For most of corporate America, the month of June has become a crispy, juicy, mouth-watering month of pandering to the LGBTQ lobby. And some companies will go so far as to even lob marketing grenades on other companies that have buckled to the pressure to allow all things rainbow.
For Burger King, it’s a sort of ‘chicken kick ’em while their down’ to the competition at Chick-fil-a.
Last week, the former announced a rather substantial donation campaign geared towards the world’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization. But not without delivering a shot – via Twitter – to the latter:
Burger King tweed it will donate 40 cents from every “Ch’King” sandwich sold in the month of June – up to $250,000 – to the Human Rights Campaign. But the “even on Sundays” was a social media side-swipe at Chick-fil-a; an organization that is closed on Sundays in alignment with the Christian beliefs of the founder, the late S. Truett Cathy.
Back in 2012, son and CEO Dan Cathy set off a storm among LGBTQ advocates for his support of the “biblical definition of the family”. Chick-fil-a sales then exploded…
“from $6.8 billion in 2015 to nearly $8 billion in 2016, marking 49 consecutive years of sales growth, according to Chick-fil-A. Its 2,100 restaurants generated $4.4 million in sales per unit last year, more than any other restaurant chain. By comparison, McDonald’s restaurants generated about $2.5 million in per-unit sales last year, and KFC’s brought in about $1.1 million per restaurant.
In a few years, Chick-fil-A has managed to shed its controversial image to appeal to a broader swath of America, all without losing its loyal customers base.”
But the tide started to turn when in 2019, the company seemingly buckled to LGBTQ pressure and decided to stop making donations to companies that promote the nuclear family. To pro-family customers (who had not only stuck by Chick-fil-a during those difficult years following the swath of states recognizing “same-sex marriage”, but helped it to unprecedented sales for its staunch defense of the family), the news came as a shock.
For pro-family charities and organizations that find finances exceedingly hard to manage as the culture shifts even more, donations are crucial. The Chick-fil-a corporate decision has only helped to leave these vital institutions hamstrung. Which, you would think, would be music to the ears of companies like Burger King.
But their tweet does prove one thing; Marxist power-brokers have no sympathy, even for those who may hint at siding with them in the culture war.
Still, some who may identify with the left seem to be displaying an air of clarity in this cultural confusion. Madeline Wells writes, “I think this is a good time to remind everyone that corporations don’t care about you, and they’re not necessarily allies, either. It’s easy to fall into the trap of praising brands for being on the right side of history, but always keep in mind that when they do, they often have something to gain from it as well. As one Twitter user wisely put it, “Reminder: Burger King is doing this because they get write offs for charity donations to avoid paying taxes, not because they give a s—t about what happens to those of us in the queer community.”
I’ll posit this: it’s a good time to remind companies like Chick-fil-a that you can never, ever find an ally in those who disagree with your core values. To them, you’re just a crispy chicken sandwich waiting to be devoured.