Flip Side of Chik fil a

[tropaka]

late and can't get the spelling right, feel for the chain but call bS that they never heard of the American chain - it's an obvious rip off

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article ... hick-fil-a

long story short a chain in Southern Ontario Canada has experienced angry customers complaining about discrimination to the wrong company.

[B5SnowDog]

I don't think it's a rip off. The food is different for one thing.

[Guest Anonymous]

It looks so much like a rip-off to me! :lol:

The food may be different once you get seated and look at the menu, but if you're hungry and driving by, then a 'familiar-ish' sounding restaurant name is probably way more likely to draw you in, than an unknown name.

I guess the lesson is, be careful who you imitate. Though, to be fair, this guy seems savvy enough - he has managed to get the names and locations of his small restaurant chain into the national news - which can't be bad as far a free advertising goes - and the only losses he has encountered have been a few unpaid-for meals.

[mirele]

I guess if Chick-fil-a had any plans to expand into Canada, those plans have just been scotched. I don't think there are enough fundie Christians to the north to make a Chick-fil-A franchise a paying proposition.

[Boogalou]

I'd believe he had never heard of the American Chick-Fil-A before. I'm Canadian and I had never heard of it before the Duggars started supporting it. My parents, both in their 50's, hadn't heard of it before all of it's controversy started.

[Visionoyahweh]

This kind of thing is big overseas. I agree that they were ripping off the name, but flame-broiled chicken does sound healthier than CFA's fried crap.

11points.com/Food-Drink/11_Ridiculous_Fast_Food_Chain_Ripoffs_In_China

[3 is enough]

I'm not even sure the name was a rip-off. Sounds more like he was trying to anglicize an Arabic name- the restaurant serves North African chicken. Canadians are generally more accepting of other cultures, but there are still many who would shy away from an Arabic-sounding name.

And believe it or not, there are tons of Canadians who are not up to date with what is happening in the US. Chick-Fil-A is not a familiar brand to Canadians- they don't really have much of a presence in border states.

I was happy to hear that no one went in and complimented the guy for "standing up for traditional family values", though. :D

[Nothing2CHere]

I'd believe he had never heard of the American Chick-Fil-A before. I'm Canadian and I had never heard of it before the Duggars started supporting it. My parents, both in their 50's, hadn't heard of it before all of it's controversy started.

I can believe he'd never heard of it, too. I live in the US and had never heard of them until a few years ago, when one opened up in a nearby suburb. Heck, I don't think I had learned about Waffle Houses until I was in college, because there were none anywhere close to where I lived and my family never stopped at any when I was a kid and we were on trips (we usually stopped at McDonalds when en route to our vacation destination).

[CanadianHippie]

late and can't get the spelling right, feel for the chain but call bS that they never heard of the American chain - it's an obvious rip off

thestar.com/news/gta/article/1237546--angry-customers-mistake-chick-felays-for-chick-fil-a

long story short a chain in Southern Ontario Canada has experienced angry customers complaining about discrimination to the wrong company.

I'd say until recently, most Canadians had probably never heard of chick-fil-a.

That being said, I am with the above poster who is happy no one came in to support traditional marriage.

[ElphabaGalinda]

It looks so much like a rip-off to me! :lol:

The food may be different once you get seated and look at the menu, but if you're hungry and driving by, then a 'familiar-ish' sounding restaurant name is probably way more likely to draw you in, than an unknown name.

I guess the lesson is, be careful who you imitate. Though, to be fair, this guy seems savvy enough - he has managed to get the names and locations of his small restaurant chain into the national news - which can't be bad as far a free advertising goes - and the only losses he has encountered have been a few unpaid-for meals.

It wouldn't have been familiar to the people driving by those locations, because most people in Canada have never heard of Chick-Fil-A before the controversy. I had never heard of Chick-Fil-A before I started posting on FJ, and many Canadians who don't follow American news probably still haven't heard of it. So since it existed before the contraversy, at a time when no one but visiting Americans would recognize it, I don't think it's a rip off. The people complaining seem a little strange to have made that mistake...wouldn't they at least realize we do have Chick-Fil-A here? Unless they travel a lot they wouldn't have ever seen a real Chick-Fil-A...I've never seen one.

[ElphabaGalinda]

I don't think it's a rip off. The food is different for one thing.

Yup, and Chick-Fil-A still isn't a familiar brand name in Canada.

[CanadianHippie]

It wouldn't have been familiar to the people driving by those locations, because most people in Canada have never heard of Chick-Fil-A before the controversy. I had never heard of Chick-Fil-A before I started posting on FJ, and many Canadians who don't follow American news probably still haven't heard of it. So since it existed before the contraversy, at a time when no one but visiting Americans would recognize it, I don't think it's a rip off. The people complaining seem a little strange to have made that mistake...wouldn't they at least realize we do have Chick-Fil-A here? Unless they travel a lot they wouldn't have ever seen a real Chick-Fil-A...I've never seen one.

I've only seen a chick-fil-a in Smuggars instagram, and I go to the US at least once a year.

[ElphabaGalinda]

I've only seen a chick-fil-a in Smuggars instagram, and I go to the US at least once a year.

