# Re the Chick-Fil-A "safety notice" pulling Muppet toys. Is this fake or for real? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318 "2012-07-25T04:27:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/21 "2012-07-25T16:28:43Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > I’m a bit confused as to why the Chick-fil-A story from just a week ago has blown up so much. Didn’t most everybody who cared already know about the Cathys’ idea of “biblical principles” in business? How they’re closed on Sundays? How they give money to things like Marriage & Family Legacy Fund? > > The relevant recent comment was just, > > [QUOTE=Dan Cathy] > > Well, guilty as charged. We are very much supportive of the family–the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that. We operate as a family business. Our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that. Okay, so we know what that means. But it’s hardly anything new. There were articles about CfA’s partnership with the Pennsylvania Family Intitute back in January '11. The Henson Company was presumably aware of CfA’s general positions before the toy deal was set up in the first place. [/QUOTE] That’s not all Cathy said, even though just that statement would be bothersome. He also said the [following](http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/07/24/575261/dan-cathy-chick-fil-a/): [QUOTE=Dan Cathy] It’s very clear in Romans chapter 1, if we look at society today, we see all the twisted up kind of stuff that’s going on. Washington trying to redefine the definition of marriage and all the other kinds of things that we go—if you go upstream from that, in Romans chapter 1, you will see that because we have not acknowledged God and because we have not thanked God, that we have been left victim to the foolishness of our own thoughts, and as result, we are suffering the consequences of a society and culture who has not acknowledged God or not thanked God—he’s left us to a deprived mind. It’s tragic and we live in a culture of that today. [/QUOTE] I think that’s what’s gotten people more riled up. > [@Skammer](#): > > That’s more or less my thoughts too. Cathy may be a bigot. But I don’t know that the owner of my local franchise is, or the people who work there, or the people who own and work for their suppliers, all of whom get a slice of my lunch money. My boycotting the company would hurt the people who work there more than they hurt Cathy, and they’re just doing their jobs. It’s not just the owner. The company donated more than $1 million to anti-gay causes from 2003 to 2008. My cite is [here](http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2011/11/19736/). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/22 "2012-07-25T16:46:12Z")
> [@](#): > > …produced as part of the now-severed collaboration… > [@](#): > > …some reports of children getting their fingers stuck… I just hope they got their fingers unstuck before the collaboration was severed. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/23 "2012-07-25T16:56:01Z")
It’s kind of a bummer that the Hensen company took that long to make a stand. I guess it’s PR-expedient? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/24 "2012-07-25T17:06:48Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > That’s more or less my thoughts too. Cathy may be a bigot. But I don’t know that the owner of my local franchise is, or the people who work there, or the people who own and work for their suppliers, all of whom get a slice of my lunch money. My boycotting the company would hurt the people who work there more than they hurt Cathy, and they’re just doing their jobs. My understanding (from other threads on the subject) is that Chik-Fil-A does not franchise. They’re all owned by the Cathy family - everyone at your local chicken stand is an hourly employee. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/25 "2012-07-25T17:17:45Z")
But if the bigoted cretins who run CfA have to explain to their franchisee’s, and their suppliers, and everyone else that “sorry, business is taking a downturn due to the fact that we hate gay people and are bigoted cretins”, then the greater good is served. I think I have eaten from there twice in the past 6 years, but I won’t do it again, and will explain to my friends why if it comes up. Not likely, but I’ll do my part the best I can. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/26 "2012-07-25T17:19:40Z")
