My oh my – what a story to come out of Super Bowl 53. The chicken wars are heating up. In case you missed it, Zaxby’s put out an ad that was clearly throwing shade at southern chicken giant Chick-Fil-A. As we all know, Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sundays because of their Christian values and what have you. Makes it harder to get over a Sunday morning hangover, but hey – you have to respect the choice of a business to operate how it sees fit.
And, I do – I actually respect a company that stays true to its beliefs and principles instead of making every decision about money. But, it’s fair to say that Chick-Fil-A could also be aware of such a phenomenon, knowing it will appeal to their core customer base anyway, likely even bringing in more new customers (I mean, look at how their business has grown in recent years…) and more money in the process. At one point, I had a manager who told me, “every single move a company makes is about business,” and I still think that’s largely true.
But, I digress.
I don’t know if you’d call it their calling card or not – maybe you would. But, nonetheless, Zaxby’s knew exactly what they were doing when they put out this ad starring big hoss Jeff Saturday.
If you come for the king, you best not miss.
Just remember that, Zaxby’s. Chick-Fil-A hasn’t uttered a single derogatory term about you, so you’re the instigator. You’re the one picking the fight. It takes some balls to flex like this, and personally, I like it. I love the tenacity. But, you also have to be calculating enough to pick your battles. I’m not sure this is it.
And, really – you have us all talking about your balls this week. But, how are you going to sustain this effort? How are you going to keep people coming back for more once the dust settles after this publicity stunt? I’m writing about it. A ton of other media outlets have written about it. So, what do you do when we stop?
Based on the Twitter reaction, you may have emboldened the Chick-Fil-A fan base, and completely ruined any shot you had at converting ’em. At least here in the Bible Belt, people take this seriously. I admire your sack…just outright going for it. But, now you have to capitalize on it, or Chick-Fil-A’s gonna Ned Stark your ass.
I do have a bit of a controversial hot take about the matter, though – I actually don’t really distinguish between the two brands. I don’t think one is blatantly superior to the other. That may seem like blasphemy here in Tennessee, but I enjoy a good Cajun chicken club with some Zax sauce. Sue me.
It’ll be interesting to see how the chicken wars play out, but while I admire your gumption Zaxby’s, this is a long haul, and Chick-Fil-A is still Chick-Fil-A.
“Thank u, next” – Chick-Fil-A…probably….
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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