This July, children aged 5-12 years old in some regions can sign up for a summer camp experience to go behind the scenes at a Chick-fil-A restaurant to see how the food is made and how operations work. It’s been predictably popular among young fans of the brand and the few locations where it is offered are already sold out. When news of the program broke, the brand received plenty of criticism online from people joking that it seemed like an evil master plan to employ child labor and commenting on whether employees were even qualified to work with or teach children in such an environment.
The brand was quick to point out that kids won’t be doing any actual work there, but the story does raise the larger question of whether these sorts of branded summer experiences for kids are evil or necessary. Dirty Jobs creator Mike Rowe praised the program as a great example of giving kids a look at the real world that they rarely get in school. Others suggest that the more kids see how businesses of all sorts really operate, the more prepared they will be for entering the world as adults.
What do you think? Is this just a clever brand excuse to foster loyalty and create a pipeline of future teenage workers? Or is it a valuable introduction to the real world for kids that more brands should offer?
