Chick-fil-A has gained a loyal fan base for all the ways it has said no: to working all weekend, to expanding too quickly, and to abstaining from the testy religious talk most big businesses avoid. When Cathy’s son, then-company president Dan Cathy, inspired boycotts over his “support of the traditional family” in 2012, the chain’s conservative base rallied as a show of support. As Ron Paul, the chief executive of the food industry consulting firm Technomic, said, “Customers rewarded Chick-fil-A after it stumbled over ‘family values.’ ”Does the connection between politics and religion even extend to what restaurants we go to? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this. In addition, some PS3115 students this semester have started a research project to find out how big a factor religious issues are in App students' liking of Chick-Fil-A. Any predictions about what they'll find?
Monday, September 8, 2014
Chick-Fil-A
The founder of Chick-Fil-A died today at age 93. Apparently, the business he built now exceeds KFC in sales, even though it has fewer stores and isn't open on Sunday. Here in Boone, surveys by my PS3115 students always find Chick-Fil-A at the top of student "favorite fast food" lists. What does this have to do with religion? According to a Washington Post story:
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I remember the Chick-fi-la debate being a frequent topic of conversation among my friends. Among my closest friends there were evangelical Christians that fell on both sides of the spectrum and two atheists. My more conservative friends commended Chick-fi-la for standing by its "Christian morals". Some mentioned they were glad to see a prominent Christian family not compromise its beliefs to please a more secular society. The other more liberal Christians and atheists on the other hand seemed apathetic. They might not have agreed with the "traditional family" concept but when it came down to it Chick-fi-la was still a place to go for a great chicken sandwich. No ideology or belief could change that.
ReplyDeleteChick-fil-la has a big name when it comes to telling how they feel about religious debates. I actually like the fact that they aren't open on Sundays and they don't condone things such as gay marriages. Not because I agree with them but mostly because I like that they state their opinions without care of what others think. They continue doing business and still judge based on their moral beliefs. Now that I know that some App students are taking polls about religion they will come to see how different App is as a whole if they didn't notice that to begin with. App seems to be a very accepting school and very liberal. That's why I think I have met so many students whose parents are strict church goers but they are atheists. I think after taking polls and seeing their statistics they are going to realize how many students here aren't as religious as students that attend universities like UNC or State.
ReplyDeleteI think that because Chick-fil-a is a restaurant that chooses to not be open on Sundays they are making a religious stance to show that Sunday is a day of worship and rest for Christians. I feel that those that are Christian are more likely to go to Chick-fil-a than to other fast food restaurants. Based on my own opinion I choose the restaurant I want to go to either by the quality of the food or what I or the group I am going with prefers. Chick-fil-a in my opinion has better quality food than most other fast food restaurants but if I'm feeling mexican then it just isn't going to happen. As far as the study goes I think that there could be a correlation between students that go to church tend to eat at chick-fil-a more because of their religious stance. Chick-fil-a unlike a large majority of restaurants and corporations is not afraid to put it's stance on political and religious views and I feel it has been awarded for this.
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