In March 2022, I visited fish and chip takeaway Binley Mega Chippy in my hometown of Coventry 10 minutes after it had opened for dinner, joining a growing queue of people snaking out across a tarmac car park on the side of a busy A road. A line of cars waiting for a parking spot were blocking traffic on a road usually populated only by commuters navigating Binley’s concrete jungle of roadworks and roundabouts. One local in front of me was disgruntled at having to stand for twice as long for his regular order as crowds of tweens waited eagerly, phone cameras at the ready.
For weeks, people from all over the world travelled for hours to visit this nondescript chippy. Cars beeped joyfully as they drove past, while teenage boys belted out the anthem that had shot the seemingly unexceptional take-away to stardom. The Binley Mega Chippy team (and Coventry locals) were baffled by the sudden surge in popularity.
Its fame came thanks to a catchy jingle that had gone viral on TikTok. Created by someone unrelated to the business – using the app’s in-built AI voice generator – the tune consists of just three lyrics: “Binley Mega Chippy”, repeated four times to a tune reminiscent of ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ . It doesn’t take long to pick up.
At one point, the chippy’s owner told the BBC that he was doing 10 times his normal trade. Two years on, there’s no queue outside when I return to the takeaway. There’s no jingle to be heard, either; just the buzzing of.