Chick-fil-A: a need for separation of Church, State and your marketing plan

 

Dan Cathy, President and CEO of Chick-fil-A

 Over just the past week, Chick-fil-A stepped right onto a mine field that they could have just walked around. Whatever your idealistic feelings are on the subject of gay rights and marriage, the privately owned company came out in support of the traditional Christian family, which translated over to anti-gay rights. The president of Chick-fil-A, Dan Cathy who is the son of founder Truett Cathy, couldn’t lie when asked where they stand on the issue. It was also revealed that they back up their talk with annual $2 million donations to organizations that support their views on opposing gay marriage.

Now they are dealing with the aftermath. This has them off of their marketing message with their usual affable cows and quality food.  Instead allowing their public to chose Chick-fil-A over another restaurant because of their food, they are forcing them to chose sides on a political and social debate. To say that this is unneeded from a marketing perspective is an understatement. Talk about crisis PR management! It’s a PR nightmare that has been played out through various social media and there is little room for them to back pedal to their original message.

As the battle lines are drawn, the big question is what will this do to sales and for how long? Fox TV’s and former governor Mike Huckabee has called for a day of support for Chik-fil-A while others are organizing boycotts from their waffle fries and chicken sandwiches to the peach shakes. In the end, it has to affect the sales at some level. Even a few percentage points of sales lost translate to huge dollars lost. As for how long the boycotts and bad feelings keep certain patrons away, while encourage others to support Chick-fil-A, is anyone’s guess. Since the Atlanta-based company does give annual donations to anti-gay groups this could become an ongoing issue for the them. Further consideration needs to be given that America’s feelings towards gays and their rights continue to evolve into a more accepting viewpoint. One only need look at trending TV shows like Modern Family and even the changing Republican stance on gays as proof.

One lesson is clear from a marketing standpoint. Just as in polite conversation, avoid politics and religion in your marketing and PR plans. This is different from having social causes that your company supports. That can result in positive attitudes of your company by the vast majority of your public. Who wouldn’t support TOM’s Shoes for donating shoes to impoverished people? Unfortunately Chick-fil-A, who has a great brand and following, has wandered away from their original message and is not sure how to get back to it.

Gregg

 

Posted on July 26, 2012 in Blog

Share the Story

About the Author

Back to Top