Before I get into the tender breast meat of this blog post, let me summarize my feelings about Chick-fil-A circa one month ago:
- Why would someone build a restaurant dedicated to substandard chicken sandwiches?
- Why would they advertise them so...strangely?
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| If the cows are sentient, how do we know the chickens aren't also? |
Now, I came into this like, I'm sure, most people: through Facebook and Twitter. That being the case, my opinion was heavily influenced by what the people I was friends with or otherwise following were saying. For me, since I have a wonderfully eclectic range of Facebook friends, that meant my news feed was populated with alternating cries of "Support free speech!" and "Down with homophobia!"
Curious, I did a little bit of research. (A special thanks to the fine folks at snopes.com, as without this article I wouldn't have known where to start researching this).
The Claims
1. Chick-fil-A has supported anti-gay groups
From what I can tell, this is essentially true. According to some fact checkers at equalitymatter.org (admittedly, a biased site), Chick-fil-A has a charitable wing called WinShape that handled nearly $2 million in charitable donations to various conservative Christian family-oriented organizations, many of which have strong ties to either the anti-gay movement as a whole or to members of the movement individually. For a more comprehensive list, click that link up there. You know the one.
2. Due to this (and a controversial statement made by the CEO), the Jim Henson Company withdrew toys from their restaurants
This is where things get a little more fun. Chick-fil-A withdrew a line of Jim Henson-based toys from their substandard chicken sandwich meals because of safety concerns. A few days later, the Jim Henson Company issued a statement that it had severed ties with Chick-fil-A because of the whole anti-gay thing. Who's telling the truth? According to the Daily Dot, Chick-fil-A then issued another statement saying, basically, that both companies are. That's...less of a controversy than I was hoping for (I would have loved to see Kermit and Gonzo testify before a jury in a libel case, for instance), but still, an interesting turn of events.
3. The mayor of Boston issued a letter saying that he would not allow a Chick-fil-A restaurant to be built near the Freedom Trail
Again, according the the Daily Dot article I referenced mere moments ago, this is true. Of course, the mayor's attempt to do so will probably be as futile as my current attempt to avoid describing this particular event in colorful terms.
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| Cockblocking. The colorful term was cockblocking. |
4. Mike Huckabee wants YOU...to eat substandard chicken sandwiches
Don't believe me? Look at his Facebook event...
So: that's my exhaustive (cough I spent five minutes researching this and twenty writing it cough) report on the Chick-fil-A situation. Do you know more about this than I do? Do you have a different take on these events? Are you just smarter than me and want to prove it? Please, comment below.
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| Hmmm...poor spelling and grammar...flagrant overuse of capitalization... homophobia...yes, I do believe I've read these cows' opinions all over YouTube |
