Chick-fil-A has responded to the backlash from social media users who believed the company targeted the Black “community” in a tweet.
On Friday (September 9), a Twitter user called out the fast food chain for not offering spicy nuggets, a long-awaited menu item for Chick-fil-A lovers across the nation.
“Grilled spicy deluxe but still noooo spicy nuggets…………@ChickfilA…..” a social media user tweeted.
In response to the tweet, the official Chick-fil-A Twitter said, “Your community will be the first to know if spicy items are added to the permanent menu, Don!”
Chick-fil-A’s tweet quickly made waves on the internet, garnering more than 1,600 replies and 6,800 quote tweets.
A mass of Twitter users questioned the fast food account’s choice to use the phrase “your community,” which seemed to refer to the race of the original Tweeter, who appeared to be Black.
“What do you mean by ‘your community’???????” one tweet read.
Other social media users joked about taking their business to Popeyes instead of Chick-fil-A and what the company would do to explain the latest controversy.
In a statement to TODAY, Chick-fil-A responded to the social media outcry.
“The response was a poor choice of words but was not intended in any way to be insensitive or disrespectful,” a spokesperson said. “We often use the term ‘community’ in a broader sense to talk about places where we operate restaurants and serve the surrounding community.”
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