Chick Fil A chicken isn't anything special

[Condescending Robot]

Hey, people who are accused of being homophobic scumsuckers and respond "but it's damn good chicken!": your taste is as bad as the black velvet NASCAR paintings on the wall of your trailer would indicate.

It's shitty fast food chicken. It has pickles on it, which don't go with chicken at all. It's not as good as the chicken at Wendy's, which in turn is not as good as chicken you can get from the grocery store, because FAST FOOD IS SHIT.

No one would be singing the effusive praises of this unremarkable assembly-line junk food if it weren't associated with their Southern childhood. Not everyone who likes Chick Fil A is a homophobe, or a Christian, or even a conservative (though a disproportionate number are). But everyone who insists on pointing out that it's the fucking self-actualized top of the food pyramid is confusing nostalgia for the region of their upbringing with the actual quality of a goddamn foil-wrapped deep-fried glob of corn-fed crapmeat.

Do you think GI Joe is the greatest TV show of all time? Do you think Airheads are the finest dessert on earth? Do you think no baseball team in the majors today compares in heart and hustle to the Little League squad you played on? This is what thinking Chick Fil A is superior is.

[Typo Negative]

But they have good southern style iced tea.

[Martin Hyde]

It's fast food fried chicken, lots of people love that. No, it isn't haute cuisine, but there are people who can enjoy haute cuisine who can also really like low brow junk food (which is basically what fast food chicken is.)

Chick-fil-A is very popular everywhere I've been that has locations, and most people who eat there have absolutely no idea about Chick-fil-A's political stances. I doubt there is actually much correlation between political ideology and deciding to go into a Chick-fil-A, other than the fact lots of Chick-fil-A's are in Southern states that often vote Republican for President (but we're usually talking states that go like 55% Republican or 60% max, so there's actually still a huge population in those States that aren't Republican and many of them will eat at Chick-fil-A.)

[Ravenman]

Actually, it's good chicken. Better than KFC, not as good as Peruvian charcoal chicken. Zagat's rates it as the best fast food grilled chicken. If you don't like it, who the fuck cares.

[Paul in Qatar]

I resent the OP. I do not live in a trailer, I live in a shipping container. There is a big difference.

[elucidator]

...If you don't like it, who the fuck cares.

I suppose the chicken might feel somewhat disappointed.

[bup]

Fast food may not be great, but it can be addicting. If this were Popeye's and not Chick Fil-A, I'd be crying thinking about never having their spicy recipe again.

[boytyperanma]

I haven't eaten Chick Fil A in years because they've been on my boycott list. It wasn't all that hard to add them in the first place because I never thought they were all that good.

That said I loved the sign at a KFC I drove by. 'Delicious chicken without the hate' It was almost enough to get me to stop in. Then I thought fried chicken isn't delicious regardless of who serves it.

[Hentor the Barbarian]

I like their chicken sandwich. It's damn tasty. I've always had an uneasy relationship with them though, given their religious views, but in the past I just threw the Dobson focus on the family shit in this trash.

This recent stuff is too much. As tasty as it is, my conscience can't take it anymore.

[Bosstone]

It's good chicken. It's filling and not greasy, and when your dinner is going to come from a fast food joint no matter what, it's really one of the healthier choices.

[Martin Hyde]

Originally Posted by boytyperanma

I haven't eaten Chick Fil A in years because they've been on my boycott list. It wasn't all that hard to add them in the first place because I never thought they were all that good.

That said I loved the sign at a KFC I drove by. 'Delicious chicken without the hate' It was almost enough to get me to stop in. Then I thought fried chicken isn't delicious regardless of who serves it.

People with boycott lists are pretentious douchebags.

[voltaire]

Originally Posted by bup

Fast food may not be great, but it can be addicting. If this were Popeye's and not Chick Fil-A, I'd be crying thinking about never having their spicy recipe again.

I've got no problem never going to a Chick-Fill-A ever again, because like the OP, I think they suck anyway. But nobody better try and deprive me of my occasional Popeyes indulgence. I'd personally commit me some hate crimes to keep my Popeyes!

