Cathy said that he and his company–which is rooted firmly in Christian values and keeps all stores closed on Sundays–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”, adding “we’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.”

His words led to immediate backlash and even created protests staged at some of the restaurants, where there were also “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation” and “National Same-Sex Kiss” days set up in response.

But despite the chain of events that Cathy set off with his remarks, the company hasn’t suffered, according to sales data. In fact, they actually saw a spike in sales, pulling in a whopping $4.6 billion in 2012, compared to $4.1. billion the year before. And while the company has laid fairly low after the incident–only stepping forward a few times to comment on Cathy’s remarks or thank their customers through social media–some think they handled it just the right way. And despite the backlash, the ever-growing company offers up dozens of new jobs every time they expand, which is always welcome in communities.

“I think the flap last summer will not have any effect at all long term,” said Georgeia State University professor Ken Bernhardt. “When they open stores, they hire 50 or 60 people and that is good for the community. That means jobs.”

Image: Chick-Fil-A

Chick-fil-A has been at the center of the U.S. fight over gay rights in recent weeks after the Jim Henson company cut its marketing ties with the restaurant when Chick-fil-A’s president, Dan Cathy, made public comments opposed to same-sex marriage. Since then, the restaurant has seen a conservative Christian-backed appreciation day and a “kiss-in” day by gay rights supporters. All of this attention has made Chick-fil-A one of the fastest growing brands on Facebook.

The shooting occurred on Wednesday when Corkins entered the lobby of the Family Research Council (FRC) offices. The FBI affidavit states he said “something to the effect of, ‘I don’t like your politics,’” to security guard Leo Johnson, then pulled the handgun from his backpack and shot Johnson in the arm. Johnson was able to wrestle Corkins to the ground and disarm him. The gunshot wound was not life-threatening and an FRC spokesman has said that Johnson is expected to make a full recovery.

According to an AP report, Corkins is 28 years old and lived with his parents at the time of the shooting. He had recently volunteered at an LGBT community center in the D.C. area. Corker has been charged with assault with intent to kill and carrying firearms across state lines.

Not all Americans are taking sides for or against Chick-Fil-A, though. For some, the food is just too good to bring politics into it. To wit, three drag queens have created the musical montage seen below in support of Chick-Fil-A’s chicken sandwiches and waffle fries.

Of course, the video was uploaded well before the current Chick-Fil-A controversy blew up, so the opinions of the singers may have changed since the company’s official stance was taken. Even so, enjoy this cross-dressing trio’s parody of Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On.”

One thing is for certain. The whole thing has given the restaurant chain a whole lot of press, and over the past month, the company’s social brand has been on the rise.

Was stating its views on the matter of same-sex marriage a smart decision on Chick-fil-A’s part? Tell us what you think.

Social media ad platform Optimal has released a list of the top performing brands on its Optimal Index for July. As a spokesperson for the firm explains, “The Optimal Index is an independent valuation tool to help determine the relative value of a brand’s current audience on Facebook by combining fan counts, engagement statistics and global fan valuation.”

“Interestingly, amid recent controversial comments made by members of its executive team, Chick-fil-A added 524,238 new fans in July, and more than 550,000 people discussed, liked or commented on the brand in the past week,” the spokesperson said.

Here’s the list. As you can see, Chick-fil-A cracked the top ten:

Chick-fil-A’s Facebook page currently has over 6 million fans. That’s about a tenth of what rapper Marshall Mathers (the most popular guy on Facebook) has.

These graphs from PageData tell the story pretty well.

The comments from Chick-fil-A took place in the mid-July, and you can see how the Page’s popularity has steadily risen since then, as the discussion continues around the web. Imagine what the monthly numbers would look like if the controversy began at the beginning of the month.

Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy was quoted as saying that he and the company as a whole 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.”

The company later issued the following statement via its Facebook Page:

The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.

Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.

Wednesday became known as Chick-fil-A appreciation day, which turned out to be a pretty big hit for the company, with the company claiming a record-setting day. Millions of people turned out to support the restaurant chain, and their beliefs.

