Sunday, September 10, 2017

Chick-fil-A: A Permanent Fan Favorite?

What's your favorite fast food restaurant? I'd feel pretty confident guessing it's Chick-fil-A. This famous chicken chain has secured countless titles including "Number One in Customer Satisfaction" and "America's Favorite Chain." How have they managed to remain so unrivaled despite all of the competition flooding the market for chicken? The obvious- they deliver consistently high quality food, they have mastered customer service, and the restaurant environment is welcoming and clean. But what's more intriguing is their ability to hold their high position in the minds of consumers even when faced with controversy surrounding the company's values and beliefs.


In 2012, Chick-fil-A expressed that the values they were founded on include an opposition to same sex marriage. As an openly Christian company, this should not have come as such a shock to the public, but the response was rage and uproar. There was never a comment made that would suggest the company thinks less highly of this particular community, or any implication that service would be different or withheld. Nonetheless, protests were strong and a very large portion of the country was fueled with anger. As would be expected, Chick-fil-A took a dip in overall popularity while this was dealt with, but was STILL considered the most favorite chain in several studies. How did it survive being in the shadow of one of the country's most controversial and emotionally-powered issues of the time??


I think it is owed to their fearlessness in projecting their beliefs. Corporate Chick-fil-A had to have known that an announcement about their stance on gay marriage would hurt their public image. But they spoke on the subject anyways because their values are more important to them than profit, and that's an admirable quality to many people. As an employee of Chick-fil-A during this time, I was able to witness first-hand the overwhelming support that balanced out- and even surpassed- the number of people who were protesting and angry with the company. Consumers flooded each store on Chick-fil-A appreciation day, setting records in the midst of all of the controversy. Refusing to leave their beliefs out of their brand image and marketing strategies proved beneficial in this case, rallying support and an even more loyal fan base than before. Chick-fil-A survived something that should have destroyed it. They're a permanent fan favorite, it seems!

5 comments:

  1. I remember when that happened, and I agree that people stood by the company even with their controversial statements, and for that reason exactly. I think people hate companies with wavering ideals more than anything, and they understood that everyone has different beliefs, but at least they stood for theirs. Also it didn't hurt that they also have the best customer service in the game.

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  2. I love Chick-fil-A. I didn't understand the backlash. You would think that people would already know the company's morals and values based on the fact that they pride themselves as a Christian company. If it's closed on Sundays, they promote Christian beliefs. While this may have been a big deal at the time, I think the reason why people forgot about it so quickly was because people already knew their stance before they even said anything.

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  3. I genuinely enjoyed reading this blog post! As a Chick-Fil-A lover myself, both of their food and their company values, I found this post very intriguing. There must have been a lot of careful thought and planning in the Chick-Fil-A headquarters regarding how to address this hot topic in today's society while still staying true to their company values. It takes a lot of courage to take the public stance they did, and I strongly admire them for it!

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  4. I have always wondered how Chick-fil-A was able to survive this blunder. As a CFA permanent fan myself, I was deeply shocked and disappointed in what happened when they "Came out" about this. At first, I vowed never to eat CFA again. After a week, I had to go back! I guess hundreds of thousands of die hard fans like myself were able to move on from their rather homophobic statements. Even though their stance on gay marriage does not necessarily agree with mine, Chick fil A is still a business, and business is business. Am I proud of CFA, no. But the costs of skipping out on a chicken biscuit or hash browns does not out way the benefits of the many Americans like myself who are forever fans. It is going to take a lot more for me to stop enjoying CFA.

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  5. This is a great blog post! I love how you pointed out that their values are more important than their profit and I believe that is something that has helped them in their business. I don't necessarily believe people forgot about this event I just believe people respected their decision to speak out which is why you didnt see much of a long run effect on their profits.

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