Chick-fil-A chicken sandwichHollis Johnson

  • Fans of the chain were quick to defend Chick-fil-A on social media. 

 

A New Yorker article is under fire for calling Chick-fil-A "creepy" and criticizing what the author calls the chain's "pervasive Christian traditionalism." 

On Friday, The New Yorker published an article with the headline "Chick-fil-A's Creepy Infiltration of New York City." In the piece, writer Dan Piepenbring examines the growth of Chick-fil-A in New York City - where the chicken chain currently has four locations - and found the expansion to be a culturally dangerous one. 

Chick-fil-A's "arrival here feels like an infiltration, in no small part because of its pervasive Christian traditionalism," Piepenbring writes. Piepenbring argues that the chain's sense of community rings false, and he takes issue with Chick-fil-A's cow mascot.

The backlash to the article on social media was swift. 

Many found Piepenbring's argument that the chain was working to perpetuate Christian values to be unconvincing.

While the chain closes on Sunday and displays Bible verses in its Atlanta headquarters, Chick-fil-A does not proselytize or explicitly discuss religion in any locations. 

For Chick-fil-A supporters on the right, the article served as new ammunition against liberals. 

Chick-fil-A itself has worked to divorce itself from politics on the left and the right in recent years. 

Since its CEO spoke out against gay marriage in 2012, the company has backpedaled and worked to make Chick-fil-A more inclusive. The company turned down several candidates who tried to use Chick-fil-A to bolster their campaigns, according to David Farmer, Chick-fil-A's vice president of menu strategy and development.

"There are several candidates who would like to use us as a platform," Farmer told Business Insider in 2016. "We are not engaging. Chick-fil-A is about food, and that's it."

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