01 Feb Is Chick-fil-A Woke?

I get a ton of mail about my complete list of woke companies, which I update frequently often in response to reader suggestions. Here are the questions I get the most:

1. Do you have a list of non-woke corporations? The answer is yes but sadly this list is nowhere near as long as my lists of woke companies. 
2. Why is Chick-fil-A on the list? Was that a typo?

This is a complex question that requires a little explanation. There are varying degrees of wokeness. Not all the companies on my list are equally woke. Historically, Chick-fil-A has been decidedly un-woke. So un-woke that when they opened their first location in Toronto in September 2019, they were besieged by protesters who were unhappy about the company’s ties to Christian charities and values. Well, three years later, that location is thriving and the company plans to open several more locations in metro Toronto by 2025. But earlier in 2019, airports in Buffalo, New York (my hometown!) and San Antonio blocked them from opening branches due to their record on LGBTQ issues.

Did these protests and others that occurred in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s death influence the company to go woke? That is for you to decide but let me present some concerning evidence.  

1. In November 2019, it cut off support for three groups, including the Salvation Army, that oppose gay marriage. 
2. In 2020, CEO Dan Cathy shined the shoes of a Black rapper at a church in Atlanta as an act of repentance.
3. Have a look at the woke statement they released in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Some of the sentiments are ones we can all agree with, but it is undeniably woke. For example, it says we “must address the disparate impact of COVID-19 on black and brown communities.” And, “There are countless academics and analysts who have written about how our democratic capitalism benefits only a few hundred incredibly wealthy families, individuals and corporations…because I am among that demographic, I am calling on them — us — to use our power and influence.”
4. They have a statement on their website that says they are “embedding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in everything they do.” They also boast about their commitment to using “diverse” suppliers.  
5. They joined the DEI Board, a private group of woke companies that only accepts corporations pursuing “active DEI strategies.”

I’m not saying Chick-fil-A is a bad company. I’m not telling you to boycott them. I still patronize Chick-fil-A because their food is so damn good, and my kids love it. They aren’t the wokest company out there but, like most companies, they’ve definitely gone woke in recent years.