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Chick-fil-A Kicks Off College Football Season With Free Food Giveaway

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080825/CLM073 )

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020219/CHICKFILALOGO )

The Chick-fil-A College Kickoff, pitting the University of Alabama against Clemson University, will be held at 8 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday, Aug. 30 at the Georgia Dome inAtlanta, Ga. and will be nationally televised on ABC. The following Monday, Sept. 1, from 10:30 a.m. until closing, customers are encouraged to visit any participating Chick-fil-A restaurant wearing football attire to receive a free 3-count of the chain's new Chick-n-Strips. Appropriate attire can include any visible article of clothing that contains any football team logo -- from a pee wee league uniform to a favorite NFL or collegiate jersey, hat, t-shirt or other accessories. The giveaway will be promoted during the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff broadcast on ABC, as well as other national and regional television networks.

"The college football season is an exciting time of year and we thought free food would be a great way to celebrate the inaugural Chick-fil-A College Kickoff game and encourage customers to try our new Chick-n-Strips," said Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A's senior vice president of marketing. "Simply wear your football spirit on your sleeve - so to speak - and we'll gladly provide an opportunity to enjoy our new Chick-n-Strips for free. Whether your team wins or loses, free Chick-fil-A food is a great proposition for any football fan."

As Chick-fil-A continues to strengthen its brand presence nationally, the restaurant chain anticipates the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff will be a strong complement to the chain's college-level sponsorship portfolio. Chick-fil-A has been the title sponsor of the Chick-fil-A Bowl (formally the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl) since 1997 and has helped grow the event to become one of the most competitive and highly viewed games during the college football bowl season. Last year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl's matchup between Auburn University and Clemson University was the most watched college game featured on the ESPN network and had the third-highest attendance of all bowl games. In addition to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Chick-fil-A sponsors championship athletic events year round from the Southeastern and Big 12 Conferences.

"The Chick-fil-A College Kickoff is the perfect complement to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and hosting these events in our hometown is a natural for Chick-fil-A," added Robinson. "This game will help us generate further awareness of the growing Chick-fil-A brand, as well as one of our largest menu additions of the year."

As part of the chain's most aggressive menu enhancement periods in its 41-year history, Chick-fil-A introduced its new Chick-n-Strips product in May that is 50 percent larger than the chain's previous strip offering. The Chick-n-Strips are offered as a 3- or 4-count entree for adults and in 1- and 2-counts for Chick-fil-A(R) Kid's Meals. To complement the new Chick-n-Strips, Chick-fil-A has developed a new proprietary dipping sauce: a smokey mustard recipe, simply called Chick-fil-A(R) Sauce.

About Chick-fil-A, Inc.

Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, Inc. is the nation's second-largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain (based on sales), with more than 1,400 restaurants in 37 states andWashington D.C. In 2007, Chick-fil-A produced record sales of $2.64 billion - a 16.09 percent overall increase and an 8.47 percent same-store sales gain that helped extend the chain's streak of consecutive sales gains to 40 years. In 2008, BusinessWeek magazine included the chain in its Top 25 list of Customer Service Champs.

Credited with inventing the boneless breast of chicken sandwich over 45 years ago and first introducing the chicken nugget concept, Chick-fil-A serves nutritious and freshly prepared food products in mall locations, stand-alone restaurants, drive-thru-only restaurants, Chick-fil-A Dwarf House(R) and Truett's Grill(R) full-service restaurants, and through licensed outlets in college campuses, hospitals, airports, businesses and industrial sites. More information about Chick-fil-A is available on the chain's websites, located at http://www.chick-fil-a.com, http://www.chick-fil-a.com/pressroom or http://www.truettcathy.com

SOURCE Chick-fil-A