Chick-fil-A bracing for Round 2
(Updated 6:21 p.m.)
While chickens are running for the hills and competitors are turning green with envy, Chick-fil-A accountants have to be giddy over Wednesday’s packed restaurants as patrons bought chicken sandwiches in droves to show support for company President and COO Dan Cathy.
The question now is whether there will be a repeat of the crowds Friday when gays and lesbians are expected to turn out for a “National Same-Sex Kiss Day” to protest Cathy’s recent warnings that the nation is “inviting God’s judgment” because it is trying to “redefine” marriage as anything but being a union between and man and woman.
The Atlanta-based privately held company said it had a record sales day Wednesday, though it didn’t provide specifics Thursday in comments to the AJC. “While we don’t release exact sales numbers, it was an unprecedented day.”
As for the fallout over Cathy’s recent comments, the company earlier said, “Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”
Thousands of people in metro Atlanta and across the nation packed restaurants for Wednesday’s “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” led by former presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor told Fox News the day’s success went beyond “anything I could have imagined.”
Huckabee also said he doesn’t oppose Friday’s protest, “As long as they’re orderly. As long as they don’t disrupt the flow of customers and traffic,” he told Fox.
Friday’s “Kiss Day” is being sponsored by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which has called for a boycott of Chick-fil-A not only for Cathy’s comments but also for the millions of dollars GLAAD says Chick-fil-A, through its WinShape philanthropic wing, has donated to groups that lobby against legalization of same-sex marriage. In its “Skip the Sandwich” campaign, GLAAD wants patrons to take the $6.50 they would pay approximately for a meal and donate the money to gay and lesbian rights groups, and post “Kiss Day” pictures on the Internet.
Even some of Chick-fil-A’s competitors appear to be trying to catch some of the attention. According to CNN, some Wendy’s franchises in the Carolinas erected signs outside their restaurants that said, “We Stand With Chick-fil-A.”
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412 comments Add your comment
puntthemarxist
August 2nd, 2012
4:55 pm
@ GA Jeepn–highly doubt it…most I’ve seen around town resemble rosanne barr.
AU Liberal in ATL
August 2nd, 2012
4:57 pm
You moronic hypocrites wouldn’t know a Biblical principle if it bit you square on the face. I can name numerous Biblical figures who had numerous wives. How about men marrying the wives of their deceased brothers? How many of you “Christians” have done that? One man and one woman….yeah right! You hypocritic, stupid, self important, holier than thou morons make me laugh until I puke. You’re on the wrong side of this issue and if you live long enough, you’ll see that I’m right on target. That’s guaranteed.
Darwin
August 2nd, 2012
5:03 pm
Ray Tardinski you have said some downright hateful things. Maybe you were edited because you used tried posting profanity. If you are uncouth, the AJC is going to nix your comment and being liberal or conservative has nothing to do with it. Maybe you should reconsider the things you say that are violent in nature and flaming hatred.
Allen MP
August 2nd, 2012
5:06 pm
Am I the only one who sees this as a free speech issue first and a gay rights issue second? Believe it or not, Dan Cathy has the right to speak his mind regardless of whether it offends you or not. Also, chick-fil-a’s profits are earned, and as a an owner of a private company, Dan Cathy is free to do what he wants with that money within the law. If his use of his money offends you, stop eating at chick-fil-a. How on Earth is it more complicated than that? Get some perspective people.
Red Hill Rebel
August 2nd, 2012
5:07 pm
Pitching a temper tantram eventually backfires on the pitcher…
John
August 2nd, 2012
5:08 pm
Let the bigots and hate mongers eat Chic-fil-a. Have you seen how much sodium is packed in a chicken sandwich, If they eat several each day – they probably won’t be around much longer.
Mark H
August 2nd, 2012
5:08 pm
Bigotry wrapped in prayer in still bigotry.
Observer
August 2nd, 2012
5:09 pm
http://twitchy.com/2012/08/02/douche-of-the-day-tolerance-bully-proudly-harasses-young-woman-at-chick-fil-a-window/
Kudos to this woman for her composure and excellent service despite his idiocy.
hmmm...
August 2nd, 2012
5:10 pm
So is Huckabee and the CFA crew going to show up at the next clan rally to show their support for their rights to freedom of speech?
UGA Grad
August 2nd, 2012
5:14 pm
Dear Lis:
Learn proper grammar, get an education, and leave governance to those of us who have one.
