Even though Seattleites love to boycott, they’ll eat Chik-fil-A

Who wants to join a boycott? Turns out a lot of you guys do. Gene Balk over at The Seattle Times has new stats about the boycotting habits of this country and it turns out Seattleites, in particular, are likely to boycott.

It’s particularly pertinent because Chik-fil-A is about to expand to the area, with a store going up in Bellevue in mid-April. Tacoma gets one in late April and a Chik-fil-A will also eventually find a home in Lynnwood.

Now, this is apparently a controversial fast food joint because three years ago, Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-fil-A said this:

“I think we’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. And I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude, to think that we would [have] the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is all about.”

He later said:

“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that…we know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”

So the question now is, will area residents boycott Chik-fil-a in Washington?

Well, Seattleites might.

Gene Balk writes:

According to the Current Population Survey, a joint undertaking of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, 27.3 percent of adults in the Seattle metropolitan area say they are boycotting (or its opposite, “buycotting”) a product or service based on a company’s social or political values. The only place that tops us is — where else? — Portland.

And he points to some recent examples of the boycotting, though I have to say, I didn’t get the sense it was a meaningful boycott. He said, “We’ve boycotted Seattle businesses opposed to a $15 minimum wage, and had a union-led boycott of the city’s two Hyatt hotels. The city council voted unanimously to boycott the state of Arizona over their anti-immigration policies back in 2010. Plus, local celebrity sex-columnist Dan Savage made national news when he spearheaded a boycott of Stoli vodka over anti-gay policies in Russia.”

He pointed out this isn’t just a liberal thing, conservatives boycott too. He pointed to a national boycott of Starbucks and Amazon for supporting gay marriage. Though again, not very meaningful.

So Portland tops the ranking with a reported 28.9 percent saying they’ve boycotted or currently are. Number two on the list is Seattle at 27.3 percent. Number three is San Jose. Number four is Salt Lake City and number five is Louisville, KY.

The cities with residents least likely to boycott, according to the report, are New Orleans, Miami, Birmingham ,and San Antonio.

The interesting thing is, people tend to boycott things they don’t already use. If I’m a fan of the product, I’m less likely to boycott. I don’t like the dumb political statements Matt Damon says, but I’ll still see his movies.

People love Chik-fil-A. I remember a story about gay activists who were torn and ultimately still ate at Chik-fil-A because they loved the chicken.

This is what I anticipate will happen: activists will protest for a week or two. The Stranger, if they don’t let go any more of their angrier writers, will write a blog or two, and then everything will quiet down because Chick-fil-A is a smart company.