But what many don’t know is that Chick-fil-A is far from atypical in fast food. Many chains have roots in two pillars of 20th-century conservatism: Christianity and free markets.
Maybe the best illustration of these roots came on Christmas Eve, 1987. Richard Snyder, then chief executive of his family’s chain In-N-Out Burger, heard its jingle on the radio. “In-N-Out: That’s what a hamburger’s all about!” Snyder, a born-again Christian, decided the song needed something more. Instead of temptingly describing the juiciness of a Double-Double burger or the smooth sweetness of a vanilla milkshake, Snyder decided to add a question: “Wouldn’t you like salvation in your life?”
This edit reflected the culture that gave birth to and nourished fast food. The quest for spiritual freedom and the search for the nearest drive-through may seem like two disparate experiences, but they have long intersected in the United States. Although companies such as In-N-Out and Chick-fil-A are increasingly identified with other national and global big brands rather than their founding families, the religious roots of fast food remain evident in their philanthropic and political activities as well as their packaging.
Many conservative Christian fast-food chains date to the postwar period. That was the moment when, in 1946, Southern Baptist businessman S. Truett Cathy launched what would become Chick-fil-A. Cathy was a Sunday school teacher who decided to close his restaurants on Sundays so his employees could go to church and spend time with their families. The decision also ensured that the chain reminded diners that obedience to the Christian Sabbath superseded the buying and selling of sandwiches. In the competitive world of fast food, forgoing a weekend day of profits shored up Chick-fil-A’s values-forward reputation.
Two years later, in 1948, In-N-Out debuted in Southern California. At the helm were Esther and Harry Snyder, who were raised in the Catholic and Methodist traditions.
Their son Rich, however, later discovered the evangelical Christianity that flourished on the West Coast alongside their burger business, and he inspired his mother to join him after his conversion in the 1980s. Rich and other members of his generation of In-N-Out heirs were and are prominent fixtures and supporters of the Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, one of the leaders of the Jesus Movement of the mid-1960s.
As In-N-Out was spreading beyond its initial outpost, so too was Calvary Chapel, which created its own national chain of churches. While they were originally designed to minister to wayward countercultural types, the church also developed its own dominant culture in Ronald Reagan’s Southern California; Reagan became governor in 1966. This culture insisted on strict interpretations of the Bible, motivated church members to engage in political battles against LGBTQ people and embraced capitalism, preaching the prosperity gospel.
Calvary and other churches that transformed into megachurches did so by integrating market principles in their strategies for spreading The Word. This model included mirroring the franchising system employed by fast-food chains by opening locations all over the world, with pastors playing the role of spiritual franchisees. The Snyders may have learned as much about branding at their church as at In-N-Out’s corporate headquarters.
For American Catholics, fast-food menus were a more pressing issue than the beliefs of chain owners, especially during the Lenten season. In the early 1960s, McDonald’s franchisee Lou Groen introduced the Filet-o-Fish sandwich to his largely Catholic Cincinnati clientele because he noticed that business slowed during the Fridays before Easter. Fellow Catholic Ray Kroc, the head of McDonald’s, loved the idea, and the menu item became a regular fixture at the Golden Arches. The rest of the beef-heavy fast-food industry followed McDonald’s lead and began to offer an array of Church-approved tartar-sauced fish patties.
In addition to the hours they operated and their menu items, the conservatism and religiosity of their owners influenced fast-food chains in two other ways: in their food packaging and their political and philanthropic activities. When Rich Snyder took over In-N-Out in the 1980s, he put Bible verses on the company’s cups and other packages, thanks to a conviction that being a Christian company meant sharing the family’s beliefs.
Similarly, Catholics Carl and Margaret Karcher, friends of the Snyder family and founders of Carl’s Jr., used their wealth to fund an array of faith-based institutions and guide their company.
A 1990 incident when the Karchers’ personal attorney Andrew Puzder — Donald Trump’s first labor secretary nominee, who was not confirmed — ran the company showed how important a particular kind of capitalistic religious identity was for fast-food titans and their chains. Puzder faced calls to resign from the board of a Catholic college because of an ad campaign by Carl’s Jr. sister chain Hardee’s, featuring born-again hedonist Hugh Hefner and Playboy Playmates. His response to the criticism summed up the realities of his industry and the contradictions of Christian America: “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a beautiful woman in a bikini, eating a burger and washing a Bentley or a pickup truck or being in a hot tub,” Puzder told CNNMoney in 2015. “I think there’s probably nothing more American.”
Although the advertisements alienated Puzder from Thomas Aquinas College, he remained at the helm of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, reminding that the Christianity of fast food was a prosperity gospel-infused one that valued the almighty dollar.
The conservative uproar over the ads exposed how the politics of fast-food chains started receiving more scrutiny in this era — with Chick-fil-A becoming a national story. Throughout the 2000s, Chick-fil-A’s individual franchises were embroiled in controversies ranging from allegations that a Muslim employee was fired for refusing to engage in Christian prayer to criticism for support of local, anti-LGBT groups. Beginning in 2011, the company came under considerable pressure for its support of anti-LGBTQ marriage organizations globally and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes after Cathy expressed support for “traditional marriage.”
The company decided to address the criticism, not by changing policy, but by rebranding itself as just another place to get chicken — though not on the Lord’s Day.
Chick-fil-A hired a new communications outfit to help turn it away from the scripture and consult the book of corporate relations speak. The company claimed that its more than 100,000 franchisees, employees and executives, “represent and welcome all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.” It refused to comment on LGBTQ marriage. Despite the change in tone and a few donations, Chick-fil-A has not entirely divested from conservative groups that advocate for anti-LGBTQ legislation globally or discriminate against LGBTQ people, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army. And the chain hasn’t lost business.
This move reflects how even as fast-food companies have grown, customers, whether they share the chains’ politics and religiosity or not, have remained faithful to them. In-N-Out’s current majority owner, heiress Lynsi Snyder, who took over in 2010, has expanded the selection of Bible verses that customers can encounter on “the fry boat, coffee and hot cocoa cups.” Yet In-N-Out has mostly avoided criticism and protest for this practice or its support of Republican politicians, possibly because of its uniquely generous practice of paying workers way above industry standards and focusing on employee development, which endears the chain to left-leaning customers.
The religious values of the first families of fast food not only inspired their respective businesses and shaped their corporate images, but they also provided tangible markers of success for those who believed in an almighty God and valued the almighty dollar. The enduring popularity of these fast-food companies, even in light of criticism and concerns about the exclusionary potential of their religious commitments, proves that a tasty meal or a profitable balance sheet can ease the concerns of consumers and investors alike.
Ironically then, while opposition to Chick-fil-A at Notre Dame may not be successful, activists at the Catholic college may notice the presence of another fast-food brand on campus. After Kroc, the longtime McDonald’s leader and a Richard M. Nixon ally, died in 1984, his widow Joan spent decades donating her fortune to liberal causes — including the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame.
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