I also go to the US at least once a year usually twice. I think i don't usually go to the states where Chick Fil A is popular because I've only spent any real time in New York, Ohio and northern Pennsylvania. I've gone through more southern states like Tennessee or South Carolina on the way other places, but they don't have Chick-Fil-A off the highway any of those places. Those are the places I learned what Cracker Barrel and IHOP were, but never seen a Chick-Fil-A. I didn't even know how to pronounce it until it was on the news.

[Boogalou]

I go to the States a fair amount, mostly Upper New York State, but I have been to almost every state along the Eastern Seaboard, and the first time I saw a Chic-Fil-A (that I remember seeing because of Smuggar) was earlier this year in Orlando. Sometimes some Americans have a tendency to overestimate their influence and impact on the rest of the world. I'm not saying it's impossible that he ripped off the name, it is just incredibly likely he had never heard of it before.

[Guest Anonymous]

I concede that I am from the UK, know bugger all about Canada, and was no doubt talking through my arse, when I jumped into this thread.. :oops: :lol:

It would be a fab, savvy thing to do though: steal a bigger restaurant chain's customers, and turn any publicity, bad or good, into more publicity. Good on him for getting some free advertising out of what does now seem to be a rather unfortunate episode.

[ElphabaGalinda]

I concede that I am from the UK, know bugger all about Canada, and was no doubt talking through my arse, when I jumped into this thread.. :oops: :lol:

It would be a fab, savvy thing to do though: steal a bigger restaurant chain's customers, and turn any publicity, bad or good, into more publicity. Good on him for getting some free advertising out of what does now seem to be a rather unfortunate episode.

That's okay, I know very little about teh UK :D I am curious...I assume you don't have Chick-Fil-A in the UK either, would you say most people have heard of it before the controversy? Or is it only fundie watchers and people who pay attention to the international news who know what it is, like here?

It would be a really smart thing to do to get people to come to your restaurant. There's a frozen yogurt place around here that's fairly new and unknown that uses the same colours and font as a really popular one, though it has a different name. I'm sure someone has tried that before, and I would imagine it's a very good strategy.

[B5SnowDog]

Yup, and Chick-Fil-A still isn't a familiar brand name in Canada.

I figured it wasn't. It's not a familiar brand in some parts of the US.

The food sounds good to me. They have steaks and ribs in addition to chicken. Yum.

[Guest Anonymous]

That's okay, I know very little about teh UK :D I am curious...I assume you don't have Chick-Fil-A in the UK either, would you say most people have heard of it before the controversy? Or is it only fundie watchers and people who pay attention to the international news who know what it is, like here?

It would be a really smart thing to do to get people to come to your restaurant. There's a frozen yogurt place around here that's fairly new and unknown that uses the same colours and font as a really popular one, though it has a different name. I'm sure someone has tried that before, and I would imagine it's a very good strategy.

My guess is that most UK citizens would have no idea what Chick-Fil-A is, or that there had even been a controversy. It's 2012 and we are hosting the Olympics, the entire World News is now being streamed live from London, don't-cha know?....

Fundie news does not really get reported here. Since finding FJ, I have an altered reality that causes me great embarassment whenever I let slip something I read online - FJ 'news' generally causes the rest of my social circle to raise their eyebrows in astonishment that I know such 'weird' stuff. :lol:

[crassy]

late and can't get the spelling right, feel for the chain but call bS that they never heard of the American chain - it's an obvious rip off

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article ... hick-fil-a

long story short a chain in Southern Ontario Canada has experienced angry customers complaining about discrimination to the wrong company.

Granted I am not a restaurant owner, but I did work in the service industry in Toronto for nearly 20 years in everything from night clubs to trailer trash fine dining to fine dining. I had never heard of Chick-Fil-A until this whole thing blew up. I'm sure there are a lot of American brands I have never heard/seen. It is not unreasonable to think that this dude had never heard of them.

In Australia they have a Wendy's but it is nothing like the Wendy's in the rest of the world, it is ice cream and cakes. Nothing about it is even slightly similar to the American chain. Likewise goes for Coles the grocery store in Oz and Coles the bookstore in Canada. It isn't that unreasonable for two people to come up with similar names.

idk.

[Lainey]

Yeah, I seriously doubt the name is a ripoff. I only ever heard of Chick-Fil-A because I follow fundies. I've never even seen one. I like how the comments on the linked article all assume that *of course* the name is a ripoff, and *of course* everyone in Canada has heard of this "well-known" ( :lol: ) American chain. :roll: Once again, there's a big wide world out there, guys, and you are only a small part of it.

Anyway, it reminds me of a restaurant here in Calgary called Nando's. Even the logo is very similar.

[Hane]

In Australia they have a Wendy's but it is nothing like the Wendy's in the rest of the world, it is ice cream and cakes. Nothing about it is even slightly similar to the American chain. Likewise goes for Coles the grocery store in Oz and Coles the bookstore in Canada. It isn't that unreasonable for two people to come up with similar names.

And there's the Kohl's department store chain in the US. Not far from here (central Connecticut), there is a Lowe's home improvement store next door to a Loew's cinema, and there was an IHOP pancake house next door to a Hops beer and burger joint.

I wish southern Ontario weren't such a drive from here, because I'd love to try some broiled chicken with northern African spices!