Chick-fil-a: The "Christian" Company

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   PseudoLogicposted 11 years ago

   For some reason I've been seeing quite a bit of controversy surrounding this company and I'm just curious what you all think about this "Christian"  corporation.
   
   For me, I have extremely high doubts on the true sincerity of Chick-fil-a's "Christian morals and values". Chick-fil-a is nothing more than a busines, and the entire purpose of a business's existance is to maximize profits. Chick-fil-a claims that being closed Sunday reduces overall profit, but this simply is not true. By being closed Sunday, and representing "family values" and a "Christian worldview", Chick-fil-a has managed to create a very large and loyal customer base that otherwise would not exist if these marketing gimmicks called "differentiation" were not present. The term for this loyal customer base is called goodwill, and can actually have a monetary value in accounting financial statements. I am 100% sure this goodwill value is worth MUCH more than the extra profit Chick-fil-a would assume if it were to be open on Sundays. Let me just give you a quick example:
   
   Say McDonald's suddenly started to go public with their endorsement of gay rights. This means that everyone who is against gay rights is most likely going to stop buying McDonald's (unless they are just that hopelessly addicted which is truly sad) and that everyone who is for gay rights is going to become a loyal customer. Now, imagine if this could be exploited to specific locations? For instance, in area 1 gay right supporters are 80% of the population and gay right opposers are 20%. This means it would be PROFITABLE to make a public endorsement of gay rights for this area, and vise versa.
   
   For Chick-fil-a, this is the southern United States. Is it really just a coincidence that Chick-fil-a is primarily located in the south? In the heart of the "bible belt"? This political and religious "stance" Chick-fil-a has taken is nothing more than a marketing strategy to differentiate their company and product and take advantage of people's beliefs in order to make a profit off of them. Sounds pretty Christian, right?   
   
   Just a couple of examples of this at work in our society:
   
   
   
   Why do so many people actually buy in to Chick-fil-a's marketing strategy? Do you think Chick-fil-a is actually a christian company that does what it does simply because it is the "christian" thing to do? Or do you think it is all about the money?
   
   Discuss.

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      a49eracctposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      As an accountant, I have to agree. Goodwill can be worth millions of dollars to a company. But Chic-fil-a has begun to spread its wings and is branching out into the northern states.

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         PseudoLogicposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I'm sure that the day their marketers can prove that it is unprofitable they will dump being closed Sunday and their christian undertones. All about that retained earnings right? ;P

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      twosheds1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Their food is awful and their politics worse, but I suspect most people just don't care, or woud rather not have a side of politics with their fast food. They, and others like them, will come down on the wrong side of history.

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      courtyB3posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Great food, bad business sense. It just is a common unsaid fact that you don't mix your religion with your business unless religion IS your business. He has alientated so many by this one incident where he didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. I have found alot of the Chick Fil A's in our area are own by highly religious people. Though I don't agree with this statement made, I do appreciate the company's attempt to make their image as a respectable christian company. In this day and age though, that is not something that can be taken lightly. We are an open society now and if the military can accept them then I can.
      
      My husband has been in the Army for nearly 20 years now and works alongside those who have come out in the recent changes in the military. My thought is, if you love our country enough to enjoy the free speech that you've taken advantage of, then you need to accept those who fight for you to have that right.

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      cprice75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      From my understanding the first Chik-Fil-A was a mom-and-pop operation in the South and it was closed on Sunday. If the founder truly believed it should be closed on Sunday then and the company is still run by the same family, which it is, I don't necessarily see why it can't be a sincerely held value. I've seen some restaurants when I used to live (West Virginia) that closed on holidays for families to be together. Was it necessarily good business? Nope, but it probably helped employee morale.

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         courtyB3posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         The restaurants are franchises which means not just one person owns them. They have a parent company and then individual restaurants under them. The issue of the post wasn't the Sunday closing, which I'm sure is nice for those who work there, but the attitude and comment made by the owner of the parent company regarding the same sex marriage issue. In making his personal issues part of his business life he has essentially screwed all those franchises under him who kept their mouths shut and personal issues out of business.

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      courtyB3posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Did you all see that now even Yahoo News is getting in on all this by posting the recipw for their sandwiches for those who will abstain from the restaurants. Interesting! I noticed also that since this came up a lot more companies are putting out pro GLADD advertising. even target has an new ad for wedding registry featuring two men

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   wildernessposted 11 years ago

   Discuss?  What's to discuss?
   