Of course, the controversy also led to National Same-Sex Kiss Day At Chick-fil-A on Friday, which in addition to the turn out for beliefs on the opposite side of the equation, has still served to draw more attention to the brand.

There’s no question that Chick-fil-A has alienated a large amount of customers, but even still, the company appears to have put together a pretty loyal audience, and thousands of people (and climbing) they can push their messages (and offers) to on a daily basis, through Facebook alone, not to mention the additional brand awareness the company has managed to spread.

Some analysts have advised against businesses publicizing any political views, as to avoid alienating customers. It’s hard to say what kind of long-term effects this whole thing will have on Chick-fil-A’s brand, and how much it will ultimately affect the company’s bottom line. In the short-term, however, no matter how many people it has turned against it, the whole thing has clearly gotten people more interested in Chick-fil-A, and they’re selling a whole lot of Chicken. From my understanding, that’s their main goal.

Do you think businesses should publicize controversial views and risk alienating customers? Was Chick-fil-A smart to do so? Has the whole thing affected whether or not you will eat at the restaurant? Let us know in the comments.

Today, around the country, gay rights supporters have been participating in “kiss day” at Chick-fil-As. The “protest” is an obvious response to President Dan Cathy’s now-infamous remarks in opposition of gay marriage. The “kiss in” takes place just two days after Chick-fil-A supporters took to stores for Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.

Culture wars be damned, this is just funny. Cole Alexander and Jared Swilley of Atlanta-based garage rock band Black Lips just posted this photo to their band page on Facebook – without comment. As you can see, there’s little doubt as to which side of the debate they fall:

The only thing that’s a bit confusing about this image is that they still seem to have bought the chicken. Maybe they’re making a new statement altogether: Supporters of gay rights and Chick-fil-A.

Today’s “kiss in” has a bit of work to do to match the turnout of Chick-fil-A appreciation day. The scene on Wednesday was pretty hectic in many stores around the country, with some reporting chicken outages. By some accounts, the company broke sales records.

[h/t Buzzfeed]

That’s because millions of people across the country chose to show their support for Chick-fil-A by buying a sandwich or some nuggets during Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. As you may recall, the food chain has been under fire lately for comments made by their President Dan Cathy regarding the company’s views against gay marriage.

From eyewitness reports on Twitter, and photos of long lines posted on Facebook and Instagram, we know that there were a lot of Chick-fil-A supporters that turned out.

And if you trust celebrity pastor and author Rick Warren, Chick-fil-A broke records yesterday:

Follow @RickWarren

Rick Warren
@RickWarren

@DanCathy just called me. #ChickFilA has already set a world record today, with 7 more hrs to go in the West. #OutOfChicken

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15 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

We’re not exactly sure what records Chick-fil-A broke, as the company hasn’t publicly announced any figures from Appreciation Day 2012.

Tomorrow, a “National Same-Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A” will take place around the country. I’d be surprised to see Rick Warren tweeting about that turnout.

I’m sure everyone’s tired of hearing about this. How about we just put it to rest with some comedy from both sides of the issue, one professional and one amateur:

[h/t Business Insider]
[Image via Mad_African, Flickr]

Why would Chick-fil-A need their own impromptu appreciation day? Well, unless you’ve been living under a rock you’re probably aware of the pounding the company has taken lately because of their President’s outspoken criticism of gay marriage. Those comments (although rather unsurprising to most) prompted a strong backlash from marriage equality supporters, some of which called for boycotts.

Honestly, I’m sure that most of the population would just as soon advocate that everyone shuts the hell up as they would pick a position either way.

But both sides of the controversy are fired up. The Chick-fil-A haters are simply standing up for what they feel is a universal social injustice and a company that perpetuates it. Or perhaps they’re just showing that they can be as intolerant toward others’ beliefs as the intolerance that they rail against.

