Oct 22, 2024

Chick-fil-A is producing an animated series.

Watch out, Netflix! Chick-fil-A, the sometimes controversial chicken sandwich chain, will launch a new entertainment app and streaming service called Chick-fil-A Play on November 18.

The platform will offer podcasts, games, video-based recipes, e-books, and most importantly (at least to us) original animated series. The centerpiece series at the platform's launch was a fantasy series called “Legends of Evergreen Hills,” about a young girl apprenticed to a timekeeper whose kindness creates a resource called the Spark, which both good and evil The story is that the forces are lured into a universe where they seek it.

The project began as a series of two-minute shorts on Youtube, but was turned into a 10-minute short called “The Spark Tree” by Chick-fil-A, which has received over 141 million views on Youtube. The short was produced by Bento Box Atlanta and animated by Ireland's Giant Animation.

The Chick-fil-A Play app offers five new 22-minute episodes of Evergreen Hills.

The new app will also offer several short films starring the Chick-fil-A cow mascot. These shorts are already available online and are produced by Norwegian studio Saurus Animation and UK-based Blinkink, and again produced by Bento Box Atlanta.

Chick-fil-A's foray into entertainment production is not as outlandish as it first appears. As younger generations move away from traditional advertising like commercials, companies are trying to integrate more deeply into the entertainment ecosystem. Companies such as Nike, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and Starbucks are in the early stages of producing feature-length entertainment content, as are toymakers Mattel, Lego Group, and Hasbro, which have already produced films based on their products. Even jewelry and hair accessories retailer Claire's has partnered with Sony Pictures Television's children's division to produce a series for kids.

The key difference between these companies and Chick-fil-A is that the fast food chain distributes its own content, whereas other companies work with film & TV studios and streaming distributors to distribute branded content.

Khalilah Cooper, vice president of brand strategy, advertising, and media for Chick-fil-A, recently told Fast Company that the app will be a “safe and reliable” source of family entertainment.

Dustin Britt, another executive at Chick-fil-A, said, “Content and gaming are very adjacent to mealtime. If you want to watch or play something, you might do it while you're eating. You may do it on the way to a meal. Sometimes you do it while you're cooking a meal.”