Sincerely,
Intelligent People
c-bear
August 2nd, 2012
5:14 pm
Will WELL SAID…Never have I been quite as concerned for the state of this country as I am now, after Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. Let me be clear, I HAVE NOT boycotted Chick-fil-A because of company President Dan Cathy’s comments on marriage equality. I may not personally agree with him, but that’s the beauty of America; we have the right to express our opinions freely. I HAVE boycotted Chick-fil-A because Dan Cathy has used profits from Chick-fil-A to donate five million dollars to organizations that advocate criminalizing gay people, denying gay people the ability to serve in the military, denying gay people the right to marry, depicting gay people as pedophiles, making it okay to fire gay people, denying gay parents access to their own children, denying children of gay couples the protection that comes from having both parents recognized as having responsibility for that child, treating gay people as broken, in need of repair, and depraved, along with a host of other oppressive initiatives. Yesterday, thousands of Americans packed into Chick-fil-A’s across the nation, many seeking only delicious chicken, but many others went to show their support of the anti-gay organizations and initiatives that Dan Cathy supports. I worry for what that says about us as a nation. I fail to understand how denying anyone their human right to marry, to serve their country, to be a parent, or simply to exist free of discrimination can be justified by ANY means, especially in a country founded on the principle of the separation of church and state. Just because one group does not approve of another’s lifestyle does not grant them the right to deny the other their rights as equal citizens, and I will defend this view as long as I live
Marlboro Man
August 2nd, 2012
5:14 pm
Anyone that will pay $4 for $.50 worth of chicken and stand in line 45 minutes has nothing better to do.
Laughing all the way to the bank, they are.
Mid Town Joe
August 2nd, 2012
5:14 pm
I think fruit cups are in order tomorrow at CFA.
Mark H
August 2nd, 2012
5:16 pm
Bigotry wrapped in prayer is still bigotry.
Contractor
August 2nd, 2012
5:16 pm
The day same sex couples can have kids naturally together is the day I will accept the marriage between them. Have your “unions” all you want, but marriage is a Christian tradition between a man and a woman that has gone for more commercial these days, pretty much like Christmas. Half the idiots running off at the mouth against Chick-Fil-A don’t even understand what was said and what it even meant. True gays and lesbians understand the context and don’t let it bother them, because it is not keeping them from eating Chick-Fil-A, or even working at one. The uproar is in the media and the other loud mouthed liberals that don’t even have a hand in the issue, they just want controversy in the headlines and their 15 minutes of fame.
Jimmy
August 2nd, 2012
5:17 pm
It is’nt about hate – it is simply about belief and what the Bible says. It is fact. Married folks can have babies. It is about what is natural and what one believes in. It’s not about rights. Where is my right to have two wives? One day it may become that way because of the sick people in the world forcing us to allow it.
Charles
August 2nd, 2012
5:23 pm
@allenMP I couldn’t agree more. I’m pro gay marriage, but the reaction of “they won’t open a chickfila in my district” is the only part I find disturbing. I don’t get why people are surprised the really christian owner of chickfila is against gay marriage when roughly half the country seems to be. Why be so concerned with a private citizens view when he doesn’t demonstrate any bigotry on hiring or serving people? I’m confused as to why this is so important to the goal of achieving gay marriage rights?
Love Chic-Fil-A
August 2nd, 2012
5:32 pm
Johnny’s comments (second) are typical of intolerent bias, bigoted, onesided leftist dead beats. It’s perfectly ok for Johnny to be intolerent of Christians belief’s but Heaven help us if anyone has a different opinion. When this happens, it’s racist, bigoted, intolerent, wait aren’t those the same identical traits Johnny has just posted in his comments. Nuff Said! But John, be careful who you kiss.
Vote for Pedro
August 2nd, 2012
5:34 pm
Maybe the Chick-a-Fil’s should be open ONLY on Sundays
ALAN
August 2nd, 2012
5:38 pm
Someone in the homosexual community please tell us why you would desire to engage in a CHRISTIAN ceremony [BIBLCAL MARRIAGE] when you hate the very existance of God & the BIBLE ? After all, God created marriage in GENESIS chapter 2. Read ROMANS chapter 1 and you will see how GOD knows the heart & mind of gays & All sinners. HEBREWS 10:31 ” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living GOD “
TrishaDishaWarEagle
August 2nd, 2012
5:39 pm
First rule of gay fight club..do not talk about gay fight club while at chick-fil-a
tony austin
August 2nd, 2012
5:39 pm
If gays have the right to make out in public then I should have the right to read my Bible anywhere I please.
