An Los Angeles Times blog notes that the planned counter-protest to the wildly successful Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day started-off weak:
Gay marriage activists had a vision: Tuesday would be their clarion call for consumers to reject Chick-fil-A and its president’s comments against same-sex unions, instead crowding into Starbucks and other more sympathetic companies.
Though its still early in the day, National Marriage Equality Day – originally known as National Starbucks Appreciation Day before organizers broadened the scope – seems to be getting a mostly mild start.
A Facebook profile created for the event by Equally Wed, a lesbian and gay wedding magazine, shows more than 34,000 people signed up to attend. But a photo page populated by submissions from supportive consumers had fewer than 20 images just before noon on the East Coast.
... Compare that with Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day last week, which was launched by former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. The event, inspired by comments from Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy backing the “biblical definition of the family unit," created traffic jams, out-the-door lines and record sales for the chicken chain. More than 670,000 people signed up on Facebook to attend.
A pro-SSM blogger in NYC had to admit by mid-day that the event wasn't going as planned, writing:
"...Either we've become too complacent about this issue or the event just wasn't organized and promoted with enough vehemence.
And now it seems like we may have lost this particular battle, especially since the haters cagily framed their actions as being pro-freedom-of-speech."
Today it appears the Starbucks Appreciation Day was a complete bust. This marks the second failed attempted to counter-protest the Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day last week (the first attempt was the failed Chick-fil-A "kiss-in"):
"The Chick-fil-A controversy has left the gay rights movement with the proverbial egg on its face. First it was the ill-fated national “kiss-in.” Then it was Tuesday’s “Starbucks Appreciation Day” – or rather, “National Marriage Equality Day.” Activists were asked to change the name by Starbucks’ execs who were worried about getting filleted in the Chick-fil-A-related melee.
Both counter protests were met with an unexpectedly tepid response from gay rights supporters in contrast to last Wednesday’s record-setting avalanche at Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day." -- William J. Kelley of the Washington Times
All of which is a good reason to continue keeping the pressure on Starbucks by helping us get to 50,000 pledges at Dump Starbucks!
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