Tipping used to require a person handing you something, but that expectation has been quietly eroding for a while, with a Popeyes kiosk in a Michigan mall serving as the latest evidence.
Word got out after a customer at a Popeyes kiosk in the Great Lakes Crossing Mall food court in Auburn Hills, Michigan, recently posted a photo of the checkout screen to the Retail Dead or Alive Facebook group.
The kiosk offered to “add a tip” as “a small way to thank the folks behind your crispy, juicy meal,” listing 10%, 15%, no tip, and custom, with more options cropped out.
The photo drew a barrage of comments, the vast majority of them being sharply critical. On the one hand, the prompt had many users voicing their frustration, with one commenter remarking, “Popeye’s needs to get their shit together before asking for tips,” while another joked, “It’s too bad there isn’t a minus percentage in these things.”
Echoing a common sentiment regarding the service model, one user noted, “If you do not get served at a table, no tip,” while another added, “I don’t tip at a fast food restaurant, ever. That’s for sit down traditional restaurants… which I do tip for meals at those places unless I get food from there in takeout.”
While a small minority of commenters defended the prompt as a way to support staff, the prevailing sentiment was one of frustration, with many users feeling the industry’s push for tips has simply gone too far.
Popeyes, however, maintains that the prompt exists at roughly 12 food court locations and nowhere else. “This is a limited test for about 12 locations in food courts where competitors encourage tipping for team member retention,” a spokesperson told PEOPLE. “There are no nationwide plans to roll this out,” the spokesperson added.
Not an isolated frustration
This discontent with digital tipping prompts has been building for months, moving well beyond fast-food kiosks
On March 11, former NFL defensive end JJ Watt tested the same nerve when he laid out a hypothetical on X: Imagine a place where you order at a counter, seat yourself, take a buzzer, and fetch your own food, then get an iPad showing 20%, 25%, 30%, and Other, with 20% already selected. “What’s your move?” he asked.
The post but naturally ignited a firestorm of debate, with a top reply urging him to tip because servers live in poverty. Watt quickly clarified his stance: “But there are no servers in this situation, which is why I asked the question. It was fully self-service.”
His mentions divided the way they always do, further cementing the continuous debate surrounding social etiquette and economic anxiety. One user quipped, “Bunch of socialists in your comments telling you to tip because you have more money than the server who… checks notes isn’t serving you. Logic is nonexistent with these people. Don’t tip.”
Another commenter took a more structural approach: “The problem is that the system is highly inefficient. Some people will tip and some wont and what happens is those that tip are subsidizing those that don’t. Basically it’s a transfer of wealth to the non-tippers. Restaurants need to pay everybody an appropriate wage and forget the tipping.”
Survey data backs up the fatigue. A 2023 Pew Research Center report on tipping found that a majority of Americans feel that more businesses are now inviting them to tip, and the findings further indicate that more Americans oppose these suggested tip amounts than support them.
Sources: Facebook, Pew Research, Kansas City Star, X (Formerly Twitter), People