Chick-fil-A in Hot Water After Using This Word Online

Fast-food chain apologizes for 'poor choice of words' after using 'community' in tweet
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 12, 2022 12:38 PM CDT
Chick-fil-A Says Sorry for Tweet: 'Poor Choice of Words'
An image of some of Chick-fil-A's offerings.   (AP)

A patron who was disappointed about Chick-fil-A's offerings got an almost immediate response online, but the fast-food chain's quick customer service was soon overshadowed by the way it worded its reply. Today reports that the customer tweeted at the restaurant on Friday, complaining that although his local branch had the Grilled Spicy Deluxe sandwich available, there were "still noooo spicy nuggets." Not even 20 minutes later, Chick-fil-A responded, cheerfully noting, "Your community will be the first to know if spicy items are added to the permanent menu, Don!"

Don's Twitter avatar shows a Black man, and so others who saw the exchange soon jumped into the conversation, taking issue with the use of the word "community." "Do you mean like the black community?" one person asked. Another noted, "This aint a good look. What you meant by that specifically?" Yet another commenter suggested that using the word "neighborhood," "region," or "market" might have been a better call. Some users pointed out, however, that the restaurant's social media account had previously used the word "community" in a similar fashion while responding online, including to commenters who didn't appear to be people of color.

A spokesperson for Chick-fil-A acknowledged there'd been a "poor choice of words" in the tweet, but that it wasn't meant 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," the statement to Today noted. (More Chick-Fil-A stories.)

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