If there’s anyone who understands what Whole Foods is going through right now, it’s pop superstar-turned-fashion mogul Jessica Simpson.
Last week, the health-conscious supermarket chain recalled 440 pounds of buffalo chicken salad after employees discovered that it actually contained tuna fish. Simpson, of course, knows that feeling of confusing chicken and tuna all too well.
Back in the early 2000s, the singer made a now-classic gaffe on her MTV reality show "Newlyweds," which co-starred her then-husband Nick Lachey.
Sitting on the couch, eating a bowl of Chicken of the Sea, Simpson asked innocently, “Is this chicken what I have, or is this fish?” Lachey stared at her in shock as she slowly talked her way through her confusion while looking at the canned fish product's label: “I know it's tuna, but it says Chicken by the Sea. Is that stupid?”
Even years later, the quote continues to inspire memes and joke punchlines.
At the time, Simpson definitely got some grief from viewers about the hilarious mistake, but now, more than 10 years later, it looks like she may have an unlikely, albeit just as confused, ally on her side: a major corporation.
On Sunday, she tweeted a photo and headline about Whole Foods' chicken salad recall along with a supportive message to the Austin, Texas-based grocer: “It happens to the best of us."
Her tweet has since garnered over 130,000 likes.
This isn’t the first time Simpson has poked fun of her now infamous Chicken of the Sea flub. Last year, she posted a picture of what appears to be a chicken swimming in the ocean, saying, “Maybe Jessica Simpson was on to something?”
And this isn’t the first time Whole Foods has made a big mistake with its chicken salad. In 2013, it mixed up the labels for two bulk chicken salad products— one of which was supposed to be a vegan dish, meaning some customers looking for a meatless meal got real chicken instead.