Is In-N-Out Really Selling Fried Chicken Sandwiches On Its Secret Menu?

The concept of fast food chains having "secret menus" has been around for a long while, since it seems to give customers a sense of being in the know and entitled to special treatment. Many chains have not only accepted, but embraced the concept, occasionally even adding popular secret menu items to the regular menu a la Starbucks' beloved Pink Drink.

If you take a close look at most secret menu items, though, you'll notice that they are just mashups of items already on hand, and in many cases something you could easily make yourself. What you cannot order off any menu, no matter how secret, is an item that a restaurant doesn't carry — no matter how much of a Mickey D's insider you think you are, you're never going to get a McFilet Mignon. This, however, hasn't stopped numerous In-N-Out customers from trying to order chicken sandwiches, an item so secret it doesn't even exist and no amount of nods, winks, or secret passwords are going to produce one for you.

In-N-Out has always been a good sport about the whole secret menu thing, to the point that even the shyest and/or most polite customers need not fear they'll be imposing upon employees by asking for their burger animal-style. In fact, In-N-Out's not-so-secret menu is even on their website. Still, this accommodating chain can only make do with what they've got, and what they don't have is chicken. They're essentially the Switzerland of the Chicken Sandwich Wars, a nation of noncombatants. 

Why, then, have people been pestering In-N-Out for their fried chicken sandwiches? Blame TikTok, of course. The latest social media prank is proving to be quite an annoyance for In-N-Out employees and disappointed customers alike, according to Daily Dot. Despite the fact that several viral videos purport to show In-N-Out chicken sandwiches, these appear to have been faked using other restaurants' sandwiches covered in In-N-Out wrappers. 

The outlet checked in with Kathleen Luppi, In-N-Out marketing communications specialist, and she confirmed that "The social media videos featuring a chicken sandwich or chicken burger at out restaurants are not accurate [and] were likely created as a prank, or to attract online attention." Unlike the super-secret chocolate "donut," a rather dubious-sounding item created by hacking a hamburger bun, there's only one way to get a fried chicken sandwich when you're at In-N-Out — walk out the door and head straight for your nearest Chick-fil-A or Popeye's.