'Orange chicken for life and we'll let you off the hook...' The Killers demand free food from Panda Express after spotting message on a fortune cookie that is the same as their song title

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The band shared a photo on Twitter showing a fortune out of a cookie reading 'Smile like you meant it', the same as the title of a song from 2004's Hot Fuss

Published: 17:10 EST, 11 January 2017 | Updated: 17:10 EST, 11 January 2017

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Band The Killers are squaring off against Panda Express in one of the stranger cases of intellectual property theft.

The group took to Twitter on Sunday to share a picture of a fortune that came out of a cookie at the Chinese food chain, which bears a line just a little too similar to one of their songs.

'Smile like you mean it,' reads the fortune - the same phrase as the title of one of The Killers' tunes off of their 2004 album Hot Fuss.

Rings a bell: The Killers shared a photo on Twitter showing a fortune cookie bearing a fortune that is the same as the title of one of their hits

Taking it lightly: The band shared the photo on Twitter joking that they should get 'orange chicken for life' for use of the phrase

Luckily for 'America's favorite Chinese restaurant', the gracious band were ready to make a deal: orange chicken in place of royalties.

'I'm thinkin' orange chicken for life and we'll let you off the hook for using our stuff,' the band joked on Twitter.

The post was an instant hit on Twitter, eventually being retweeted more than 13,000 times and attracting hundreds of responses.

Target: Panda Express claims to be 'America's favorite Chinese restaurant'

Having a laugh: The tweet became a big hit on the social media site, attracting plenty of amused responses

Just an idea: Users joked about the situation, with this one putting forward a song name idea

Topical: This user modifies some of the band's lyrics to poke fun at the situation

'The band I love most blackmailing the restaurant I hate most...this is one of the most satisfying days of my life,' wrote one user.

Another suggested to them: 'Just make your next single "Honey Walnut Shrimp" and call it a wash.'

Some users, however, took the tweet possibly a bit too seriously, chastising the band for thinking they 'invented every generic phrase ever'.

Putting it out there: The tweet on the band's official account has been shared more than 13,000 times

Not smiling: Some social media users didn't get the joke, chastising the band for trying to claim such a phrase

Hitting back: Panda Express eventually responded to the claim with a play on the song title

'You don't own the words Smile like you mean it & I think you'd find them hard to copyright tbh,' said one user.

Eventually, the restaurant itself did come back with a somewhat disappointing response to the band's proposition on their own account.

'When it comes to #OrangeChickenLove, we always mean it,' read the post.

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