If gays can talk about being gay anywhere they want then I should have the right to talk about my God anywhere I want.
If you don’t want to hear about my God, then I shouldn’t have to hear about gays.
If gays can judge my God, then my God can and will judge the gays.
Science is constantly proving evolution wrong. You can’t look around this world and think it happened by chance. Which means to me everything was created. Creation is biblical which means the Bible is right. If the Bible is right that means homosexuality is wrong. But I’m not allowed to say that.
christina
August 2nd, 2012
5:41 pm
From the comment below … “read you Bible and obtain the truth for yourself”
oohhh the irony.
I TRULY feel sorry for all of the bible thumpers out there with this much hate inside of them.
“the religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next”
scott
August 2nd, 2012
5:41 pm
only in america do you have the right to be so hateful but so called christian…companies should stay out of politics and religion ..ALL COMPANIES…it only further divides an already divided and now hateful country..
Abraham's Wives
August 2nd, 2012
5:41 pm
Heck, I had three wives! Sarah, Hagar and Keturah were such a handful. Lamech could only handle Adah and Zillah, the wuss. King David easily outdid me with TWELVE wives. If I included all the concubines, he’d have nearly two dozen! David’s son Solomon, on the other hand, became quite the machine when he took the throne. Between all the wives and concubines he had a THOUSAND women. Talk about an overachiever. Traditional marriage is great, ain’t it?
TrishaDishaWarEagle
August 2nd, 2012
5:43 pm
I like division and self segregation by politics..I have less in common with a leftist than I do with a silica based martian microbe , so why would I want to hang out , talk with, or look at them.
ncgreybr
August 2nd, 2012
5:44 pm
Isn’t it going to be interesting that, in a few weeks, we find out, this whole sham has been cooked up by their publicity dept to bring in the dough because sales were down?
guy
August 2nd, 2012
5:44 pm
To Johnny,
Sorry,you will be gone long before Chic Fil A goes. Your opinion won’t amount to a hill of beans. Rave on!!!!!!!!
Maria
August 2nd, 2012
5:46 pm
Blah Blah Blah.
Again-DONlT ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU DON’T WANT AN HONEST ANSWER OR OPINION!
angie
August 2nd, 2012
5:49 pm
this is a privately owned company, he,or they can say and believe whatever they want!!! he wasn’t spewing hatred. love the sinner, not the sin. kudos to mr. cathy! and kudos to our freedom of speech!! let’s work to keep it that way!! we all have our own opinions and we should be able to voice them without being persecuted for doing so. true bible believers will always stand against the homosexual lifestyle. that’s just a fact. i have gay friends, but i am against gay marriage. i don’t care who disagrees or agrees with that.
Dawg'88
August 2nd, 2012
5:50 pm
Round 1: 600,000 supporters of CFplus record sales.
Round 2: 8,000 against CF which will not stop people from eating there.
Judge’s decision….Its complete mismatch and a KO!
BTW…why are public displays of affection always a liberals course of action. Its a constant shoving of sex in America’s face. Its not about a lifestyle. Its about sex. Occupy movement did their protesting the same way.
Supporters of CF showed up orderly, patient and respectful not trying to disrupt anyone or thing. And the response is to disrupt, be disorderly, and kiss which will offend many customers. Yeah…that’ll show em that we should be taken seriously.
Really?
DaMan
August 2nd, 2012
5:51 pm
I’m sure Chick-fil-A is really worried about the 178 gay people that will boycott their restaurant……especially after the “record revenue” day they had yesterday……somewhere, Dan Cathy is saying “thanks homo’s”………
taylor
August 2nd, 2012
5:53 pm
I will be there Friday to watch these people make fools of themselves and eat some delicious grilled chicken
Cruzin
August 2nd, 2012
5:55 pm
The scariest part of the Chick -fil-A controversy is that elected government officials vow to stop them from opening stores: and therefore stop job creation, and punish those out of work because of an opinion expressed by a private company.
jh
August 2nd, 2012
5:56 pm
i am a straight guy and i declare tomorrow “KISS A LESBIAN DAY”. hope i don’t get beat up
Chris
August 2nd, 2012
5:58 pm
EnterWill Johnson…NO matter how you try and justify it in your head, you are still trying to impinge on an individual right to Freedom of Speech. So its ok for Dan Cathy to state his personal beliefs…BUT not ok for him to donate HIS money the way he’s sees fit? ANd you catorgorization of the WInshape he donates is WILDLY inflammatory and inaccurate!
Who Cares?