Gonna miss their sandwiches. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/27 "2012-07-25T17:32:34Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > That’s not all Cathy said… Okay, that’s from another, earlier occasion. Nothing wrong with bringing it out, of course, but I believe I was still correct to say that the present kerfuffle began with [this interview](http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=38271) in _Baptist Press_. And things have gotten strange fast. The bit about the Henson Company divestment is interesting (and Chick-fil-A looks silly for their “recall” response), but it’s gone beyond that. Now [the mayor of Boston wants to block Chick-fil-A from doing business in that city](http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061147182)? > [@Thomas Menino](#): > > If they need licenses in the city, it will be very difficult. [Because he doesn’t like what the guy believes and says](http://bostonherald.com/news/opinion/editorials/view.bg?articleid=1061147691), really? > [@Boston Herald Editorial Staff](#): > > We’re trying to imagine a big-city mayor telling the world that he refuses to grant government permits to a restaurant business whose CEO happens to support gay marriage. The condemnation of such an abuse of government power would be swift, overwhelming and appropriate. > > But Boston Mayor Tom Menino apparently doesn’t see any problem using the power of his government office to issue threats to a private company whose CEO does not happen to share the mayor’s own personal or political views. Surely _this_ isn’t the high road to justice and equality? BTW, I see that the SDMB is running Chick-fil-A ads in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/28 "2012-07-25T17:48:53Z")
OTOH, there is also this: > **[Did Chick-fil-A Pretend to Be a Teenage Girl on Facebook? (Updated)](https://gizmodo.com/did-chick-fil-a-pretend-to-be-a-teenage-girl-on-faceboo-5928926)** > > Chick-fil-A, home of chicken-loving bigots, is in the middle of a PR nightmare. After Chick-fil-A's COO admitted to being anti-gay, the Jim Henson Company (bless their heart) pulled their toys from Chick-fil-A's kids meals. Only Chick-fil-A claimed... “Yep, Chick-fil-A is still stuck in its own reality and is doubling down on its lie. Instead of owning up to the fact that The Jim Henson Company stopped doing business with them because they’re overrun with bigots, the chicken sandwich company appears to have made fake Facebook accounts to defend its honor on the social network. How do we know the accounts are fake? Just check out this back and forth on Chick-fil-A’s Facebook page between real, breathing people and “Abby Farle”, a Facebook account that was made 8 hours ago by a chicken PR flack with a stock image of a teenage girl as her profile picture:” ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/29 "2012-07-25T17:56:41Z")
Ha, that shutterstock does exist. That’s hilarious: [http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-3117967/stock-photo-pretty-redhead-teenager-isolated-on-white-smiling.html](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-3117967/stock-photo-pretty-redhead-teenager-isolated-on-white-smiling.html) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/30 "2012-07-25T18:02:45Z")
Seems simple enough CfA is upset and taking their toys and going home. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/31 "2012-07-25T18:06:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > My understanding (from other threads on the subject) is that Chik-Fil-A does not franchise. They’re all owned by the Cathy family - everyone at your local chicken stand is an hourly employee. With the exception of the Operator, who gets a small slice of the profits. They usually make around 6 figures, though. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/32 "2012-07-25T18:12:36Z")
What kind of toys were they, anyway? Fozzie Bear’s Anal Destroyer? ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/33 "2012-07-25T18:25:12Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > I was in a huge debate with a friend about this issue a few years ago, because all I could find online (with my Google-fu) was evidence that Mr. Cathy himself was probably homophobic and funding anti-LGBT groups as an individual. I couldn’t find anything that indicated CFA was guilty as a company. > > And I just wasn’t sure it was fair to label the whole restaurant chain based on its owner. I’ve temped for a lot of companies over the years, and I’ve heard all manner of ignorant crap come out of the mouths of executives. One was making KKK jokes at lunch, to the delight of his colleagues. > > Perhaps it’s an argument for “eating local”, so that you’re supporting the politics of business owners whom you personally know? Although there, too, my favorite coffee shop is owned by a staunchly Republican, anti-Obama, gun-toting goofball. Who hires extremely Liberal artists and pays them well. > > I don’t want to fund anti-LGBT activities, even indirectly, but we’re all so connected I can’t imagine there’s any way to completely separate ourselves. Sort of like how cars aren’t truly “MADE” in one place anymore. > > Plus those waffle fries rule. Chick-fil-A as a company is technically separate from the Cathy philanthropic organization known as [The WinShape Foundation](http://www.knowmore.org/wiki/index.php?title=Chick-Fil-A) but the money behind WinShape is made at Chick-fil-A. Additionally, it would seem that there _are_ franchisees, but they are vetted to be the “right kind” of people. (See Above Link) > [@Knowmore](#): > > Chick-Fil-A’s Employment Practices Are Hostile Towards “Sinful” Candidates. Chick-fil-A requires potential franchise