Chick-Fil-A Raises White Flag.

[frigidmagi]

Forbes

In the summer of 2012, the billionaire family behind fast food chain Chick-fil-A found themselves…well, if not in hot water, then in a piping vat of chicken grease.

That year, with same-sex marriage on four state ballots, the scions of Forbes rich list stalwart S. Truett Cathy (net worth: $6.2 billion) hit headlines for taking a public stance against equal rights.

In July, Truett’s son Dan, Chick-fil-A’s CEO, told the Baptist Press he was “guilty as charged” in his support of what he described as traditional marriage.

“We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles,” Cathy said.

The fast food chain’s in-your-face Christian values weren’t exactly news even then. Forbes ran a story on The Cult of Chick-fil-A in 2007 and its stores close on Sunday to allow workers to attend church.

Rather, it was Dan Cathy’s reaffirmation of his firm’s same-sex marriage stance that set off a wave of protests, with LGBT kiss-ins at Chick-fil-A stores and even some lampooning via music video, with three drag queens skewering Chick-fil-A to the tune of Wilson Phillips’ ‘Hold On.’

(Sample lyrics: “Some day somebody’s gonna make you wanna gobble up a waffle fry / But no go, don’t you know, Chick-fil-A says you make the baby Jesus cry.”)

Almost two years later, Dan Cathy — a self-described evangelical Christian — says he made a mistake.

In a rare and wide-ranging interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cathy admitted his anti-equality stance probably wasn’t a wise business decision, regretting “making the company a symbol in the marriage debate”:

“Every leader goes through different phases of maturity, growth and development and it helps by (recognizing) the mistakes that you make,” Cathy said. “And you learn from those mistakes. If not, you’re just a fool. I’m thankful that I lived through it and I learned a lot from it.

Cathy agreed that the “lingering identity” of Chick-fil-A with “anti-gay groups” that jumped to its defense in 2012 has meant “alienating market segments”:

“Consumers want to do business with brands that they can interface with, that they can relate with,” Cathy said. “And it’s probably very wise from our standpoint to make sure that we present our brand in a compelling way that the consumer can relate to.”


Cathy himself hasn’t changed his own views on same-sex marriage. As he told the AJC:

“I think the time of truths and principles are captured and codified in God’s word and I’m just personally committed to that,” he said. “I know others feel very different from that and I respect their opinion and I hope that they would be respectful of mine.”

What is clear is that his family’s fried chicken business, which made $4.6 billion in sales in 2012, will be staying out of the fray when it comes to equality.

“I think that’s a political debate that’s going to rage on,” he told the Journal-Sentinel. “And the wiser thing for us to do is to stay focused on customer service.”

But that's not all!

According to newly-released 2012 tax documents, Chick-Fil-A ended nearly all of its corporate donations to anti-gay groups at the same time that homophobic statements from the company's CEO became national headlines. Via Josh Israel at Think Progress:

A year after nearly doubling its anti-LGBT giving, Chick-fil-A’s WinShape Foundation apparently reversed course in 2012, eliminating nearly all its grantmaking. Its separate Chick-fil-A Foundation made about $120,000 in grant donations, including about $25,000 to the anti-LGBT Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Between 2010 and 2011, Chick-fil-A’s corporate foundations increased their grants to anti-LGBT groups like the Marriage & Family Foundation and the National Christian Foundation, from $1.9 million to more than $3.6 million. Neither of these organizations received a penny in 2012, according to the foundations’ 2012 Form 990s, publicly available tax documents filed by non-profit organizations. The foundations’ overall spending was roughly even, meaning more of its efforts were focused on its own programs. But the drop from $3,623,938 to $25,390 in anti-LGBT donations represented a reduction of more than 99.2 percent.

Think Progress notes that Chick-Fil-A's corporate giving was slashed for all outside groups, not just for the anti-gay organizations.

In light of all this, I would like to remind you of a message from the Col.

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[rhoenix]

Huh. Being a dick in public to people when you run a business has negative fiscal consequences?

Wow, it's almost like he started getting repeatedly gut-punched in the pocketbook over his mouth. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Also, that message from the Colonel is truly fitting here.

[B4UTRUST]

“Consumers want to do business with brands that they can interface with, that they can relate with,” Cathy said. “And it’s probably very wise from our standpoint to make sure that we present our brand in a compelling way that the consumer can relate to.”

I read this as: We still think you all are dirty little monsters that are going to Hell, but we're going to be more polite about it so we can get your money again while on Earth.

[Josh]

“Consumers want to do business with brands that they can interface with, that they can relate with,” Cathy said. “And it’s probably very wise from our standpoint to make sure that we present our brand in a compelling way that the consumer can relate to.”

I read this as: We still think you all are dirty little monsters that are going to Hell, but we're going to be more polite about it so we can get your money again while on Earth.

The standard message of most corporations, basically.

[LadyTevar]

Still.... I have missed the chicken sandwiches

ALthough, KFC recently started marketing chicken sandwiches with pickles in local stores :)

[Josh]

I loved their waffle fries when I was a kid, but then when I was diagnosed for my allergies and found out they fry 'em in peanut oil, that was the end of that.