Chick-fil-A to Launch Family-Friendly Entertainment App Next Month

A Chick-fil-A restaurant in Chantilly, Va., on Jan. 2, 2015. Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Fast-food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A is launching an entertainment app that will feature animated shows and other programs aimed at families.

“Launching Nov. 18, the Chick-fil-A Play App will offer families the ultimate digital ‘playground’ featuring fun and unique content made to be shared both within the app and in-person,” the company said in an Oct. 21 statement. The free app is expected to feature a wide variety of content, including original shows, games, and podcasts. Original shows will include the Evergreen Hills series, which the company has been uploading on its YouTube channel for the past two years.

Kid-friendly podcasts, recipe videos, e-books, and interactive stories will also be available via the app.

“Hospitality and fun have always been at the core of the Chick-fil-A family experience, whether inside our restaurants and play areas, or through our Kids Meals,” said Dustin Britt, executive director of brand strategy.

“The Chick-fil-A Play App is a digital extension of that experience and another way we’re reimagining ‘Play’ for our guests in a unique way through entertainment that really encourages time together.”

The entertainment app is the latest decision Chick-fil-A has taken to expand its brand image and appeal to customers. The restaurant chain already owns the Pennycake brand of games and activities aimed at families.

The company sells several merchandise products featuring its brand name, including indoor sleeping bags, embroidered hats, and hoodies.

Restaurants Evolving Into Content Creators

Chick-fil-A isn’t the only food and beverage chain dipping its feet into online entertainment. In June, Starbucks announced the launch of Starbucks Studios, in an effort to produce “original entertainment.”

“Starbucks is teaming up with Sugar23, a multimedia production and talent management organization, with a goal to move culture through entertainment,” Christy Cain, vice president of brand and partnerships marketing at Starbucks, said at the time.

In early January, Chuck E. Cheese announced a game show series developed in partnership with Magical Elves, which is known for producing programs such as Top Chef and Brain Games.

The game show series aims to “leverage the global awareness” of the company and will feature two-member teams competing over supersized arcade games.

While Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, and Chuck E. Cheese have launched entertainment content, large streaming platforms are facing subscription challenges.

In the third quarter of 2023, Disney+ lost 300,000 subscribers in the United States and Canada. It later raised the subscription rate.

The platform then lost 1.3 million global subscribers in the fourth quarter, with the company attributing the loss to the “substantial price increase.” In August, the firm once again announced price hikes despite these subscriber losses.

Last year, Amazon announced introducing ads to its Prime Video streaming service, with the ad-free plan costing nearly $3 per month.

In February, Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to launch a joint streaming sports service, consolidating all their sports offerings into a single app. The decision was made amid declining revenues from traditional television.

According to data from Statista, Amazon Prime Video accounted for the largest share of subscription video-on-demand in the U.S. market for the third quarter of 2024, claiming 22 percent of the market share.

Netflix came a close second with a 21 percent share, followed by HBO Max, Disney, Hulu, Paramount, and Apple.