   If a business can maximize profits by "agreeing" with and "promoting" values of it's customers it will do so, just as you say.  To think that a company will cut the profits of its shareholders as a result of these actions is foolish; those shareholders don't care one whit about the values of the customers and will not tolerate such actions.
   
   A small privately owned company may well carry out such actions from their own personal convictions and suffer the loss happily but a company the size of chick-fil-a won't and can't.

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      PseudoLogicposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Look at the picture I posted. Why do you think so many actually think Chick-fil-a is "christian" and that it doesn't have anything to do with money?

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         wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Can't see the pic - it's too small.
         
         People think that because chick-fil-a promotes the idea and it makes some feel good that such a business is also Christian.  It's a feel-good thing, little more.

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            PseudoLogicposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            You just click it lol and it pops up. But yeah I agree, everyone is just looking to be scratched behind the ears..but I still wonder if they REALLY believe Chick-fil-a is sincere. The people in the pic I posted sure seem to think so.

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   Uninvited Writerposted 11 years ago

   They may also have to deal with a libel suit from Henson/Disney if they keep saying the toys were removed due to safety concerns after they said they would not do business with Chick-a-fil.

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      courtyB3posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Very good point!

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   FatFreddysCatposted 11 years ago

   There's been a Chick-Fil-A in one of my local malls for years 'n' years but I didn't even realize they were such a large company till all this whoop-de-doo started up a few weeks ago. I've never seen another location so I had just assumed that the one near me was an independent mom & pop shop. Imagine my surprise.
   
   I've never eaten there previously, and with this controversy I'm not likely to try them out anytime soon. Though I betcha the Rev. Fred Phelps and his troops now have a new favorite restaurant...

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   SmartAndFunposted 11 years ago

   I live in the Bible belt and the people here LOOOOVE Chick Fil-A.
   
   Has anyone seen that funny video some drag queens made about Chick Fil-A? They made it a few months ago, before all of this started. There was some previous bruhaha concerning their treatment of gays, I think. Hopefully somebody will fill us in on that.
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO-msplukrw

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      PseudoLogicposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I also live in the bible belt and I love Chick-Fil-A too, but not because of their "morals" and "values". I love Chick-Fil-A because I think their chicken sandwiches are delicious. Although, they are a bit pricy. I've never seen that video before, very amusing haha

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         SmartAndFunposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I like their food, too, and my kids especially like it. I don't go there very often, though. I prefer tacos, truthfully. And companies that don't have judgmental owners.

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   Disappearingheadposted 11 years ago

   If our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit then how can a Christian think its good to eat fast food sh!t? Just asking?

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      SmartAndFunposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I asked this of two very overweight and pious women I used to work with, who had each just been served a huge chicken-fried steak smothered in cream gravy, plus mashed potatoes. They didn't answer me. In fact, I don't think either one of them spoke to me for a week. Oops. That was many years ago. I'm much nicer now, but I still wonder what the answer to that question is.

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         Disappearingheadposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         

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         twosheds1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         What is chicken-fried steak? Isn't like a breaded hamburger? We don't have those in Ohio.

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      PseudoLogicposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Any true Christian cannot deny this. Although, I do think an every now and then basis probably isn't too bad, but to the point where it is significantly damaging your health would obviously be a sin. So yeah, it does seem hypocritical lol good point

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         Disappearingheadposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I don't think it's a sin. It's just that obese Christian who choose to eat rubbish in vast quantities probably believe more in the culture of Christianity than what Jesus actually taught.

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            a49eracctposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I'm with you until you say "culture"... what exactly would you define that as? I'm assuming the values/morals of christianity?

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            twosheds1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            What about the sin of gluttony?

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      a49eracctposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      But..But.. It doesn't serve hamburger's! So...it's not fast food, right?! oh, the rationalization of the human brain.

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   Mighty Momposted 11 years ago

   That's an interesting point. There is a huge Christian culture (or not as in cultural).
   I'd heard (and used) that term applied to Jews. I've known a lot of cultural Jews who are not remotely religious.
   
   The culture of Christianity is giving Christianity a bad name!

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