Chick-fil-A crosses the road

Falling in step with a recent trend of corporate backpedaling, Chick-fil-A announced recently that in addition to developing a new, healthier menu, it “sincerely cares about all people” and revokes its previous position about same-sex marriage.

CEO Dan Cathy, whose anti-gay comments inflamed the pro-equality community during summer 2012, expressed regret in an interview with USA Today.
“All of us become more wise as time goes by,” Cathy said in the interview.
It’s unclear if this shift is fueled by wisdom or genuine regret. As a staunch opponent of the chain since his comments two years ago, I can’t help but respond with skepticism.

Naturally, I’m pleased to hear Cathy finally got a clue, but no one is going to forget his antiquated blunder any time soon.

I love — or, I should say, loved — Chick-fil-A sandwiches as much as anyone else. But I can’t see one of their erroneous dairy cows compelling me to “eat mor chikin” without my instinct kicking in to not support a chain whose CEO discriminates.

Historically, Chick-fil-A’s main market has existed in the South because of the homestyle, fried food on its menu. That same market is exactly who supported the anti-equality stance promoted by Cathy. Despite the media backlash, sales boomed. Now, Cathy has articulated a goal to appeal to the national market with healthier food and a healthier social mindset. The company has set its sights on Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles. It also seeks to target millennials with items such as antibiotic-free chicken and environmentally-conscious reusable utensils rather than plastic.

It’s going to take more than grilled choices and metal forks to change our minds. Seventy percent of millennials support marriage equality and massive urban cultural centers like Chicago and New York have been, and likely always will be, overwhelmingly liberal, especially on social matters.

Cathy branded Chick-fil-A as anti-gay in 2012 and, unless it pus its money where its mouth is and starts donating to pro-equality efforts, our generation isn’t going to forget soon enough for the image revamp attempt to work.

“The challenge in business is to stay ahead of the curve,” he told USA Today.
For a clearly shrewd business man, Chick-fil-A far out earned McDonald’s last year. Cathy’s decision to establish his company stubbornly behind the curve in 2012 might cost him if he doesn’t get serious about a modern, progressive image soon.

You can try to cross the road, but we’ll see if you make it to the other side.

sbkissel@indiana.edu
@QueSarahSarah_