Sometimes Companies Fix Errors With Class

Part of my morning routine involves checking a small Facebook list I have that includes Shirt.Woot's page^[1], so I can see what new t-shirt they have available.  This morning, they had an interesting new pair of shirts^[2].

Maybe you noticed the same limitation I did.  It leaves out homosexuals.  Other Woot members noticed the same thing, and spoke up about it on the comments section^[3].  So what did Woot do about it?

They fixed it^[4]  by adding 2 new options^[5], gave them the 1st day price for the first 24 hours, and will have all 4 available on the same page after that.

It makes me happy when a place where I spend money does something inclusive.  It's not that I'd have boycotted^[6] them if they hadn't fixed it.  To be honest, I likely wouldn't have even noticed.  But that just makes this that much better.

Well done, Shirt Woot peoples.

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1.  https://www.facebook.com/shirt.woot
2.  http://shirt.woot.com/offers/i-prefer-someone-with-brains
3.  http://shirt.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?postid=5577761
4.  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=661666427190476&set=a.485343014822819.120534.122039181153206&type=1
5.  http://shirt.woot.com/offers/i-prefer-someone-with-brains-1
6.  http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/2012/07/chick-fil-does-not-want-your-money.html

Chick fil-A, Still Assholes

Since the publicity last year about Chick-fil-A's^[1] donations to hate groups^[2], I've heard a variety of things about the issue.  Some friends have tried to say "it's just a sandwich".  But enough people stood up to  Chick-fil-A^[3] that they promised to stop the donations^[4].

Last week, Think Progress reported on their 2011 donations to these ant-gay hate causes^[5][6].

In 2011, the group actually gave even more to anti-LGBT causes. Its contribution to the Marriage & Family Foundation jumped to $2,896,438 and it gave the same amount to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and National Christian Foundation as it had in 2010. In total, the anti-LGBT spending exceeded $3.6 million — almost double the $1.9 million from the year before.

...

In essence, Chick-fil-A’s “charitable” contributions in 2011 were no less hateful than in 2010 — just less transparent.

This spike in donations occurred before the promise for them to cease.  I wish I expected us to see anything different when the information on their 2012 donations comes out.

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1.  Chick-fil-A Does Not Want Your Money
2.  http://www.advocate.com/business/2012/07/02/chick-fil-donates-2-mil-antigay-groups#.T_H5UqpmN6R
3.  http://news.change.org/stories/yes-chick-fil-a-says-we-explicitly-do-not-like-same-sex-couples
4.  http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/19/business/la-fi-mo-chickfila-gay-moreno-20120919
5.  http://www.facebook.com/beingliberal.org/posts/434487519960515
6.  http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/03/14/1722631/chick-fil-a-foundation-anti-lgbt-spending-nearly-doubled/

They Won One Battle

Since I last wrote about Chick-fil-A, a media frenzy has erupted.  Yesterday was declared "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" by Mike Huckabee, and it was quite a success.  Bigots came out in force to show their support for the hate group funding restaurant, even here in Omaha.

The only public Chick-fil-A in Omaha was sold out of chicken yesterday so much it affected the menu today.

It was extremely disheartening to see such support for such obvious hate.  But then I thought about it.  How long can they keep it up?  Omaha has enough bigots to sell out one small restaurant on one day.  The country has enough bigots to make madhouses of Chick-fil-As across the country.  For one day.  Hate is a powerful motivator.  But can it last?  How often will they eat at this restaurant?  

I'm not sure there are enough of them to keep it profitable on their own for very long, and that is what it would take.  I'm certainly not going to being eating there.  I haven't eaten there in years, and in that time, I've been telling everyone I could about their support of hate.  The people I tell nearly always join the boycott.

Omaha pulled together over 2,000 people for a vigil in response to a hideous hate crime in Lincoln a few days earlier.  Those people are certainly not going to be eating Chick-fil-A anytime soon.  And the number of people refusing to eat there will only grow.

I'm sure many bigots will attempt to continue their support of hate.  But many will soon grow sick of eating it so often, or they'll simply forget.  Boycotts can last forever.  It's quite easy to avoid a single restaurant.  It's not as easy to keep eating greasy chicken constantly.

They won the day yesterday.  They will ultimately lose.  We will eventually do the right thing, allow marriage equality, and end the 2nd class citizen status we force upon millions of Americans.  The people who hated blacks yesterday and hate gays today will tomorrow have to find another target for their hate.

And just for fun, here's an article on the restaurant's other issues.

Chick-fil-A Does Not Want Your Money

If you've ever wanted to combine the experiences of eating chicken and donating to hate groups, I have good news for you!  You can accomplish both with one visit to Chick-fil-A.

It's more than likely, that the latter of those two things is not something you want to do.  Chick-fil-A does not appear to want your money.  They certainly don't want mine.  I used to eat there almost weekly.  It was very close to my work & made for an easy, quick lunch.

Then I learned of their past donations to various hate groups.  Since then, I've refused to eat there.  I've also been telling everyone I can about this (both in person and online).  The response is almost always surprise, a statement in support of my boycott of Chick-fil-A, and/or a thanks for telling them.  I've shared the Change.org article more times than I can count.

Today (the same day Anderson Cooper came out to the shock of no one), they made news again.  They're still donating to hate groups.

Unlike Chick-Fil-A, JC Penney, Kraft Foods, General Mills, and others have all recently discovered that supporting equality is good for business.  Since their pro-equality stances, I've intentionally spent money on all 3, that I wouldn't have otherwise. 

Time will tell how it affects the bigot owned chicken restaurant, located primarily in the South, where marriage equality still faces fierce opposition.  Until then, I will keep telling everyone I can about Chick-fil-A's bad moral practices to do my part to make it bad for their business.  I hope you will too.

Thanks to Hemant Mehta, who's excellent blog is where I first learned of today's news.