[billfish678]

Originally Posted by boytyperanma

That said I loved the sign at a KFC I drove by. 'Delicious chicken without the hate' .

but with still all the guilt and shame

[Ferret Herder]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

People with boycott lists are pretentious douchebags.

OK, boycott me then.

Better to be pretentious than a hypocrite who decries something while eagerly funneling them more money to support their overt, corporate political activities. Complaints and boycotts are the public's sole means of making their opinion known. I'll stop buying something if the quality is shit, why shouldn't I stop if I think the owner is too?

[Anamorphic]

It's been quite some time since I've had it, and I only had it a few times even then, but I'll somewhat agree with the OP. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "shitty", but I recall it as being decidedly mediocre. Not bad for fast food, but certainly not something worth lusting after. I've been just as confused through this controversy over the people refusing to give it up just because they love it so much. I just can't imagine thinking it's that good.

[A Monkey With a Gun]

I don't eat at Chik-Fil-A because of their sinister agenda. They may talk about "Family values" and what not, but the fact remains that chicken causes baldness and homosexuality. That's right. Eating Chik-Fil-A will turn you gay. And bald.

[monstro]

I love their chicken. And I started craving it as soon as this kerfuffle hit the media.

But I'm not going to be doing business there anymore. I like the chicken sandwich at McDonald's better anyway (*prays that no one at McDonald's says or does anything offensive*).

The OP seems to be conflating personal tastes in food with homophobia. They have nothing to do with one another. Get it straight.

[Jackmannii]

Chick Fil A chicken isn't anything special

And the portions are so small!

Originally Posted by Typo Negative

But they have good southern style iced tea.

Oxymoronic, if by that you mean revoltingly over-pre-sweetened tea.

[DrDeth]

Originally Posted by Condescending Robot

Hey, people who are accused of being homophobic scumsuckers and respond "but it's damn good chicken!": your taste is as bad as the black velvet NASCAR paintings on the wall of your trailer would indicate.

.

Now, in a effort to show how Politically Correct and Smugly superior your are, you then became as bigoted as the owner of Chick fil-a. Sure, everyone who like a food that isnt to your taste is now trailer trash. Nice.

It's better than most other fast food chicken I have had, or it was the last time I ate it, some 5 years ago. Not haute cuisine by any taste, but better than the new craptastic KFC recipe. Popeyes can be good, but I had had old product too many times there.

Sinister agenda? Yeah. But why not look at the top GoP donors. The GoP is anti-arbortion, gay marriage, and is trying to bring back Jim Crow laws.

[Ludovic]

I didn't grow up in the South and I think Chik-Fil-A is perhaps the best fast food chicken per bite. Now, the sandwiches are pretty small and overpriced: that, combined with the Sunday closure preventing me from establishing a routine, and the channelling company money to hateful causes, means that I will not be purchasing from them if I can help it. But that doesn't mean they don't have good chicken.

[Chimera]

Originally Posted by DrDeth

Now, in a effort to show how Politically Correct and Smugly superior your are

The name didn't clue you in as to the attitude you would hear?

Look at his name. Close your eyes. Picture how that would sound. Now open your eyes and read the OP in that voice.






It helps to hear it as "Severus Snape as a Robot".

[Max the Immortal]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

People with boycott lists are pretentious douchebags.

Now I can't help but picture you with a list of things that make someone a pretentious douchebag.

[Martin Hyde]

I was once on a road trip and was driving through a weird section of southern Ohio where I literally could find no station that wasn't playing country music (which I hate) or had some weird talk radio. Normally even in the most desolate patches of the U.S. I can at least get public radio which is decent, but I couldn't even find a public radio station.

So I listen to this investment radio show I'd never heard before. The guy basically answers callers questions about basic investment decisions. Anyway, they get to the topic of oil companies and the host talks about how BP is actually a good, undervalued stock these days. The caller then asks, "Well, my only concern with BP is I'm not sure about what sort of organizations they support." The host then says that he wouldn't invest in BP for that reason himself, and he then suggests ConocoPhilips as an alternative.

