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Chick-fil-A kicks off college football season with giveaway
August 24, 2009
Chick-fil-A is again celebrating the start of the college football season with the the second-annual Chick-fil-A Kickoff football game by offering a free chicken sandwich to customers. On Sept. 7, Chick-fil-A customers who visit the chain's restaurants wearing any sports-related apparel will receive a free Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich.
The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, pitting the University of Alabama against Virginia Tech, will be held at 8 p.m. Eastern time Sept. 5 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, and will be televised nationally on ABC. The following Monday, Labor Day, from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., customers are encouraged to visit any participating Chick-fil-A restaurant wearing their favorite sports-related apparel to receive a free Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich. Appropriate attire includes any article of clothing with a sports team logo, whether a Little League uniform or a favorite professional or collegiate jersey, hat, T-shirt, socks or other accessory.
"Last year's inaugural Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game was a huge success, and we are thrilled to see the excitement building for this year's event," said Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A's senior vice president of marketing. "This promotion has proved to be a great way to celebrate the beginning of college football season, and what better way to celebrate than giving away the Original Chick-fil-A Sandwich?"
Online giveaways
In addition to leveraging the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game broadcast on ABC, Chick-fil-A has developed an online campaign to further promote the sandwich giveaway. The chain has launchedwww.ChickenWave.com, where fans can create a virtual version of a stadium fan "wave" for a chance to win various Chick-fil-A prizes. The site incorporates photos of fans' faces and allows users to invite friends to join their "section."
The first 250,000 people to join the Wave will receive a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich, and the next 750,000 fans who join will receive a coupon for a free Coke Zero. From Aug. 24 - Oct. 31, the chain will conduct a daily drawing among all Chicken Wave users for a $50 Chick-fil-A Gift Card. In addition, Chick-fil-A will reward the largest Wave section with a free 2010 Chick-fil-A Cow Calendar, which includes monthly coupons redeemable for free Chick-fil-A food.
Last year, the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game between then No. 9 Clemson and No. 24 Alabama delivered a sold-out Georgia Dome and a prime-time broadcast on ABC, drew the attention of the national media, earned an appearance by ESPN's College GameDay built by the Home Depot and helped springboard Alabama to an eventual No. 1 ranking. The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game also provided each university an academic scholarship of $50,000 Chick-fil-A has also been the title sponsor of the Chick-fil-A Bowl (formerly the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl) since 1997 and has helped grow the event to become one of the most competitive and highly viewed games during the collegiate bowl season.
Scholarship milestone
Chick-fil-A continues its 36-year commitment to education with founder S. Truett Cathy reaching his $25 million Leadership Scholarship milestone during a year when the restaurant chain has allocated $1.4 million in scholarships to be awarded to its restaurant team members.
Cathy celebrated the milestone and acknowledgement of the 25,000th Leadership Scholarship to Chick-fil-A team member Jamie Dyche of Bossier City, La. The ceremony was held at Atlanta's downtown 23-foot Chick-fil-A "Climb with Care and Confidence" statue that was commissioned in 1995 by Georgia State University art students to celebrate Cathy's 10,000th scholarship milestone.
Commemorating the event was the unveiling of a plaque with the image of a mayonnaise jar. The plaque is symbolic of the story that occurred 54-years-ago when Cathy encouraged and helped one of his earliest restaurant team members, Eddie White, to attend college.
Cathy placed a collection jar in his first restaurant, the Dwarf Grill from which the chain was founded, to raise funds for White. At the end of that summer, Cathy wrote a personal check to make up the lacking funds for White, who became the first in his family to attend and graduate from college.
Scholarships have now grown to include 25,000 restaurant team members benefiting from the founder's commitment to education with Chick-fil-A's Leadership Scholarship program formally organized in 1973. Restaurant team members have attended more than 2,400 colleges, universities and other educational institutions across the country with the aid of these scholarships.
Recipients return to system
Following college graduation, many of these restaurant team members pursue full-time careers at Chick-fil-A, such as Dyche's franchisee operator John Roden, who also received one of the chain's scholarships while working during high school for Chick-fil-A. Roden has now helped 19 of his restaurant team members benefit from the same scholarship program.
The Leadership Scholarship program provides $1,000 scholarships to its restaurant team members who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of work, education, community and personal leadership development.
Chick-fil-A also awards S. Truett Cathy Scholar Awards, which provide additional $1,000 scholarships to the top 25 Chick-fil-A Leadership Scholarship recipients each year. Implemented in 1996 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Chick-fil-A's scholarship program, this year's S. Truett Cathy Award recipients brought the total awarded to $325,000.
Additionally, Chick-fil-A's WinShape Foundation provides thousands of dollars in scholarships to qualifying students enrolled in Berry College in Rome, Ga. WinShape's partnership with Berry College offers joint four-year scholarship funding to students of up to $32,000. To date, the foundation has awarded approximately 951 scholarships to students from across the nation to attend Berry, one of the top regional liberal arts schools in the country.
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