So, amid all the furor over Chick-Fil-A being shockingly run by bigots and dolts is the fact that if you’ve been remotely tracking the company’s political course over the last few years, it’s not remotely shocking. Seriously, the only difference here is that this time they’re not backpedaling — instead they’re proudly embracing how ass-backwards they are.
But why is a fast-food chain that has assiduously avoided any sort of controversy even as they’ve tried to get away with supporting anti-gay causes suddenly in this deep of a quagmire? What exactly went wrong? Let’s do a quick review, shall we?
Among gay activists, Chick-Fil-A has been noted to support anti-gay causes for years. Most recently they were caught sponsoring and catering anti-gay marriage conferences in Pennsylvania and giving money to fervent anti-gay Jesus freak James Dobson. They claimed the sponsorship was a mistake, which is a neat trick considering the microsecond it became clear they were busted, Chick-Fil-A’s materials disappeared from said anti-gay-marriage conference’s website, along with any evidence they were openly anti-gay. The money trail goes as far back as the mid-2000s at least and probably a lot further.
Meanwhile, the company’s religious fundamentalism was hardly any sort of secret. It feeds into the company’s frankly rather creepy control freak nature that sees family members of would-be franchisees getting interviewed to ensure they have “appropriate values,” a company policy of hiring only married workers, and digging into the private lives of everybody who applies there. Chick-Fil-A got sued a dozen times between 1988 and 2007 for discriminatory hiring practices.
Nonetheless, it raises two questions: why the hell is this coming up now and why did they go out of their way to pick this fight after what’s presumably years of quietly backing anti-gay causes?
For that I can only offer a guess and that guess is this: Chick-Fil-A really thought either nobody would notice this or that if they did, it would be a minor Internet kerfluffle they could easily control because hey, they controlled the last few, right? The really sad thing about the whole Facebook impersonation debacle is that it’s clear the company was expecting support from the average American and just isn’t finding it.
The other sad thing is that people keep talking about their food like it’s any sort of spectacular sandwich. I mean, really, come on, guys, it’s good for a fast food chicken joint but if I’m going to get fast food from a Southern chain, I’m going to go to Raising Cane’s, dammit.
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I only defend the waffle fries.
Damn those waffle fries! Someone else has that technology, I’m sure of it!
The chicken sucks. But I’d blow 2 married dudes to get me a piece of them waffle fries.
Wait…
Did you try their banana pudding milkshake? After reading Drew Magary’s description of it several weeks ago I think I plowed over an elderly couple driving to the nearest locale to get one.
You guys are terrible. Those fries are the worst thing there. 2nd worst is the fact they require a traffic cop in front of the local store because apparently there are a bunch of people here that hate gays too.
Chicken. Breakfast. Biscuit.
Anti-gay agenda aside, I don’t eat at Chick-Fil-A because I honestly don’t think their food is anything to write home about.
I’m a Bojangles’ kind of girl. Pity we don’t have them where I live.
The other sad thing is that people keep talking about their food like it’s any sort of spectacular sandwich. I mean, really, come on, guys, it’s good for a fast food chicken joint but if I’m going to get fast food from a Southern chain, I’m going to go to Raising Cane’s, dammit.
Dislike their political stances all ya want (and I do) …. but there is absolutely no reason to dis their food. One thing has nothing to do with the other.
Their food offerings are freakin delicious. Admittedly though, I’ve never been to or heard of a “Raising Cane’s”.
It just comes off as a petty, cheap shot. It would have been a more mature, classy move to just have left that last paragraph off the editorial.
It’s called “closing with a joke”.
I’ve never been there, but one of my southern Facebook friends said the food stinks, too.
Meh, I don’t get the fervent support their food gets either. The waffle fries are great, but more often than not the sandwich is a soggy blob of bread, chicken substance, and 2 limp pickles that they charge too much for. McDonald’s does a better Chic-Fil-A than Chic-Fil-A does and you can get it one Sunday too.
The chicken is dry and the rolls dont even seem to be bread. And who the fuck puts pickles on a chicken sammich?
LOL. CLASSY. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah, let’s be mature and classy towards the bigots. They deserve it!
This just in: Snarky internet commenters don’t see what the big deal is with something popular! More to follow.
Enjoying your first day on the internet?
@Seitz: I get that… but it’s barely a joke…just sayin it seemed more a cheap, easy shot. I just dont get the idea that one has to insult their product because you disagree with a CEO/company’s political stance. While I’m absolutely, 100% opposite their anti-same-sex marriage position, I’m capable of holding that thought and “they make a good chicken sandwich” in my head at the same time. It’s just an opinion though. Still, going there at all really weakens the high ground, and detracts from the more important overall issue.
As analogy, I think Ben and Jerry have some political positions I dont agree with either… still like their ice cream.
