Popeyes x MTS Hottie Sauce Partnership

Aerialist served as strategy lead with GUT Miami for the launch of Megan Thee Stallion Hottie Sauce — a partnership designed to go further than the celebrity meal deals flooding fast food at the time. The strategy: don't borrow Megan's fame. Build her equity into the brand.

The result was Popeyes' first-ever global partnership and the first time the brand released a new variation of the Chicken Sandwich that broke the internet in 2019. Hottie Sauce launched across more than 3,400 U.S. restaurants and 14 countries, supported by a Western-inspired short film starring Megan and her alter ego Tina Snow — directed by rising director Kajal. Three exclusive co-branded merch collections dropped alongside the sauce, beginning with “Thee Heat,” and the partnership included a six-figure donation to Houston Random Acts of Kindness in Megan's hometown.

What set the work apart was ownership. Megan signed a franchise development agreement to open up to five Popeyes restaurants — making it the most involved, long-term celebrity–fast food deal of its era. By late 2025, Megan opened her own Popeyes franchise in Miami — proof that the partnership was built as a business, not a promotion.