In 2012, Chick-fil-A’s anti-gay stance came into the spotlight. Watchdog websites showed that in 2010, Chick-fil-A gave over $8 million to the WinShape Foundation, a charity run by the Cathy family. Since 2003, WinShape has given over $5 million to anti-gay organizations, such as Exodus International, which supports ex-gay conversion therapy. In June 2012, Chick-fil-A Chief Operating Officer Dan Cathy said in an interview, “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’” Cue protests and kiss-ins at Chick-fil-A restaurants around the country, often with signs that read “Your chicken sandwich comes with a side of homophobia.” When the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, Cathy tweeted, “Sad day for our nation; founding fathers would be ashamed of our gen. to abandon wisdom of the ages re: cornerstone of strong societies.” The tweet was subsequently deleted.
From the response to Cathy’s comments, anyone would think that Chick-fil-A’s religious and political affiliations had been kept under wraps, but that’s not quite the case. The first thing you see on any Chick-fil-A sign after the logo are the words “closed Sunday.” It’s headquartered in Atlanta, and the Cathy family has never attempted to be anything but explicit about their particular brand of Southern Baptist conservatism. But the backlash was extensive. The mayors of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco claimed they would not allow franchises to open in their city unless Cathy issued an apology. “Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not try to come any closer,” tweeted San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee. Nevertheless, Chick-fil-A experienced a strong show of public support and reported record-breaking sales in August 2012, partly aided by a Facebook campaign spearheaded by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
The statements from the mayors had critics on the left as well, who citied First Amendment violations. As long as a business itself does not violate rights, should we determine whether or not they get a license based on the CEO’s personal opinions? Do we actually care about a CEO’s personal opinions or only about the quality of the product?
Chick-fil-A has caused the most news lately because of the recent controversy over gay marriage. The majority of my friends have stopped eating there, driven either by political activism or guilt. “I don’t eat Chick-fil-A. I was definitely turned off by their political donations and how unapologetic they were,” said a friend from high school I’ll call Joshua, a current Stanford senior, who came out shortly before the Chick-fil-A saga. Chick-fil-A catered most of our high school events from a franchise owned by a student’s mother. He added, “That being said, I do shop at stores that have unsavory political affiliations, like Urban Outfitters. But if Urban decided to be more vocal, then I might change my mind.” Urban Outfitters, which sells clothing to young, liberal, would-be-hipsters of America, is owned by Richard Hayne, who has given more than $13,000 to Rick Santorum and other far right candidates.
Joshua’s admission that he cared about how vocal a company was, rather than what they actually fund, surprised me. Whether Urban Outfitters and Chick-fil-A are vocal or not, doesn’t the money go to the same place? The purchase of a chicken sandwich or oversized sweater still contributes to Exodus International or Rick Santorum. But until Hayne starts tweeting support for Santorum’s policies, Joshua will keep shopping there, along with those who truly are ignorant of Hayne’s views. They will also keep shopping at other places that are whisper-quiet about their practices and donations. For example, most people don’t know that Gap has faced sweatshop labor violations for employing eight-year-olds and that Target was accused in 2010 of supporting vocally anti-gay rights Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer.
Forever21, another retailer of clothing to the secular, Obama-voting, twenty-something crowd, is owned by the Chang family, who are fundamentalist Christians. The shopping bags all have “John 3:16” stamped on the bottom. The first time I visited a Forever21 was when the store opened in North Carolina, and I thought it was a serial number. “No,” my sister said after five seconds of Googling. “It means ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’” A bag of miniskirts and stilettoes now comes with the core tenets of Christianity at no extra charge.
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Some products are substitutable. A life without Forever21, Urban Outfitters, and Chick-fil-A sweet tea doesn’t seem too bad at first. Is the solution to shop at innocuous department stores like Macy’s? Unfortunately, no, because it turns out that Macy’s pressured Rick Perry to veto a Texas equal pay bill in August 2013. “The way the economy is structured and how firm ownership works in this country, it’s impossible to prevent someone with views you find abhorrent from profiting off of your purchases,” said a Yale friend (I’ll call him Alex) when I asked his opinion on voting with your wallet. Alex, who is gay, has eaten at Chick-fil-A even after Cathy’s statements about gay marriage. “For example,” he added, “The Koch brothers own like all the companies whose products I use regularly.”
The Koch Industries conglomerate’s annual revenues are around a $100 billion, making Charles and David Koch two of America’s richest men. Their products include Dixie cups, Brawny paper towels, Lycra, and Stainmaster carpet. The Koch brothers are passionate libertarians. In the past several years, they have donated more money to organizations fighting climate change legislation than ExxonMobil. While they stay away from broadcasting their views via social media, tax records show that the political spending of the Charles G. Koch foundation was more than $48 million between 1998 and 2008. Recently, the Koch funding of anti-Obama initiatives has become so widespread that it’s gained the term ‘Kochtopus.’
The liberal mayors of San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston that took stands against Chick-fil-A in their cities presumably believe in climate change legislation, equal pay, and health care reform. However, they haven’t threatened to pull Brawny paper towels from grocery store shelves. And that’s the insidiousness of the Kochtopus and its tentacles. What is the American consumer going to do in a world without Dixie cups, Lycra, Stainmaster carpet, and, for that matter, Gap, Urban Outfitters, Macy’s, Target, Forever21, and chicken sandwiches? And those are just the ones we know about right now. “At the end of the day, making an example of Chick-fil-A is symbolic,” Alex concluded. “I would only avoid eating there on days where people go to support them taking a stance against gay rights.”
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Last November, Chik-fil-A came to Wallingford, Conn., and made a grand appearance at a YCC study break in Bass Library soon after. The YCC event was met with literally hundreds of students vying—and at times, physically fighting with each other—to get their hands on biscuits and chicken. No one seemed to think twice about the company’s businesses history. No one mentioned that a few months earlier, Chick-fil-A caved to public pressure and released a statement: “Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.” But for a consumer wanting to vote with a wallet, the line between political arena and chicken sandwich has been irrevocably blurred.