Fast food giant Chick-fil-A has ruffled feathers over new reports claiming the company is working to expand its chicken sandwich and waffle fry empire into the entertainment space.
Chick-fil-A is apparently moving quickly to create its very own streaming platform with a slate of original and licensed content, Variety and Deadline reported Wednesday.
The service won’t just be chick flicks, either. The company has reportedly been in talks with various Hollywood production companies to create “family-friendly, mostly unscripted original shows.”
Variety reported Chick-fil-A has already secured a game show from Glassman Media (creators of The Wall) and a 10-episode series by the talent company Sugar23, whose CEO Michael Sugar produced the movie Spotlight and the show 13 Reasons Why.
Reports of the Chick-fil-A streaming platform came as an unexpected bombshell to many skeptics on social media.
“I like some of the Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, wtf do they know about streaming,” one doubter posted on X.
Some joked the Chick-fil-A streaming platform would not function on Sundays, since the restaurant has historically closed on the day because the company’s Christian founder observes the Sabbath, which maintains Sunday is for rest and worship.
Many other critics pointed to Chick-fil-A’s past donations to anti-LGBTQ2 organizations and speculated whether or not the brand’s streaming platform would also be centred around Christianity. (Chick-fil-A in 2019 said it would cease donations to the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, both of which have condemned homosexuality.)
The entertainment space — particularly streaming — is incredibly competitive, but Chick-fil-A isn’t the only familiar food brand to venture into content creation as a means of advertising and revenue.
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Companies including Starbucks and Coca-Cola have already made the leap. In June, the coffee giant announced its Starbucks Studio project to create content, while Coca-Cola has already released Christmas films for Amazon Prime Video, one of which stars Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer.
Beyond food, Lyft last year released a seven-episode YouTube trivia game show, entitled Lucky Lyft, hosted by Bob the Drag Queen.
Even Chick-fil-A has already dipped its toes (or rather, wings) into content creation. The company has released animated short films on its social media accounts, with the most recent uploaded only a month ago. The short, titled Rocky Road, sees three animated cows infiltrate a truck shipment of rocky road ice cream.
Chick-fil-A is one of the biggest fast-food chains in the U.S., and last year earned over US$21 billion (C$28.55 billion).
The company is in the midst of a larger rollout to Canada, where only a few locations exist in major cities across the country. In February, Chick-fil-A said it has plans to open 20 restaurants in Alberta alone by 2030.
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