operators to disclose their marital status, number of dependents, and involvement in social, church, and other organizations. Employees may be fired for engaging in “sinful” behavior, and Truett Cathy has said he aims to hire workers who are married: > Loyalty to the company isn’t the only thing that matters to Cathy, who wants married workers, believing they are more industrious and productive. One in three company operators have attended Christian-based relationship-building retreats through WinShape at Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga. The programs include classes on conflict resolution and communication. Family members of prospective operators–children, even–are frequently interviewed so Cathy and his family can learn more about job candidates and their relationships at home. “If a man can’t manage his own life, he can’t manage a business,” says Cathy, who says he would probably fire an employee or terminate an operator who “has been sinful or done something harmful to their family members.” ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/34 "2012-07-25T18:42:03Z")
We talked about this in another thread and apparently while Chick-fil-a calls them franchises, they’re not what everyone thinks of as a franchise. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/35 "2012-07-25T18:59:55Z")
[An alderman in Chicago is going to block Chick-Fil-A from opening a new restaurant in his Logan Square ward. Mayor Rahm is supporting the move.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-met-chicago-chick-fil-a-20120725,0,929023.story) > [@](#): > > Ald.Proco “Joe” Moreno announced this week that he will block Chick-fil-A’s effort to build its second Chicago store, which would be in the Logan Square neighborhood, following company President Dan Cathy’s remarks last week that he was “guilty as charged” for supporting the biblical definition of marriage as between a man and woman. > > “If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, I don’t want you in the 1st Ward,” Moreno told the Tribune on Tuesday. > > Moreno stated his position in strong terms, referring to Cathy’s “bigoted, homophobic comments” in a proposed opinion page piece that an aide also sent to Tribune reporters. “Because of this man’s ignorance, I will now be denying Chick-fil-A’s permit to open a restaurant in the 1st Ward.” > > The alderman has the ideological support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/36 "2012-07-25T20:15:32Z")
Yo, Mr Cathy. Dude. I think ya fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/37 "2012-07-25T20:17:56Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > OTOH, there is also this: > > [http://gizmodo.com/5928926/chick+fil+a-got-caught-pretending-to-be-a-fake-teenage-girl-on-facebook](http://gizmodo.com/5928926/chick+fil+a-got-caught-pretending-to-be-a-fake-teenage-girl-on-facebook) > > “Yep, Chick-fil-A is still stuck in its own reality and is doubling down on its lie. Instead of owning up to the fact that The Jim Henson Company stopped doing business with them because they’re overrun with bigots, the chicken sandwich company appears to have made fake Facebook accounts to defend its honor on the social network. How do we know the accounts are fake? Just check out this back and forth on Chick-fil-A’s Facebook page between real, breathing people and “Abby Farle”, a Facebook account that was made 8 hours ago by a chicken PR flack with a stock image of a teenage girl as her profile picture:” Hehe. My gf is in advertising, and she says this is part of the game. But ya ain’t supposed to get caught.:D:D ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/38 "2012-07-25T20:18:41Z")
Remind me to never piss off the internet. This Abby Farle crap, and then pretending that there’s a safety recall instead of Henson Inc. withdrawing their toys, is quickly moving into [_Cooks Source_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooks_Source_infringement_controversy) territory. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/39 "2012-07-25T20:19:43Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Surely _this_ isn’t the high road to justice and equality? Well, first, so what? But more importantly, it’s well within the power of local governments to ban discrimination. There is evidence that Chik-fil-A discriminates in recruitment of at least some of its higher-level employees. You’d have to check local law, but it seems well within a municipality’s rights to refuse a license to such an operation, if that evidence is accurate. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318/40 "2012-07-25T20:25:26Z")
My translation of their offer: “In case any of you are undecided as to whether or not you’re going to come to our place and buy more junk food, we are offering a FREE ICE CREAM CONE instead of a $0.13 plastic toy that your kid would play with for about twelve minutes and then lose behind the sofa.” This plan is brilliant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-chick-fil-a-safety-notice-pulling-muppet-toys-is-this-fake-or-for-real/629318.md?page=3)