Chick-fil-A came under fire recently after the official Twitter account replied to a fan tweet last week, and seemingly calling out the user’s race. It all started on Friday, September. 9th when one Twitter user tweeted to the fast food chain, writing, “grilled spicy deluxe but still noooo spicy nuggets…………@ChickfilA…..”
The user expressed that they wanted spicy nuggets to return to the menu, and the chain’s official account directly replied shortly after, “Your community will be the first to know if spicy items are added to the permanent menu, Don!” Many Twitter users and Chick-fil-A customers then began asking the account exactly what “your community” meant, and pointed out that it seemed as if the comment was “referencing the Black community,” as another user tweeted.
Your community will be the first to know if spicy items are added to the permanent menu, Don!
— Chick-fil-A, Inc. (@ChickfilA) September 9, 2022
Chick-fil-A’s response garnered more than 1,600 replies and 6,800 quote tweets although the initial tweet only had 6 replies. “What do you mean by ‘your community’???????” one tweet asked the chain, while another user wrote, “Your community? I’m gonna need explanation for that comment. ‘Our’ community wouldn’t wanna think that there was some racial undertones behind that.”
Chic…this aint a good look. What you meant by that specifically?
— Trey (@_SoyKalimbaa) September 10, 2022
wdym by your community??? pic.twitter.com/0hFx5U376A
— jaxmostwanted (@jaxmostwanted) September 10, 2022
All jokes aside, they reply like this frequently. pic.twitter.com/RWmEyGDpud
— FixItJesus (@FactsinatedbyTV) September 10, 2022
Another jokingly commented, “Chick Fil A said “We know how you people like spicy…” while someone else wrote, “Oh we going to popeyes tonight,” before another urged the chain, “Ayyyye yooo, Chick-fil-A, you got some explaining to do here,” with cry-laughing emojis.
Soon after the tweets went viral, the chicken sandwich giant responded to the controversy in an official statement made to TODAY: “The response was a poor choice of words but was not intended in any way to be insensitive or disrespectful,” a spokesperson explained. “We often use the term ‘community’ in a broader sense to talk about places where we operate restaurants and serve the surrounding community.”
