Audio By Carbonatix
Raising Cane’s celebrated National Chicken Finger Day on July 27 by giving out a free chicken finger with every Caniac Combo order. Even though customers don’t have to pay extra for the extra chicken finger, this Raising Cane’s customer felt scammed by the promotion. He seemingly wanted the money he spent on his meal back after seeing the size of it.
In a clip with over 402,000 views, Raising Cane’s customer @man_doescalls the piece of chicken a “sorry ahh tender.” To prove the measly size of the chicken finger, the content creator places his thumb next to it, showing the tender is about the same size.
@man_does brings his grievances to the attention of the chain. “@Raising Cane’s wth is this bro, national chicken tender day my ahh,” he added in the caption.
Raising Cane’s created National Chicken Finger Day and has celebrated it since 2010.
Viewers Argue Quality Is Just Not The Same
Many agreed the quality of the food served by the chain has changed.
“Canes does NAWT hit anymore,” one viewer remarked.
“Before it became so popular the portion sizes were HUGE! Now the bread even looks sad,” another commented.
A third said a three-finger meal no longer fills them up. “This whole year I thought they looked smaller. Back in college I couldn’t finish a 3 finger,” they wrote.
But a worker chimed with an explanation for why the free tenders were so small.
“We have to serve the ‘best looking’ tenders in the combos so yeah I will admit some of the free ones were kinda cooked.. but it’s free, and that ones actually pretty decent. You should’ve seen the ones I was putting in those baggies,” they shared.
Raising Cane’s has a limited menu, and part of the reason why is so it can put a lot of intention into its focal point offering—its chicken fingers. It offers three different chicken finger combos. Customers can get three, four, or six chicken fingers, depending on which they choose. That’s why these purported quality changes are so disappointing for fans.
Did Shrinkflation Hit Raising Cane’s?
Throughout the years, many customers have complained that Raising Cane’s chicken has been a victim of the phenomenon known as “shrinkflation.” Shrinkflation—a combination of the words “shrink” and “inflation”—essentially means a company is offering a smaller version of its product for the same cost or even more in some cases.
“These tenders look more like nuggets,” one Redditor complained after being disappointed by the three-finger combo.
“I am an unbothered man typically, but Canes tenders getting smaller and smaller is where I draw the line. I grew up eating Canes and the tenders were consistently the correct size for 10 years. In the last few years the tenders have gotten consistently small. I am between Dallas, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles and it is the same story in all 3 places,” another said in a different Reddit thread.
A third compared the size of the tenders in 2022 to the size of the tenders made at the time of the Reddit post (2024) to prove they got smaller.
Whether shrinkflation has come for Raising Cane’s is still up for debate, as there are always detractors on such posts. However, there is no doubt that Raising Cane’s prices have risen over the last few years. A YouTube Short creator compared 2020 prices to 2024 prices and found that the cost of the Caniac Combo had increased by almost $5.
BroBible reached out to @man_does via TikTok comment and direct message. BroBible also contacted Raising Cane’s via press email.
Content shared from brobible.com.