Chick-fil-A apologizes to racially insensitive tweet, calls it ‘poor choice of words’

Chick-fil-A apologized after some social media users suggested the fast-food chain’s response to a tweet Friday about spicy chicken nuggets was racially insensitive.

The fast-food chain announced Thursday it was temporarily bringing a popular menu item, the Grilled Spicy Deluxe Sandwich, back to the menu from Sept. 12 to Nov. 12.

In response, a Black Twitter user named Don tweeted, “Grilled spicy deluxe but still noooo spicy nuggets.”

Chick-fil-A’s reply said, “Your community will be the first to know if spicy items are added to the permanent menu, Don!” The reply went viral and drew backlash from several users.

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One person commented: “Your community? I’m gonna need explanation for that comment. ‘Our’ community wouldn’t wanna think that there was some racial undertones behind that.” Many pointed out that Chick-fil-A does have a tendency to reply with this language.

“The response was a poor choice of words but was not intended in any way to be insensitive or disrespectful,” a Chick-fil-A spokesperson told Today. “We often use the term ‘community’ in a broader sense to talk about places where we operate restaurants and serve the surrounding community.”

In the past month, Chick-fil-A used the phrase “your community” while saying it is testing spicy items in “different markets” in response to various Twitter users.

Chick-fil-A is one of the largest American fast food restaurant chains and the largest specializing in chicken sandwiches. The company is headquartered in College Park, Georgia.

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It operates 2,833 restaurants, primarily in the United States. The chain has locations in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

The company also has operations in Canada, and previously had restaurants in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Chick-fil-A also offers customers catered selections from its menu for special events.