Chick-fil-A's longtime CMO got so many letters from teachers complaining about the chain's famous cows misspelling words in ads that he created a standard response letter

Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A launched its cows campaign in the mid-1990s.

• Chick-fil-A's iconic cow campaign helped put the chain on the national map when it launched in the mid-1990s.
• However, the cows' tendency to misspell words led to some unexpected consequences, according to Steve Robinson, who was Chick-fil-A's chief marketing officer for 35 years.
• Robinson and Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy received so many letters from teachers annoyed at the cows' inability to spell that Robinson developed a form letter to respond.
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When Chick-fil-A launched its cows campaign in the mid-1990s, the chain immediately had a hit on its hands.

"It was the first major step of putting Chick-fil-A in the national consciousness," Steve Robinson, who was Chick-fil-A's chief marketing officer for 35 years, recently told Business Insider.

"It clearly made the Chick-fil-A brand distinctive," Robinson said. "You blend the distinctiveness, the difference of the advertising with the distinctiveness of the experience in the restaurant and they complemented each other."

Since 1995, when the first cow campaign launched, Chick-fil-A has gone from a regional icon to one of the largest restaurant chains in the US. In 2018, Chick-fil-A became the third-largest chain in the US by sales, with $10.46 billion in American systemwide sales.

Read more: How Chick-fil-A got its name

However, the popularity of Chick-fil-A's cow campaign had some unexpected consequences.

Robinson writes in his book "Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A" that teachers began taking issue with the cows and their misspelled phrases. Soon, he and Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy had received so many letters that they had a go-to response.

"I responded with a standard letter: 'We're sorry, but Cows can't spell. It's just a joke. Maybe you could use it as an object lesson to help kids learn the right way to spell. Thanks for what you do!'" Robinson writes.

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• Every chain from McDonald's to Buffalo Wild Wings wants to be Chick-fil-A
• Chick-fil-A is taking over America by offering the best customer service in fast food
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