The Chick-fil-A supporters have held their ground against those who would attempt to chastise a company for promoting good Christian values. Or maybe it’s the company’s right to free speech in the form of donations that draws their support. Perhaps they are just close minded bigots falling rather ungracefully on the wrong side of history.

Whatever the case, the Colonel doesn’t give a sh*t. KFC loves the gays, or maybe they just love your money. Either way, they want to take Chick-fil-A’s business.

Check out this Funny or Die sketch featuring John Goodman in the role he was born to play – Colonel Sanders:

Well, okay, not the real Colonel, obviously, but one played by John Goodman. He claims to be very, very supportive of the gay community, and, while they may not have service that equals Chick-Fil-A’s, they do have those bowls. (NSFW language, but it’s mild)

Today, thousands of Chick-Fil-A supporters are scheduled to show up at restaurants all over the country in appreciation of the company and their values, and it’s all thanks to former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Huckabee started an event on Facebook called “Support Chick-Fil-A” about a week ago, and since then it’s garnered almost 600,000 RSVPs as well as the support of Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, and the Reverend Billy Graham. Huckabee has posted several photos from this morning as attendees spoke to reporters about their mission, and was very clear on his Facebook page that this was not organized as a “protest”, but rather as an event to support a company’s right to free speech.

A little over a week ago, I simply urged people to go and eat at Chick Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1. I mentioned it on my TV show and have been discussing it on my daily radio show. The media has called it a “protest.” It is most certainly not. No one is protesting anything. This is not a stand against a person, a group of people, or even someone else’s belief. This is a simple act of having a meal at a place that sells chicken, not politics. It’s to affirm to a Christian brother, Dan Cathy, that he has not been disenfranchised from his citizenship nor his right of free speech as a taxpaying American. It is about taking a stand for businesses to be free of economic bullying and hate speech. It is an opportunity to have a decent meal at a decent place that was founded and continues to be run by decent people who believe in treating their customers and employees with kindness and to say “thank you” to them. The only protest that I know of is coming from the chickens, who will give their lives in large numbers to accommodate what hopefully will be a big day at Chick Fil-A.

On Wednesday, the lines might be long, but your presence and your purchase is a statement. America doesn’t need more protesters-we’ll leave that to the Occupy crowd. America needs more protectors of freedom, family, and faith. And in this case, chicken nuggets!

To counter the support day, supporters of the LGBT community have rallied to form an event on Friday which they’ve called “National Same-Sex Kiss Day” and will take place at Chick-Fil-A restaurants everywhere. Participants are encouraged to take photos and can join the event on the official Facebook page, where pictures and stories can be uploaded. WebProNews will cover that news on Friday as it develops.

Follow @SarahPalinUSA

Sarah Palin
@SarahPalinUSA

Stopped by Chick-fil-A in The Woodlands to support a great business. http://t.co/sFGXVBrq

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2 days ago via Facebook · powered by @socialditto

In a picture dating Friday on Palin’s Facebook account, you see Palin and her husband in a Chick-Fil-A holding two bags while flashing a thumbs-up. The picture makes no mention of the debate on homosexuality. It just says, “Stopped by Chick-Fil-A in The Woodlands to support a great business.” While we can’t really say whether or not Palin was making a political statement, the comments on the photo definitely made it one.

As for now, the photo has garnered 261,125 likes and 23,131 comments. As usual, the majority of the comments are made by about 10 people arguing back and forth over LGBT rights. The responses on Twitter were much more direct with Tweets like this:

Follow @DarthWeiner75

1 Nanoski of many
@DarthWeiner75

@SarahPalinUSA You get extra homophobe sauce on your sandwich?

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2 days ago via Twitter for Android · powered by @socialditto

Like I said, it’s hard to say whether or not Palin was making a political statement with this post. Judging by her political views, it would be easy to assume that she is. It’s a little unfair, however, to attack her when she hasn’t explicitly stated that she goes to Chick-Fil-A to support its president’s, not the restaurant’s, view on gay marriage.