It ends up it was a "Christian investment" show, and the reason they wouldn't invest in BP is because BP has some sort of group called the "BP Pride" group that advocates for LGBT issues and typically participates in local pride marches or something, and thus they aren't a valid investment for right-thinking Christians.

This way of operating just blows my mind. If you're a devout Christian or a far left atheist liberal I don't know why any of this bullshit about gay rights, political donations, or etc should impact one iota how you invest your money. Investments aren't moral decisions, but financial ones. Likewise, purchasing from a company isn't a moral decision, it is a financial decision. I can buy any product I want, and I'm 100% not responsible for the moral choices the person I buy that product from decides to make. They are totally separate issues.

[billfish678]

Originally Posted by Ludovic

I didn't grow up in the South and I think Chik-Fil-A is perhaps the best fast food chicken per bite. Now, the sandwiches are pretty small and overpriced: .

I've thought that since the Star Wars era. My theory is that they cost more because they don't use the absolute cheapest crap they can get, including the all important chicken meat. Which would also explain why for fast food chicken it seems better than most.

[kaylasdad99]

Originally Posted by bup

Fast food may not be great, but it can be addicting. If this were Popeye's and not Chick Fil-A, I'd be crying thinking about never having their spicy recipe again.

I'm boycotting Popeye's until they start putting spinach on the menu.

[kaylasdad99]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

People with boycott lists are pretentious douchebags.

People with pretentious douchebag lists are . . . somethingsomething.

[al27052]

Originally Posted by kaylasdad99

I'm boycotting Popeye's until they start putting spinach on the menu.

This seems right.

[Siam Sam]

I hadn't thought of Chick-fil-A for years before this controversy broke, and I never knew the chain was linked to fundies. But I recall they had a tasty lemon meringue pie.

[bup]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

If you're a devout Christian or a far left atheist liberal I don't know why any of this bullshit about gay rights, political donations, or etc should impact one iota how you invest your money. Investments aren't moral decisions, but financial ones.

You really don't know?

Is there no moral consideration that would make you keep from investing in, or patronizing, a company?

What if some company doing gangbusters came out in favor of genocide? They want to achieve racial purity within nations by killing everyone but the majority race in each nation. Len Kramer says you're sure to make 50% a year on this stock. Would you buy it?

[Martin Hyde]

I'm not a consequentialist, I believe in individual acts being inherently moral or immoral. Lying is inherently immoral. Stealing is inherently immoral. Buying something isn't inherently immoral. If the person I buy it from uses the money to do something immoral, that isn't part of the moral decision to buy the product--I'm not responsible for the consequences of his actions.

This is a more permissive ideology in that you don't have to worry about what someone does with money you give them in exchange for a good or service. But it is less permissive in that you can't justify actions based on their consequences, either. So even a lie to save a life is still an immoral act, and stealing to feed your family is still immoral.

[Condescending Robot]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

So even a lie to save a life is still an immoral act, and stealing to feed your family is still immoral.

So when you accost an effeminate-looking teenager on the street and ask him "you some kind of fag" while waving a knife, he should tell you the truth, right?

[billfish678]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

. So even a lie to save a life is still an immoral act, and stealing to feed your family is still immoral.

Yeah, but what if you steal Chick Fil A sandwiches to feed your family? Then aren't you taking profit from those evil homophobes AND feeding your starving family at the same time? Seems like a double good to me.

[billfish678]

Originally Posted by bup

Len Kramer says you're sure to make 50% a year on this stock. Would you buy it?

In this economy? He had me at 35 percent.

[Nars Glinley]

I honestly don't care what the owner of the company thinks. I do care that I think his sandwiches are crap.

[Tamerlane]

Originally Posted by Nars Glinley

I do care that I think his sandwiches are crap.

I gotta say I've only ever tried them once, but I thought the one I had was pretty decent. Probably the best large fast food chain chicken sandwich I've tried. Which isn't saying heck of a lot, but is saying something. I have a friend ( liberal, atheist, very gay-friendly ) who craves it mightily sometimes and she worked at one as a teen.

