Burger King has announced it will donate a portion of the proceeds it receives from its new chicken sandwich to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the U.S. In its announcement, Burger King targeted Chick-fil-A (CFA), which has has been under fire again this week for its stance on sexuality.
the #ChKing says LGBTQ+ rights!
during #pride month (even on Sundays 👀) your chicken sandwich craving can do good! we are making a donation* to @HRC for every Ch’King sold 🏳️🌈
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) June 4, 2021
Burger King introduced its new “Ch’King Sandwich,” on Thursday, June 3, the same day the company made the announcement that for every chicken sandwich sold, 40 cents will go to HRC. Burger King will donate up to $250,000 total, and the campaign will run from June 3 to June 30 in honor of Pride Month. In its announcement, Burger King specifically mentioned that the donations apply “even on Sundays,” a comment clearly aimed at Chick-fil-A, which is closed on Sundays.
READ: LGBTQ and the Church Podcast Series: A Conversation We Need to Have
Chicken Sandwich Wars
Chick-fil-A is well-known for being a company that is driven by Christian values, one example being its decision to close on Sunday in observation of a Sabbath day of rest. Christian values drive Chick-fil-A’s efforts at efficiency and hospitality, as well as the company’s decision to invest in ministry through the WinShape Foundation.
In 2012, Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy drew heat for expressing his position that marriage is between one man and one woman when he said the U.S. was “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.”
In the past, critics of Chick-fil-A have taken issue with its philanthropic efforts, particularly when the company was supporting Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and the Salvation Army. FCA takes the stance that God intended sex to be between a man and a woman within the covenant of marriage.
Criticism of the Salvation Army was based on allegations that the ministry had discriminated against transgender people and employees in same-sex marriages. At times, hostility toward Chick-fil-A for its position on sexuality has led to people boycotting the company when it opens new locations.
At the end of 2019, Chick-fil-A announced that it would no longer make charitable donations to FCA and the Salvation Army and would instead focus its charitable giving “exclusively in the areas of hunger, homelessness, and education.”
However, despite Chick-fil-A’s decision to limit which charitable organizations it supports as a company, Chick-fil-A came under fire again this week after a Daily Beast report came out claiming that Dan Cathy is one of the main donors to the National Christian Charitable Foundation, “one of the biggest bankrollers of organizations currently on the front lines in the fight against the Equality Act. Two days later, Burger King posted the tweet about its chicken sandwich campaign for Pride Month.
Chick-fil-A has not commented on Burger King’s tweet as of this writing.
For further reading on this topic, see the following posts from ChurchLeaders:
Gregory Coles: It’s Possible to Be Same-Sex Attracted and Fully Surrendered to Jesus
Caleb Kaltenbach: Do You See the LGBTQ Community Through God’s Eyes?
Preston Sprinkle: Jesus Left the 99 to Pursue the One—And That Means Trans People