What is TikTok’s viral “It’s a chicken salad” trend?

Kawter Abed
What is TikTok's viral "It's a chicken salad" trend?

TikTokers are obsessed with the “It’s a chicken salad” sound, which has gone viral thanks to a woman’s endorsement of a Cleveland deli.

A video posted on the short-form app on August 28, blew up in mid-October, after a Cleveland woman accidentally promoted her local deli.

In the clip, which was posted by 81stdeli, Tanisha Godfrey tried a chicken salad in front of her and said: “Y’all better come up here and get one of these.”

Someone off-camera then asked her what it was, and she responded, “It’s a chicken salad,” and proceeded to share where she got it from (East 81st Deli) and what ingredients were in it.

The 15-second clip amassed over 22 million views, and has now become a viral ‘sound’ on the social media app.

It’s already been used in over 131,000 TikToks, as content creators and celebrities have made their own funny iterations of the video, using the “It’s a chicken” audio.

Lizzo posted a video of her lip-syncing to Tanisha’s voice while eating a fried-chicken waffle sandwich.

Tanisha has posted some duets with celebrities who’ve used the sound, as well as some of the remixes of the original audio.

She told TODAY Food that the clip documented her first time trying a salad at the deli. “So I stopped at the store like I normally do,” she said. “And I was like, ‘Hey, you guys make salad now, right? Can I get a chicken salad?’ and I gave him the extra things to put in.

“And once he was done, it was a beautiful salad. So he said, ‘Hey, let’s make a TikTok.’ And that’s where it started.”

Wael Herbawi, the owner of the East 81st Deli, told News 5 Cleveland that he’s gained numerous fans since the video went viral, and customers from “Chicago, Atlanta, California, Las Vegas, New York, all over and all over Ohio.”

“They say that my voice is comforting, like ‘Oh my gosh, I love you,’ ‘I can’t stop watching this video,’” he said. “People are making songs out of this video. It’s so funny.”

Wael also revealed in a Bon Appetit interview that he now makes triple the amount of money he would usually make, as TikTokers drive from different states to get their hands on his now-famous chicken salad.