Chick-fil-A says it set a sales record on Wednesday, the day that supporters rallied around the fast-food chain amid a debate over its president's opposition to same-sex marriage.
The chain won't release sales numbers, but "we can confirm reports that it was a record-setting day," said Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A's executive vice president of marketing.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had called on people to buy food at the chain on Wednesday, which he dubbed "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," after a backlash against the company and their president.
The controversy started after an interview with the fast-food restaurant chain's president and COO, Dan Cathy, appeared in The Baptist Press on July 16. He weighed in with his views on family.
"We are very much supportive of the family - the biblical definition of the family unit," Cathy said. "We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that."
On a Facebook page Huckabee created announcing the event, more than 620,000 people said they would participate.
He called for a response to a backlash against the restaurants and its president. Customers flocked to the restaurants on Wednesday, many showing their support for the chain and Cathy's opposition to same-sex marriage.
Gay rights activists are planning to hold a "national same-sex kiss day at Chick-fil-A" on Friday.
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Please, Please, PLEASE discourage the mass kiss-in. An event of this type and its optics simply guarantees untold millions of dollars in contributions from archconservatives, not to mention the reality that the negative ads write themselves. Let's not assure a November defeat in favor of a dubious August skirmiish victory.
That would not advance your cause. It would only prove that your activists are obnoxious.
Who cares what they believe in. I guarantee you that everyone on this planet believes in something you don't and you believe in things they don't. People need to stop being a high school drama queen and worry about there own family and not who is sucking who or what.
No part of the 1st amendment states that you have the right to say whatever you want without fear of anyone stating an opinion otherwise. That would be the opposite of freedom of speech.
please stop name calling and hatred. it begins with you. as evil spreads, kindness can as well.
The irony here is that eating all that Chick fil a will bring the gay bashers that much closer to death. Let them eat as much as their pre-diabetic, overweight bodies can hold.
Actually, the real irony here is the Huckabee is out there preaching the rampant consumption of Chick-Fil-A. I'm guessing he just needed an excuse to go binge himself.
Now what would be really funny is if Huckabee got together with Christie to promote gobbling oneself silly at Chick-Fil-A!
This was the response to the 'backlash'? That being some people in chicken suits holding signs and rainbow flags?
We should see several other chain executives try this tactic soon.
If you offend enough special interests, you could have a pretty nice restaurant.
Gay people should be kept out of society and should be watched and monitored carefully, they obviously have no self control.
Love it, great way to get out the truth. Starts with two guys grabing each other"s privates and french kissing, then the camera pans down to a young child 4 or 5, looking up at them in horror. Then the child looks to the parent to explain:
Voice Over: "If you voted for Barack Obama, how does it feel to support this?"
I agree with gay marriage but that's not what this is about for the Democrat, nope the horrific look on the child's face is what this is about for the Democrat, just like they find joy in the 18 shootings in one weekend in Chicago. Just like no Democrat would ever change the events that led to Treyvon Martin's death if they could. It is time to see Democrats for who they truly are, that decency and goodness are total void in each and every 'crat, they are just about hate, lies, intolerance, and violence against those who don't vote their way and violence and poverty to keep people voting their way.
The biblical definition of the family unit was often polygamous. I think it's very courageous of Chik-Fil-A to come out in favor of plural marriage. Thank you for taking a stand, chik-fil-a.
Go ahead and eat all the fried unhealthy chicken you want fat rednecks...trust that it will be the death of you, our plan to take over the world as you grow fat with clogged arteries is working. I guess we were right when we said southerners were under educated fools.
It's sad how intolerant you sound.
Matt – You are the one who is silly, if not uneducated. People that eat at Chick-Fil-A and hold to the definition of marriage since the beginning of time are "Fat rednecks and undereducated fools"? Glad to see you are using facts to support your false agenda–not! Just so you know, Chick-fil-A is a fairly routine part of my diet and I am not overweight. I am preparing for my second 1/2 marathon in November, married to my first wife, and I don't have clogged arteries. And lest I forget, I've got a bachelors and master's degree...and a great job. Perhaps you should stop texting long enough examine your life, and stop trying to punish someone for expressing their point of view...even if you don't agree with it.
Cows write: "This is plain stoopid, cuz actin' this way bars a lotta customers frum wanting to eat Chik Fil-A. They'll go an eat a burger instead. C'mon girls, they're just fulla bull"
We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit," Cathy said. wow, I can only think what a dolt she is and believes only what she wants to from the book of fairly tales.
Well informed..................
only a 'dolt' wouldn't know that Don Cathy is a male. Read the whole story to figure out the gender silly.
"Her" first name is Dan.
I have to say you are the dolt and are not very well informed, but like to act as though you are. Cathy isn't a she. It is Samual Cathy. You haven't been paying very close attention!!
It's "He" you dolt.
Cathy is the GUYS last name noob.
Cathy is HIS last name. He is a dude.
Gas is made from oil imported from the middle east. Gays are executed in the middle east. Do you buy gasoline? If so then shut up and have another chicken sandwich. Otherwise, you are a hypocrite.