Thankfully I don't have to worry about whether or not to give into homophobic deliciousness ( or fairly decentishishness, anyway ). The nearest one ain't that near - actually beyond inconvenient. So geography apparently saves me from any potential moral failing.

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by Tamerlane

I gotta say I've only ever tried them once, but I thought the one I had was pretty decent.

Yeah, I thought they were okay too. But the lemon meringue pie was what really got me. Mind you, this was back in West Texas, and there was a lot of crappy food floating around. I'd probably think differently about it if I tried one now.

[D-bear]

want to know who made the BEST chicken sammich? Woolworth's in Greensboro North Carolina circa 1960. Damn if'in it wasn't the tastiest piece of chicken meat slapped tween 2 bits of braid. Too bad them colored folk has to come along and ruint it for us god fearin folks!

[Rachellelogram]

I only ever ate there one time, a long time ago. I liked the waffle fries, but the fact that they were closed on Sunday made me think they were financially supporting a religious ideology that I didn't agree with. An internet search when I got home confirmed that, and I decided never to go back (I avoid Hobby Lobby for the same reason). I also do most of my shopping on Sundays, and that didn't fly. Also, the food was really expensive. But, even if they weren't so vocally anti-gay, I still wouldn't be eating there.

Good waffle fries though.

[suranyi]

Originally Posted by Condescending Robot

Hey, people who are accused of being homophobic scumsuckers and respond "but it's damn good chicken!": your taste is as bad as the black velvet NASCAR paintings on the wall of your trailer would indicate.

It's shitty fast food chicken. It has pickles on it, which don't go with chicken at all. It's not as good as the chicken at Wendy's, which in turn is not as good as chicken you can get from the grocery store, because FAST FOOD IS SHIT.

No one would be singing the effusive praises of this unremarkable assembly-line junk food if it weren't associated with their Southern childhood. Not everyone who likes Chick Fil A is a homophobe, or a Christian, or even a conservative (though a disproportionate number are). But everyone who insists on pointing out that it's the fucking self-actualized top of the food pyramid is confusing nostalgia for the region of their upbringing with the actual quality of a goddamn foil-wrapped deep-fried glob of corn-fed crapmeat.

Do you think GI Joe is the greatest TV show of all time? Do you think Airheads are the finest dessert on earth? Do you think no baseball team in the majors today compares in heart and hustle to the Little League squad you played on? This is what thinking Chick Fil A is superior is.

The pickles are what makes it great!!! When I used to eat there I sometimes would order them with extra pickles.

[Odesio]

Originally Posted by Condescending Robot

Hey, people who are accused of being homophobic scumsuckers and respond "but it's damn good chicken!": your taste is as bad as the black velvet NASCAR paintings on the wall of your trailer would indicate.

Not only is their chicken pretty darn tasty, I've never had a bad experience at a Chick-fil-A restaurant. I can't recall at any time having my order messed up, coming into contact with a surly employee or questioning the cleanliness of one of their restaurants.

No one would be singing the effusive praises of this unremarkable assembly-line junk food if it weren't associated with their Southern childhood.

What makes you say that? The first Chick-fil-A restaurant didn't open until 1967 and the first restaurant they opened that wasn't attached to a mall was in 1986. We're not talking about McDonald's here. Most people in the South did not grow up eating Chick-fil-A sandwiches on a regular basis.

But everyone who insists on pointing out that it's the fucking self-actualized top of the food pyramid is confusing nostalgia for the region of their upbringing with the actual quality of a goddamn foil-wrapped deep-fried glob of corn-fed crapmeat.

So far as fast food establishments go, Chick-fil-A makes a quality product. I've never had a better chicken sandwich from another fast food restaurant.

[MrDibble]

Originally Posted by monstro

The OP seems to be conflating personal tastes in food with homophobia. They have nothing to do with one another. Get it straight.

Was that intentional?

[Ravenman]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

This way of operating just blows my mind. If you're a devout Christian or a far left atheist liberal I don't know why any of this bullshit about gay rights, political donations, or etc should impact one iota how you invest your money. Investments aren't moral decisions, but financial ones... They are totally separate issues.