@Ippolit Shriully: Yes… classy. Not being classy with those you disagree with says a heck of a lot more about you.
#Doug Drabek… I agree, I always order “no pickle” It’s disgusting
Raising Cane’s?
Bitch please.
This brought up something I’ve never thought about. Franchises cost a LOT of money to get started. Say you throw everything you have into one of these things, then the president of the namesake turns around and pulls this crap. I think it’s likely that some chik-fil-a franchises are going to suffer quite a bit from this while others won’t. But for those that are and will suffer, how pissed off are you? Do you have any legal recourse? I would think not.
I take it back, just found a site that claims it’s only $5k to get a chik-fil-a franchise started. Seems way low but w/e.
I have never been to a Chick-Fil-A for a variety of reasons, first and foremost being I’m from WI and the nearest franchise is in Chicago. If I’m in Chicago and getting something to eat it sure as shit isn’t going to be fast food chicken (there is a Harold’s in Madison now so I can make this distinction). I don’t even like fried chicken all that well and I don’t think I’ve had a milkshake in ten years so it isn’t like they were high on my to-do list to begin with. So while I’d love to say Chick-Fil-A’s creepy bigotry cost them a customer in my case it simply cemented the fact I’ll probably never go there. I did learn that I’ve never pronounced the name correctly before, so I can at least take that away from this whole thing.
Imagine if Culver’s was behind this ridiculousness.
I’ve been avoiding Facebook lately, because shit is going DOWN on there. The vast majority of my friends are progressive Southerners, but there’s always somebody’s uber-conservative aunt or something acting like you’re violating the First Amendment and hating all religion if you don’t eat at Chick-fil-A anymore.
Chick-fil-A was my only real fast food vice and, even then, I mostly ate it at sporting events. I’ll live.
I don’t hate gay people and I’m an atheist. You have nothing I want, Chick Fil-A.
mmmmm Canes.
My understanding is that Chik-fil-a is just opposing gay marriage and not calling for the genocide of the world’s homosexual population. There is a difference between the two (didn’t you guys watch that South Park?). While opposing marriage equality is a stance I happen to disagree with I don’t automatically assume that everyone with a different world view is automatically an inferior human being. My point being that BIGOT and HOMOPHOBE have a tendency to get thrown around so frequently that they lose some of their effectiveness when applied to the true vile offenders (hyperbole on the internet, I know what have we been reduce to).
Granted I could be ignorant and Big Chicken Inc could have a more radically anti-gay agenda than I assume. I haven’t done enough research on it. I’m only commenting now because the writers of Uproxx have seen to find it necessary to waste about FIVE FUCKING articles on this topic per day since word got out with no end in sight. People! You are wasting valuable time that could be spent on making important Alison Brie gifs and photo-shopping corgis into as many pictures as possible. Those dogs aren’t going to insert themselves into those photos (but what if they could!!!! Think of it, computer-savvy corgis!)
Let me make it abundantly clear that I am a supporter of gay marriage/rights and very much against all the uber-Evangelical nonsense this company appears to support. But the internet backlash on this thing is readily approaching the point where the doucheness of the response is somehow surpassing the (admittedly mighty) doucheness of the original offender (I call it the Dane Cook factor). What I’m trying to say is chill the fuck out everybody. And that Chik-fil-a should release their spicy chicken sandwich in tender form.
Wanting to deny people equal rights does NOT make you a bigot? What? We need to apologize to all the slave holders and KKK members!
EVERYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH ME IS LITERALLY A NAZI DEATHCAMP GUARD/COMMUNIST Oh internet never change
You’re such a F’ing idiot. No one at Uproxx knows how to photoshop anymore.
- They aren’t barring gay people from eating there.
- I wouldn’t exactly call an interview with the Baptist Press ‘going out of their way to pick a fight.’
I support gays so much I’ve retroactively never even considered eaten at Chik-Fil-A
eh whatever, their chicken and waffle fries are still awesome.
“a company policy of hiring only married workers, and digging into the private lives of everybody who applies there.”
I used to work there when i was single and they NEVER digged into my private life anymore than asking what i was studying in school and enjoyed doing on my free time. Get your facts straight.
We should all just listen to titty meat 80.
Because anybody who creatively decided to go by the moniker titty meat 80 can explain how things are supposed to be with a high degree of certitude. Titty meat 80 has never given any bad advice. Titty Meat 80 makes good decisions.I can really get behind what Titty Meat 80 says. Once again, Titty Meat 80 leads us to wisdom. Titty Meat 80. Titty Fucking Meat 80. Jesus.
I used to work at a CFA. I was single, as were most of my co-workers (one of them was single and pregnant). They are somewhat choosy with their employees and their franchises, but that’s why you’ve never seen a crappy CFA. They are always clean and the workers are polite (although I never understood the whole “My pleasure” thing). I never thought anything that I saw was “creepy.”