An owner of several Wendy’s International restaurants publicly weighed in on the same-sex marriage debate.
Jim Furman, CEO of Tarheel Capital owns 74 Wendy’s restaurant chains throughout North Carolina and South Carolina. At many of Furman’s restaurants, Wendy’s patrons were greeted with the following posted message: “WE STAND WITH CHICK-FIL-A."
Shortly after the signs were posted and reported, Furman received a call from headquarters in Dublin, Ohio directing him to remove the signs from the doors.
The burger chain’s head staff advised that Furman shift his restaurants’ focus from controversy to their current marketing strategies.
Furman’s signs were in support of rival company Chick-fil-A. The chicken sandwich chain has been publicly criticized by same-sex advocates after their president Dan Cathy said he supported the “Biblical” concept of marriage. Fans of the chicken sandwich giant turned out in record numbers to support Cathy’s position and his right to express his opinion.
Wendy’s International made it clear that it wanted no part of this controversial debate.
"This is one independent franchise's personal opinion," a statement from Wendy's International read. "We are proud to serve customers of varied races, backgrounds, cultures and sexual orientation, with different beliefs and values. Bearing that in mind, this franchise has decided to remove the messages from his restaurant signs."
