FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012
Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
The Brand Has Become ‘The New Fur’ In Major Metro Areas, Says TWO
Burlington, Vt. — Truth Wins Out called “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” a marketing monstrosity that will permanently tie the chicken chain to polarizing political figures such as Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin. Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy’s lavish funding of anti-gay organizations has also badly tarnished the brand and has turned the product radioactive in America’s major metropolitan regions.
“Eating Chick-fil-A is now as controversial as wearing fur and it has become a chain that one does not admit frequenting in polite company,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Many Americans won’t be patronizing a restaurant endorsed by polarizing figures such as Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. In terms of branding, Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day is a marketing monstrosity.”
Chick-fil-A’s president, Dan Cathy, created a furor when he claimed that those who support marriage equality for same sex couples are “inviting God’s judgment on our nation.” The comments caused several mayors of major cities, such as Boston, Chicago, and Washington, DC to express their contempt for the food chain. In response to the criticism, several right wing politicians urged Americans to Eat at Chick-fil-A today to show their support.
This controversy extends beyond Cathy’s comments and includes his more than $5 million in donations to anti-gay organizations such as the Family Research Council. His Winshape Foundation has also contributed to Exodus International, which has worked in the past to help people “pray away the gay.”
“Chick-fil-A was fortunate that the majority of Americans were not aware of their offensive views and backward policies,” said TWO’s Besen. “Thanks to Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, most consumers will finally understand that this isn’t just fast food, it’s fundie food. A good portion of these folks will choose to take their business elsewhere.”
Truth Wins Out is a nonprofit organization that fights anti-LGBT extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.
Additional resources:
- Read TWO commentary on Huffington Post
- Additional facts from GLAAD
- David Badash commentary
Time will tell. In fairness–the people that drove this were not Chick-fil-a folk; and the reasons people like CFA are not because of Truett’s particular ethical stances. They do have a particular culture that people like and that lots of folk (on opposite sides of gay marriage issue) that sets them apart in the fast food world.
Although this event will brand them with some people–it is not due to CFA’s branding. Their customers are attached to the business branding which is not so easily tarnished–unless CFA corporately changes.
In a free market, supply and demand determines success or failure.
Hopefully, Cathy’s public position and tying the franchise to an anti-equality stance will result in a decrease in demand and this company will ultimately fail.
Shows you, Wayne, how wrong you are and have always been about equality of homos with normal people. You haven’t seen nuthin yet. Wait til the rest of America gets stirred up against your limp-wristed approach to that which is normal for men and women and that which is abnormal.
@TruthIsStraight, you must not read polls, or understand that about 80% of young people, including a majority of young Evangelicals, are gay supportive. Your views, on the other hand, are being bred out of the population like a bad mutation.
TruthisStraight:
You are banned from the website for supreme idiocy.
Carry on.
A passing suggestion from a former Arkansas governer has this much pull with the conservative electorate this year. What chance do you think Rohm, Lee and a village idiot from Kenya have? We silant majority understand that the gay marriage “issue” is just another political wedge for the party of hate and racism. Spit out the cool-aid and have an honest conversation because ocommie is going to do his Jimmy carter immitation in November.
Your racism is showing Phileas.
@TruthisStraight I presume you are a troll – since real people don’t talk anywhere near the way that you do. Real people don’t call gay folk “limp wristed” — what’s that? Third grade – at most – 40 years ago at least?
The polls don’t lie. It’s just a matter of time now.
As for Phileas Foff ( what a lousy play on Phineas J. Foxx- Fox that screen name is) – Mike Huckabee is one of the leading GOP politicians in the country – certainly one of the top 10 — however, he wasn’t and didn’t speak to “the conservative electorate” – he spoke very specifically to a subgroup of that electorate that controls some of its primaries but often then loses it the followup general elections.
The test of this, in factual terms is two fold:
1. Will the Left, LGBT people and their allies, stick to their guns and not frequent Chick fil a? If they don’t its moot, but the Left is better at that in general.
2. Will the Religious Right continue indefinitely to consume significantly more chicken than they historically did? Chick fil a appreciation day is laughable. What they will need are sustained sales to core groups. My guess is that a sustained 25% increase in sales to that group will protect them for years.
Boycotts are won or lost over time – usually years, sometimes decades. I’ve been in several successful ones over the years. They are never easy, but when they succeed the change is permanent.
Reyn
(Full disclosure: I wrote “Gaping Injustice,” a report on the situation in the El Progresso Free Trade zone for certain Episcopal Bishops (at their request) during the struggle between the National Labor Committees and Mr. David Wang in El Salvador, and the church’s internal debate on a just response. The Episcopal Church and other Liberal Protestant Churches, largely joined Roman Catholics of a progressive bent, to support the student led boycott of Gap — which boycott led to the formal agreement of Gap with the NLC on human rights at factories they used in 3rd world countries. The agreement was actually signed at First Presbyterian in Brooklyn Heights NY. Unfortunately by the time Gap recalculated and capitulated, it was permanently damaged as a brand.)
Reyn–like your writing. Business development/evolution undergoes so much rapid and continuous change now I think it very hard to assess effects of boycotts on business. I appreciate actions such as you describe with GAP as it targeted specific business practices for change (versus not liking a socio-political stance of company execs). On the other hand–they do often operate at such tight markets they are hypersensitive regarding any tarnishing force. There are not lots of industries like the tobacco conglomorates that can suffer devastating blows to image, legality, and sales–and still carry on.
[...] much work remains to be done (as the ugly “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” so vividly illustrated), the tide is unmistakably turning against the enemies of equality, including Chick-fil-A. Their [...]
[...] publication is billing this as a “direct response” to last week’s ugly “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,” when hordes of LGBT equality opponents flocked to [...]