Buffalo Wild Wings eats crow after tweet

Post hinting at Astros scandal draws calls for boycott, leaves company backpedaling

Buffalo Wild Wings’ tweet contained just eight words and made no mention of the Astros.

But it was enough to ignite a social media firestorm that had ardent Astros fans calling for a citywide boycott of the chicken wing chain, putting local franchise owners and their employees in the crossfire.

The fallout over the tweet underscored the perils of social media for businesses looking to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

“When brands are trying to be cheesy and cool with their tweets, it can be a double-edged sword,” said Venky Shankar, research director at Texas A&M University’s Center for Retailing Studies. “You can draw attention, but on the other hand, it could backfire. Social media is fraught with danger.”

Buffalo Wild Wings, based in Atlanta, ran afoul of Astros fans on Friday after tweeting, “THAT’S how you punish a team that cheats,” in response to Manchester City soccer club being fined $32.5 million and

banned from the Champions League for two seasons after allegedly breaking financial rules that govern European teams.

The tweet was a not-soveiled reference to the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal and Major League Baseball’s decision to neither punish players nor vacate the team’s 2017 World Series title.

The response from Astros fans was fast and furious.

Many said they were taking their business elsewhere. Competitors responded with snarky tweets. Houston-based Big City Wings replied, “You’re punishing us with your bad food,” and Pluckers, based in Austin, posted a link to its merchandise shop.

The Atlanta-based chain Hooters offered aggrieved Houston fans a special chicken wings deal during the Astros season opener next month.

Franchisees aghast

Buffalo Wild Wings on Saturday apologized for its tweet, saying “Well done H-Town for coming to your team’s defense.” However, the hashtag #BoycottBWW continued to trend on social media Monday, and the company held a conference call with Houstonarea franchisees.

The chain has 25 sports bars in the Houston area, which employ about 1,500 workers. About half of the locations are owned by franchisees.

Chris Olexa, a Beaumont native who owns eight Buffalo Wild Wings franchise locations across Louisiana and southeast Texas, including in Beaumont and Port Arthur, said he was surprised by the errant tweet and worried about its impact on his business.

The sports bars regularly host Astros watch parties, and were packed during the World Series.

“As franchisees, we are not happy at all,” Olexa said. “We’re super upset. We support the Astros 100 percent.”

Costly missteps

Restaurant chains are increasingly using social media, particularly Twitter, to weigh in on popular culture to better engage with consumers.

Wendy’s, in particular, has received popular acclaim for its Twitter feed, which cracks jokes and roasts competitors such as McDonald’s.

In 2017, Wendy’s promised a Nevada teenager free chicken nuggets for a year if his tweet got 18 million retweets, spawning the social media campaign #NuggsforCarter and widespread media attention. The teen hit his goal, and the Ohio hamburger chain gave him free nuggets for a year and donated $100,000 to a foster care nonprofit.

This past summer, Popeyes’ Twitter response to Chick-fil-A over the Popeye’s new fried-chicken sandwich ignited the socalled “chicken sandwich wars.” Chick-fil-A, based in Atlanta, posted, “Bun + Chicken + Pickles = all the heart for the original,” to which Popeyes, of Miami, responded, “Y’all good?” Popeyes sold out of its chicken sandwich, and its Twitter following nearly doubled.

Missteps, however, can be costly.

El Tiempo Cantina in 2018 deleted its social media pages after the TexMex restaurant chain posted a Facebook photo of its Houston owner with then Attorney General Jeff Sessions, drawing outrage and calls for a boycott from customers who took issue with the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

In 2018, Buffalo Wild Wings apologized after its Twitter account was hacked and spewed a string of crude and racist posts.

Research shows that any kind of publicity, whether positive or negative, can help companies raise awareness of their brand, said Shankar, the Texas A&M retail professor.

If the public reaction is overwhelmingly negative though, it could hurt business, he said.

“That’s certainly a risk they have taken,” Shankar said of Buffalo Wild Wings.

Delicate line

Chris Fuller, the chief communications officer for Inspire Brands, the Atlanta holding company that owns Buffalo Wild Wings, said the chain’s social media team is encouraged to chime in on timely and even hot-button topics in the world of sports.

Fuller, however, said it’s against the company’s protocol to single out a group of fans — hence the apology.

“It’s a delicate line you have to walk between being interesting and being controversial,” Fuller said. “We’re not afraid to go into topics that are controversial. But at the end of the day, we’re about bringing people together over sports.”

Fuller said metropolitan Houston is an important, “priority market” for Buffalo Wild Wings. In fact, the chain opened its next generation restaurant in New Caney a year ago.

The prototype — which features a new logo, colors, more TV screens and an outdoor patio — has become the model for new locations across the country.

“We have so much love for Houston,” Fuller said. “This one hurt. We are going to do everything we can to win back some love in Houston.”