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Chick-Fil-A

Chick-Fil-A involved in yet another PR nightmare

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

July 26, 2012 | 2 min read

American fast-food chain, Chick-Fil-A was hit by a PR storm last week after CEO, Dan Cathy, came out as anti-gay marriage. Just days later the company has been forced to defend itself against allegations it has been impersonating a teenager online.

The latest PR disaster began after a row on Facebook when a user had posted a comment condemning Chick-fil-A for claiming it had recalled kids' meal toys made by the Jim Henson Company because children had gotten their fingers stuck inside them. The user pointed out that this happened days after the CEO's anti-gay marriage blasts and Chick-Fil-A should stop the pretence of coincidence.

Following this, a user named Abby Farle weighed in on the argument - supporting Chick-Fil-A with biblical quotes and claims she knew the toy company had terminated the contract weeks before Cathy's homophobic comments.

However, it was swiftly pointed out that Farle had joined Facebook no more than 8 hours before, and that images of an identical looking red head girl had been found on stock image site, Shuttershock.

The Georgia based company hit back at the allegations and commented: 'Hey Fans, thanks for being supportive. There is a lot of misinformation out there. The latest is we have been accused of impersonating a teenager with a fake Facebook profile. We want you to know we would never do anything like that and this claim is 100% false. Please share with this with your friends'.

Despite over 55,000 people 'liking' the comment in support, Chick-Fil-A shouldn't count its chicken sandwiches just yet. Reports have suggested that both the mayors of Boston and Chicago want to deny the company licence to build restaurants in their cities.

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