So you say your stock broker is only following your purchase orders?

[Antigen]

Originally Posted by billfish678

Yeah, but what if you steal Chick Fil A sandwiches to feed your family? Then aren't you taking profit from those evil homophobes AND feeding your starving family at the same time? Seems like a double good to me.

And you get bonus points if you're feeding your starving gay family.

[Bill Door]

Originally Posted by Odesio

Not only is their chicken pretty darn tasty, I've never had a bad experience at a Chick-fil-A restaurant. I can't recall at any time having my order messed up, coming into contact with a surly employee or questioning the cleanliness of one of their restaurants. (snip

And never short weight either.

[asterion]

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

Yeah, I thought they were okay too. But the lemon meringue pie was what really got me. Mind you, this was back in West Texas, and there was a lot of crappy food floating around. I'd probably think differently about it if I tried one now.

You were in West Texas and there wasn't a Whataburger around? I'd take Whataburger any day of the week over Chik-Fil-A.

[Frylock]

Originally Posted by Condescending Robot

...pickles..., which don't go with chicken at all.

That is by far the strangest claim I've read on the SDMB, ever.

[Oakminster]

I'm from the South, and still live here. I'm conservative. I like Chick Fil A food. But I've decided to forgo those tasty treats and join the boycott because the owners have chosen to identify their product with a political agenda I find unpalatable. If they'd kept their politics to themselves, I'd still be buying their products. Since they've turned lunch options into a political stance, I'll vote with my wallet. At other restaurants.

[Vinyl Turnip]

I wish their chicken did suck, because then I wouldn't miss it. C-F-A was the only fast food place I still bought from with any regularity, meaning once a month or so.

It was already mildly annoying when my cravings would invariably hit on Sunday, but this flap sealed it. If they insist on joining the culture wars, I'll learn to live without deep fried chicken sandwiches and stepped-on french fries. Sarah and Todd Palin can just double up. (Literally, if they eat there enough...)

[Frylock]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

I'm not a consequentialist, I believe in individual acts being inherently moral or immoral. Lying is inherently immoral. Stealing is inherently immoral. Buying something isn't inherently immoral. If the person I buy it from uses the money to do something immoral, that isn't part of the moral decision to buy the product--I'm not responsible for the consequences of his actions.

This is a more permissive ideology in that you don't have to worry about what someone does with money you give them in exchange for a good or service. But it is less permissive in that you can't justify actions based on their consequences, either. So even a lie to save a life is still an immoral act, and stealing to feed your family is still immoral.

If there are two volleyball making factories, the end products of which are identical, and which price their volleyballs identically, but one kills children in order to make its foam core*, and the other just makes it the usual way, then there are two kinds of volleyballs on the market: murderballs, and normalballs.

In such a case, someone can refrain from buying the murderballs without thinking "it would be morally wrong of me to support such an organizaiton"--and instead, thinking "I don't want a murderball." In such a case, demand for murderballs goes down.

Similarly, with chick fil a, if there were another restaurant serving identical chicken identically priced, there would now be homophobiachicken on the market competing with gayfriendlychicken. I like gayfriendlychicken better than homophobiachicken. So I'll purchase the latter. If most other people were to do the same (fat chance...) then demand for homophobiachicken would go down.

My point here is tha the thought behind a boycott doesn't have to be the consequentialist ethical thought "I don't want to give them money they might use for X", but instead, can (I actually think should) be "I prefer normalballs to murderballs." and "I prefer gayfriendlychicken to homophobiachicken."

ETA: Another boycott motivation that makes sense and isn't moralistic in the particular way you don't like is, "I hereby disincentivize them from doing this thing I don't like."

ETA: I do think purely personal boycotts don't make much sense if disincentivization is the motivation. If I don't go to chick fil a today, that doesn't mean they lose money--it means someone who would have passed because the line was too long will now buy food from them.

[Omg a Black Conservative]

Yes, it is. Especially their spicy chicken sandwich. It's so, so, so good.

ETA: Even though this means nothing, there's a KFC right next to the Chik-Fil-A here, and the CFA gets tons more business than does the KFC.