Chick-fil-A

According to the PR “experts” in USA Today's rolodex, it’s downright unnatural that Chick-fil-A is a successful and thriving business. Who knew that so many people supported traditional marriage?

In a piece headlined “Surprise: PR nightmare didn’t damage Chick-fil-A,” Bruce Horovitz was shocked that the popular chicken chain’s markets share and awareness increased after President Dan Cathy told a religious publication his company was “guilty as charged” in supporting the biblical definition of marriage.

The war against Chick-fil-A, whose COO dared to support traditional marriage, continues. This time, the battlefield is college football – specifically, Chick-fil-A’s sponsorship of two college football games.

OutSports.com editor Cyd Ziegler took to Huffington Post on August 20 with a piece titled, “Stop Chick-fil-A from Forcing College Football Players to Wear Their Logo,” which advocated the end of the Chick-fil-A's sponsorship of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game and the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

New York Times food writer and reporter Mark Bittman issued an apology on his nytimes.com blog on Tuesday for a venemous post on the recent death of Chick-fil-A's vice-president for public relations Donald Perry.

In a recent blog post, I used an inappropriate phrase to refer to the late VP of PR for Chick-fil-A. My choice of words did not rise to either my own standards or to The Times’s, and the phrase has been removed from the post. I regret this lapse.

In the August 13 edition of Time magazine, "humor" columnist Joel Stein compared eating a Chick-fil-A sandwich to rock musicians playing at Sun City in South Africa during the apartheid era of racial segregation.

"As a guy who is very pro-gay rights, I desperately wished  I'd eaten that chicken sandwich before it became symbolic," he wrote.

The broadcast networks promoted gay activists’ protest of the fast food company Chick-fil-A, but when that protest fizzled, they did little to cover the failure.

ABC’s Steve Osunsami hyped the protests ahead of time, saying “nearly 100,000 friends and family have been invited online.” After the apparent lack of turnout at the kiss-in, however, the networks stopped reporting on the protest. Only ABC briefly mentioned the results of the kiss-in, after all three networks talked about the protests on the morning of Aug. 3.

All three networks on Friday continued to highlight the controversy over Chick-fil-A, but Good Morning America's Steve Osunsami adopted the most confrontational tone, insisting that "for years," Chick-fil-A has "donated millions" to "fight against gay Americans." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] Fill-in host Laura Spencer simplified the debate: "How the battle over gay marriage is now all about a chicken sandwich."

Osunsami promoted Friday's counter protest by homosexuals who are outraged over Chick-fil-A founder Dan Cathy's public support for traditional marriage. Of the proposed "kiss-in," he promised, "At Chick-fil-A restaurants today, customers will get an eyeful, along with their nuggets and waffle fries."

The CBS and NBC morning shows on Thursday both highlighted a massive show of support for Chick-fil-A, but failed to explain one of the underlying reasons for the protest: An expression of solidarity by many Americans for free speech against government bullying.

While ABC's Good Morning America completely ignored the sizable effort that saw long lines at Chick-fil-As around the country, CBS This Morning anchor Charlie Rose simplified, "For many religious conservatives, Chick-fil-A was the place to be Wednesday. Thousands went there to eat and to make a statement - a statement against same sex marriage." Many Americans did go as a show of support for traditional marriage, but some went to protest mayors in Chicago, Boston and San Francisco who threatened or bullied the conservative chain.

The media-news site JimRomenesko.com reports on Facebook comments by Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press reporter Mark Krzos, who summed up his disgust as he covered Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day: "Such a brave stand ... eating a g-ddamn sandwich." [UPDATE: Krzos has taken his Facebook page down.]

"I have never felt so alien in my own country as I did today while covering the restaurant’s supporters. The level of hatred, unfounded fear and misinformed people was astoundingly sad. I can’t even print some of the things people said," he claimed. Then he bashed talk radio:

The Washington Post "On Faith" blogger, Sally Quinn, has come up with a suggestion so bizarre that I would not not blame you for casting aspersions upon the veracity of your humble correspondent until you read it for yourself.  Basically Quinn is recommending  that gays and lesbians "infiltrate" Chick-fil-A restaurants to the point where they become gay hangouts to such an extent that even gay weddings will be performed there. And if you think that recommendation is absurd beyond belief, you won't be alone. Her blog is filled with commenters whose reactions can best be described as face-in-palm. You can't blame them after reading this "gem" from Sally:

On his way out to commercial break at 3:24 p.m. Eastern, Studio B host Shep Smith noted that August 1 is "National Badminton Day," and quipped "Forget National Day of Intolerance, let's just stay with badminton."

The Fox News Channel host's comments appear to be referring to Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, which Smith's fellow FNC colleague Mike Huckabee declared August 1 to be recently. Huckabee announced the eat-in demonstration to show support for the national chicken chain which found itself in a liberal firestorm after its president expressed his religious convictions against same-sex marriage. [h/t email tipster Tom Hanks; MP3 audio here; video follows page break]

The manufactured controversy over Chick-Fil-A won’t be dying down anytime soon, if media figures get their way.

Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy stated that he was “guilty as charged” when it came to supporting the traditional family, and commented on a radio show that “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say: You know, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’”

That’s tantamount to heresy in Hollywood and in New York and D.C. newsrooms. The media have proven themselves in the tank for same sex marriage, and Chick-Fil-A is learning what it means to cross them.

San Francisco media outlet SFist has adopted the language of the Westboro Baptist Church to bash Chick-fil-A, referencing the death of Chick-fil-A spokesman Donald Perry with the question “God Hates Flacks?”

A July 27 article about the death of Chick-fil-A PR Vice President Donald Perry was titled “God Hates Flacks? Chick-fil-A Spokesman Dies of Heart Attack.” The headline references the disgusting slogan of the Westboro Baptist Church – God Hates Fags.

As NewsBusters previously reported, CNN on Sunday played Pink's "Stupid Girls" before a segment about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's visit to a Chick-fil-A restaurant.

A CNN spokesperson on Monday sent me the following email message regarding this matter:

MSNBC is your network for badly fractured Bible analogies. Jeff Poor of the Daily Caller revealed that on Friday morning, Roberts cracked up MSNBC weekend host Melissa Harris-Perry by telling anyone for "marriage equality" who eats at Chick-fil-A on August 1 -- when the conservatives turn out in support -- is a "chicken-eating Judas."

So in the Roberts analogy, Jesus is Barney Frank, and the critics of homosexuality are the ones who hand him over to be crucified? Roberts slammed former Gov. Mike Huckabee for backing the chicken chain:

The latest solid proof that Hollywood really can’t stand traditional Christianity has arrived in an unfolding boycott of Chick-fil-A, a Georgia-based fast-food chain that’s rapidly spreading franchises across America.

Chick-fil-A demonstrates a public faith by closing all its stores on Sundays and on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s something the Left ridicules, but something anyone of any faith respects.

While many liberals cheer the harsh words that Democratic Mayors Thomas Menino (Boston) and Rahm Emanuel (Chicago) have had for the Chick-fil-A fast-food chain as a result of its conservative, pro-traditional marriage president, editorial boards at liberal newspapers in those two cities have come out with strong criticisms for the anti-conservative bullying.

"[W]hich part of the First Amendment does Menino not understand? A business owner’s political or religious beliefs should not be a test for the worthiness of his or her application for a business license," the Boston Globe complained in a July 25 editorial. "History will render judgment on the views of Chick-fil-A executives. City Hall doesn’t have to," the editorial board concluding, having noted that there's no evidence that Chick-fil-A breaks any anti-discrimination laws.

Are public figures allowed to have an opinion anymore? Are private companies allowed to donate to the charitable causes of their own choosing, no matter how unfashionable they might be?

Shockingly, the ladies from “The View” say yes (with differing levels of enthusiasm) to both questions. On July 26, “The View” addressed the media-manufactured controversy arising from comments Chick-Fil-A President and COO Dan Cathy made more than a week ago. “We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit,” Cathy told the Baptist Press. 

Even as Democratic officials like Rahm Emanuel promise to use their government power to punish Chick-fil-A, Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos and Ron Claiborne on Thursday derided the fast food chain's president for speaking out against gay marriage, chiding the "firestorm" and food fight" the company has created. [See video below. MP3 here.] In contrast, the same program in 2006 praised the "spirited" and "unbowed" Dixie Chicks for expressing their First Amendment rights by trashing then-President Bush. 

Co-anchor George Stephanopoulos insisted that CEO Dan Cathy's comments in support of traditional marriage have "sparked a firestorm across the Internet." Reporter Ron Claiborne mocked, "This food fight, George, is very rapidly turning into a full scale culture war." Claiborne listed Roseanne Barr, as just another celebrity, along with Ed Helms, who has spoken out against Chick-fil-A. He failed to mention Barr's deranged rants, including tweeting that "anyone who eats S--t Fil-A deserves to get the cancer."

ABC's The View honored Roseanne Barr with a guest-host spot on July 19, which shows they probably aren't in the habit of evaluating her sanity based on her Twitter rants. Take her wishing cancer on Chick-Fil-A fans this morning: "anyone who eats S--t Fil-A deserves to get the cancer that is sure to come from eating antibiotic filled tortured chickens 4Christ".

This came after she told the restaurant chain to suck an appendage she doesn't have:

When the head of a major fast food chain underscores his support for traditional marriage, lefty heads explode. Dan Cathy, son of Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett, told the Baptist Press on July 16 that his father's restaurant chain is, in fact, still conservative.

In response to a question pertaining to the franchise’s support of the traditional family, Cathy replied “guilty as charged.” The president and chief operating officer continued, “We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that... 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."