nuggets of chicken.”
What about the whole Long John Silver’s ambiance, what with the ship motif, the ship’s wheel, bell, and all that? Maybe they’ll buy the unused furnishings Cracker Barrel won’t be using for its aborted redesign.
Innis Maggiore’s PositionistView® is that Long John Silver’s had to recognize its tough challenge. In 2007, the chain had 1,100 stores, while in 2024 it was left with only 485. However, the popularity of seafood continues to grow, though not as dramatically as that for chicken, at a forecasted rate of nearly 2.0% CAGR from 2025 to 2033. Long John Silver’s could have pushed a leadership position in the fast food seafood niche at the same time as taking advantage of complementary chicken menu items — but without throwing their legacy brand position overboard to create a strange hybrid that’s more confusing than Jessica Simpson’s logic.
If you’re worried that your fried breading shaped like an advertising agency doesn’t know the first thing about positioning and thinks exchanging feathers for fins is A-OK, it’s time to switch to the brand positioning experts at Innis Maggiore. We won't let you end up in the doghouse or the chicken coop like those responsible for the Long John Silver’s rebrand. Contact us today for some tasty marketing help — plus fries.