August 2nd, 2012
5:58 pm
Johnny, August 2nd, 2012, 11:26 am. You really think Chick-fil-A will go out of business? They’ll be here longer than you will, so get used to them. If you don’y patronize them, then you’ve done your part. Too bad the majority of the country isn’t as delusional as you are.
clipper
August 2nd, 2012
5:58 pm
Guys, if you go to Chic Fil A on Friday, be sure to take your wife along, and your girlfriend if possible.Probably not at the same time, however.
Dawg'88
August 2nd, 2012
5:59 pm
christina:
I would rather live according to the bible than your way. Simple as to why.
If I am right, then I will obtain everything that God promises. If I am wrong, what will I have lost. I’m dead and thats it.
If you’re wrong, you will lose Everything. Good luck with that.
One’s perverse entertainment in this world will be their ticket to Gahanna.
Sad. For you its either…no existence after death or eternal fires.
Luke 22:45 When He rose from prayer and returned to his disciples, He found them sleeping from grief. He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not undergo the test.”
Wake up christina…before its too late.
Dumb laws
August 2nd, 2012
5:59 pm
I think it should be legal for US citizens to grow and smoke their own marijuana. It’s far less destructive than alcohol but our government has made it an criminal act. Therefore, I don’t do it. Some people believe coffee should be outlawed because it’s a gateway drug.
Sodomy is also labeled as a criminal act in many states.
Thank you our US government for being ignorant and intolerant.
DaMan
August 2nd, 2012
5:59 pm
Cruzin, to your point, there is not an elected official anywhere in this country that can stop a Chick-fil-A from opening in their town…….they could boycott if they want to…….but the stupid mayor of Boston doesn’t even realize how dumb he sounds when he says that Chick-fil-A is not welcome in Boston……first of all, CFA doesn’t give a crap about what he says……secondly, if they want to purchase a piece of commercial property in Boston and build a restaurant, there is nothing that the mayor of Boston could do about it………but more importantly, the CFA executives don’t give a rat’s a** what some knucklehead in Boston likes or doesn’t like about their corporate belief system…..
Chris
August 2nd, 2012
6:00 pm
The oinly hate I have seen the past week in regards to Chik Fil-A has NOT come from supporters of Chik-FIl-A but gays and liberals who calim to be tolerant but have spewed nothing but hatred. Just look at these folks posts as an example
Commonsense
August 2nd, 2012
6:00 pm
These people will stand in line for an hour in this heat. Then they moan and complain when they have to stand in line at WalMart for 5 minutes for beer, chips, and People magazine!! lol
Dumb laws
August 2nd, 2012
6:02 pm
I’m taking my wife to “make out” at Chick-Fil_A on Friday. Maybe I’ll get a peach milkshake too.
Chris
August 2nd, 2012
6:03 pm
Alan…While I applaud your sentiment, think you missed the boat talking about a Christian God creating marriage in Genesis….Genesis is and was part of the Hebrew Torah and Christians adopted as the “Old Testament”
DaMan
August 2nd, 2012
6:06 pm
What the G&L groups don’t realize is how hypocritical they are…….so it’s okay for them to express their opinion on their “gayness”, but if someone else says that they don’t agree with their “gayness” then they are wrong???? Huh? The bottom line is that most of these gays have never been “relevant” before in their lives, and by gosh, they are going to try to be “relevant” now!!!! They don’t get the fact that in reality, most people would not care if they were gay or straight, if they would just act civilized and not parade around putting it in people’s faces……
angie
August 2nd, 2012
6:07 pm
*DaMan* i second that!! LOL
Eat More Chicken Excrement
August 2nd, 2012
6:13 pm
DaMan
August 2nd, 2012
6:06 pm
What the G&L groups don’t realize is how hypocritical they are…….so it’s okay for them to express their opinion on their “gayness”, but if someone else says that they don’t agree with their “gayness” then they are wrong????
How many fast food CEOs are donating to groups intent on outlawing Christianity? Mr. Cathy is propping up groups like “pray-away-the-gay” and organizations working to pass laws to make being gay a CRIME.
Sounds more like the Christians want to be more like the Muslim Extremists of the middle east.
Dumb laws
August 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
Chick-Fil-A is a privately held company that has the right to donate money to any organization they wish.
Many organization donate to both the democratic and republican parties.
The Truth
August 2nd, 2012
6:23 pm
Most of the judgemental so-called ‘Christians’ that are commenting on this blog and hailing ‘traditional’ Christian values are the same ones that get caught having homosexual relations in public airport bathrooms.