Church's Texas Chicken](https://www.churchs.com) is leaning into Southern cultural identity with a new branded entertainment campaign, enlisting Memphis rap veteran Project Pat to record an original song and music video titled "Chickahhhn" — a stylised phonetic riff on the chain's core menu item.
The collaboration marks one of the more direct intersections of quick-service restaurant marketing and regional hip-hop in recent memory, targeting a consumer base with strong ties to Southern foodservice culture. Church's, which operates under the Church's Texas Chicken banner in the United States, has historically positioned itself around Southern authenticity, and the Project Pat partnership reinforces that brand axis through music rather than conventional advertising formats.
Marketing Shift
For regional and value-oriented QSR operators, music and culture tie-ins have become an increasingly crowded but effective tactic to drive brand relevance among younger demographics. McDonald's chart-driven "Famous Orders" campaign and Taco Bell's recurring musician collaborations have demonstrated measurable lifts in brand sentiment and social engagement when executed with credible talent. Church's pivot to an original track — rather than a licensing deal or playlist placement — suggests a longer-form content commitment aimed at generating organic reach across streaming and short-form video platforms.
Project Pat, born Patrick Houston, is a Memphis-based rapper and close collaborator of Three 6 Mafia, whose catalog carries significant cultural weight across the South and in hip-hop broadly. His association with crunk and Memphis rap positions the campaign squarely within the regional identity Church's has built its brand around, lending the effort a degree of authenticity that paid influencer content often lacks.
Competitive Context
Church's Texas Chicken competes in a QSR chicken segment that has grown sharply more competitive since the 2019 chicken sandwich wars reshaped consumer demand. Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, and Raising Cane's have all expanded aggressively, pressuring mid-tier operators to differentiate on brand personality as much as price and product. Culture-forward marketing campaigns offer Church's a lower-cost path to earned media at a moment when paid digital advertising costs remain elevated across major platforms.
The chain's dual-brand identity — operating as Church's Texas Chicken domestically and Texas Chicken in international markets — gives the company a broad geographic footprint, but domestic brand awareness remains a key battleground. Campaigns that generate streaming plays and social video views can extend reach well beyond what traditional spot advertising budgets allow.
F&B industry observers tracking restaurant marketing trends can find additional context on QSR brand strategy in our restaurant and foodservice coverage and in consumer trends analysis from Food & Beverage Magazine.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.