Back in July, when Alderman Moreno and Chicago Mayor Emanuel decided that the best way to represent “Chicago Values” was to penalize a company for its president’s personal views, Chick-fil-A had a brand rating of 62 according to rankings by researcher YouGov.
New statistics released by the company show that the war waged by these government officials on a company seeking to provide jobs to their city has been in some part damaging to the Chick-fil-A brand. From the 62 rating on July 10 to when it sunk as low as 30 on August 20, it is clear that the brand has suffered:
On July 16th, the day the Baptist Press published its interview with Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy, the chain’s Index score was 56, 7 points above the Top National QSR Sector average score that day of 49….Chick-Fil-A’s Index score didn’t stop dropping, hitting a low of 30 on August 22nd. From then, it staged a comeback, reaching the Top National QSR sector score of 49 on September 10th. But the Index score had dropped back down to 37 on September 19th, when the brand issued a neutral statement saying its corporate giving had been mischaracterized for many months.The chain’s Index score drop, from 62 on July 10th to 30 on August 22nd, represents a difference of 32 points, a feat not duplicated by any other top QSR brand since at least mid-2010.Chick-Fil-A’s current Index score is 40, while the Top National QSR Sector average is 53.
This is what happens when government officials use their capacities to play favorites in the private sector. Nothing but destruction to a company, to its employees, and to the business climate–an arena which ought to be at least allowed to do what it does best, create jobs.
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