Chick-Fil-A Almost Gets It Right, Almost.

My Experience:

Last evening as I was packing up my things to leave work and go home, a young lady from Chick-Fil-A showed up in our office with a large container and passed out free Spicy Chicken Sandwiches.  She was dressed well, clean cut, friendly and generous with the sandwiches.  An impressive representative for Chick-Fil-A.  She was careful to visit every person in the office and offer them a free sandwich or two.  Everybody seemed pleased and grateful.   Who doesn’t like free food?

I thought this was a very smart move on Chick-Fil-A’s part and was impressed they made the effort to promote themselves and their new menu item in a very creative way. 

I took my two sandwiches home to eat for dinner with my family.   After the first two bites, I was unable to finish my sandwich.  It was too spicy for me and it was too spicy for the other members of my family.  We aren’t fans of very spicy food and while I knew this was a Spicy Chicken Sandwich, I was hoping it was something my Scandinavian palate could handle.  It wasn’t and, along with my family, was very disappointed that we were unable to finish our dinner and had to prepare something else.  

What Chick-Fil-A did right:

1. They were creative by sending out a positive representative to pass out their free sandwiches.  She was dressed in clean khakis, a white polo shirt, well groomed and friendly.  She left us all with a very positive impression about Chick-Fil-A.
2. They were creative by giving out the free sandwiches.  They went on the offensive by reaching out and giving their food to people who may have never been to a Chick-Fil-A or haven’t been there for a while.  The goal is to drive new traffic to their restaurant. 
3. I have always been impressed with Chick-Fil-A.  Their restaurants are always clean and their employees well trained and friendly.  They are a well run company that takes pride in what they do and how they treat their customers. 

What Chick-Fil-A should have done:

1. They should have had a less spicy or a regular sandwich to give away to those few of us who don’t like spicy food.  Not everybody can handle or likes hot and spicy food.  

Summary:

Overall, I like Chick-Fil-A.  Unfortunately, I ended up being disappointed.  I understand their strategy to drive traffic to their restaurants and I think it was the right idea.  I also must be in a very small minority of people who don’t like hot and spicy food.  I tried googling to find out what percentage of people don't like spicy food and only found sites promoting and singing the praises of it.  It appears that Chick-Fil-A’s promotion will be fine and they won’t alienate too many people.  Just a few of us. 

Chick-Fil-A turned an initial positive experience into a disappointing one.   Despite my overall positive feelings about them, I was disappointed in the end and don’t have any plans to visit one of their restaurants any time soon.