Chick-fil-A faced heat from Black Twitter over a response they gave that came across as racially motivated, per TODAY. The food chain, known for their chicken sandwiches but that has also been accused of being pro-Trump and anti-LGBT, responded promptly with an apology after Twitter users demanded answers.
Following summer 2020, a number of tweets, statements and other mediums of commentary have been met with a, “What do you mean by that?” as we became hypersensitive to racism and microaggressions. If any word or syllable had a hint of racial undertone, your account could be in shambles within minutes. That’s pretty much what happened here.
One user tweeted at Chick-fil-A saying, “grilled spicy deluxe but still noooo spicy nuggets…..” to which Chick-fil-A responded, “Your community will be the first to know if spicy items are added to the permanent menu, Don!”
Black Twitter said “Hold up…what do you mean by your community?”
However, as the smoke rolled in, some people jumped in the comments to the restaurant’s defense to explain that their response was more of a default reply.
Look, Chick-fil-A of all places should be mindful when processing communications to the Black community given the accusations of them being against the people. Some folks still slide through the drive-thru trying to forget about the Trump-loving Chick-fil-A affiliates who nearly tarnished the brand’s reputation with their campaign donations.
Chick-fil-A responded in a statement to TODAY apologizing for the situation.
“The response was a poor choice of words but was not intended in any way to be insensitive or disrespectful. We often use the term ‘community’ in a broader sense to talk about places where we operate restaurants and serve the surrounding community,” said a spokesperson.