X

Did Chick-fil-A really pretend to be a teenage girl on Facebook?

After the Jim Henson Company pulls its toys from Chick-fil-A restaurants in response to the chain's president declaring himself against gay marriage, strange Facebook accounts appear that suggest the toys were dangerous.

Chris Matyszczyk
3 min read
Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

Never having sampled the product, I am not sure which of one's A's Chick-fil-A is supposed to fill.

However, the company is currently being accused of Class A filling of a slightly misleading sort by those who believe the fast-food chain is pretending to be a teenage girl on Facebook.

The general kerfuffle began when Chick-fil-A's president, Dan Cathy, declared that he supported "the biblical definition of the family unit."

He then went on a radio show and reportedly offered: "I think we are 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.'"

Cathy explained that his whole company was built on these principles and that "we are all married to our first wives."

Naturally, many took to Twitter and Facebook. Not all wished to congratulate him on the Chick-fil-A family's long-lasting marriages.

Moreover, the Jim Henson Company, which had supplied five cute little puppet toys for Chick-fil-A's commercial pleasure, decided to -- as E! Online charmingly put it -- "cluck off."

What a sizzling mystery that, shortly afterward, signs appeared in Chick-fil-A restaurant windows that declared the Henson toys had been withdrawn for "a possible safety issue."

It was then that further fun ensued.

Ed Helms from "The Office" offered his own chirp. Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

For there began to appear slightly odd Facebook accounts that attempted to support this safety issue contention.

As Mashable reports, the appearance of a Facebook poster called Abby Farle seemed peculiar.

For here was this sturdy teen arguing the company's case in an almost corporate manner. She insisted the toys had been withdrawn weeks before the gay marriage utterances. Which didn't seem to match anyone else's recollection.

Someone wondered whether Farle was real. It was discovered that her profile photo was a stock photograph, rather than a personal one.

Then, BuzzFeed found another profile that seemed, at least to it, suspiciously enthusiastic about Chick-fil-A's stance.

Suspicion fell -- because suspicion never seems to rise -- on Chick-fil-A's PR people. So I contacted the company to see whether it might shed some divine light on these suggestions. I will update, should I hear back.

Some might feel that the company's gay-marriage stance is no different (save for being utterly opposite) than that of Google.

However, Chick-fil-A is now being assaulted on social-media sites for its opinions.

Here's a sample from Krystina Griffiths on Facebook: "So your muppet toy 'recall' had nothing to do with Jim-Henson not supporting you being an ignorant homophobic establishment and no longer doing business with you eh? Ok, if you say so... SMH."

Today, it reached the point where a Chicago alderman tried to block Chick-fil-A from building a new restaurant in his ward.

There seems, though, still to be some social-media confusion. While Cathy's family, through its WinShape Foundation, contributes to antigay organizations, the company tried to defuse the issue six days ago.

It wrote on its official Twitter feed: "Our mission is to create raving fans; we plan to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the political arena."

This tweet also linked to its Facebook page where a statement explained that the company did manage along "biblically-based principles," but that its culture and tradition is to "treat every person with honor, dignity, and respect -- regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation, or gender."

Could it be that God and mammon are grappling for control of Chick-fil-A?