It must be a slow news week. The usual suspects are yelling at Chick-fil-A again.
The latest round of angry shouting directed at the Georgia-based restaurant comes days after the fast-food chain Popeyes announced it had added a new fried chicken sandwich to its menu. The introduction of a supposedly non-problematic chicken sandwich has served as a springboard for certain journalists and commentators to launch into the regular tirades about how Chick-fil-A’s continued existence is a blight on human existence, what with its Christian themes and right-leaning corporate culture and all.
Popeyes is giving “its first serious challenge to the chicken-on-a-bun hegemony of Chick-fil-A,” gushes an overexcited Helen Rosner for the New Yorker. “For some diners, put off by Chick-fil-A’s right-leaning corporate politics and widely known funding of anti-gay activism, Popeyes appeals as a chicken sandwich with less overt moral compromise.”
Moral compromise? It is a chicken sandwich.
Over at the foodie blog Eater, Greg Morabito writes: “Popeyes … [now has a chicken sandwich] that fans can enjoy on Sunday or any other day of the week without the guilt that comes from supporting a company with an anti-queer agenda.”
For the record, Chick-fil-A’s founder was pro-traditional marriage. The company’s charitable arm has also donated to pro-traditional marriage Christian organizations, including the Salvation Army. This apparently makes the entire company “anti-queer” with an “agenda,” and all of its employees everywhere guilty of whatever –ism bloggers attribute to them.
Kevin Pang writes at the Takeout, “I’m able to separate politics and food, or if we’re being honest, I’m able to turn a blind eye. I find Chick-fil-A’s politics repugnant, but they’re also close to my house.”
The absolute best (worst?) take from journalists’ go this week at Chick-fil-A comes from the Advocate, which published the non-ironic headline, “Popeyes’ Sandwich v. Chick-fil-A’s: More Flavor, Less Homophobia.”
The story begins, “If you love fried chicken sandwiches but don’t want to support Chick-fil-A’s homophobia, Popeyes has a new option for you.”
It adds, “While Chick-fil-A has a documented history of donations to anti-LGBTQ groups through its foundation as well as homophobic statements by its executives, Popeyes does not. Neither company is rated on the Human Rights Campaign’s latest Corporate Equality Index (participation is voluntary), but there are sources that say Popeyes is a better choice for supporters of LGBTQ rights.”
I am not sure which is sadder: That people continue to rage against a chicken sandwich or that many of these same people served happily as pro-bono ad-men for a major fast-food chain this week because it meant they could continue to rage against a chicken sandwich.
It is all sad. Almost as sad as when the New Yorker had a minor meltdown in April 2018 because there is a Chick-fil-A in New York City. Remember that?
We have been down this road before, we are doing it all over again this week, and we will certainly have more of these weirdly angry articles aimed at a fried chicken restaurant in the future. It is the way of the world.
