When Chick-fil-A almost stopped an employee’s bag, she switched up and got another one. This is the story of 22-year-old TikTok creator @mirithesiren.
Since December 2023, Miriam, an employee at a local Chick-fil-A in Southern California, has been sharing the free meal items she eats during her lunch break with her TikTok users. Some of her videos even plugged new menu items. Her meal reviews have amassed anywhere from 14,000 to 500,000 views.
However, despite the positive reviews of the food and drink items, Miriam says she was contacted by upper management that the videos were against company policy.
“I was reached out to by Chick-fil-A upper management and PR to let me know that my videos actually break a rule in our employee handbook,” she explained. “I do want to make clear this rule was in place before I ever started making Chick-fil-A videos. Unfortunately, Chick-fil-A is not willing to make an exception for me or collab with me.”
“I want to make clear this is not a punishment. It wasn’t that I did something wrong in my videos or said something in my comments that caused them to say no more videos […] Chick-fil-A PR actually mentioned that they love my videos.”
According to Miriam, in just the last few months, she’s gained 50,000 followers on TikTok, and her most recent Chick-fil-A video, a review of the restaurant’s cherry berry drink, received 2 million views. The budding content creator seemingly remained humble, grateful, and thankful for all of the support she’d received online.
@mirithesiren Chick-fil-A Corporate has asked me to stop making content. I’m sorry you guys :/ Thank you for all the support and love but an era has ended. “The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TC&Js Enterprises, Chick-fil-A Whittwood, nor Chick-fil-A, Inc.” #fyp #chickfila #chickfilaemployee #chickfilasauce #chickfilahacks #curlyhair #blackgirl ♬ original sound – mirithesiren
At the end of her announcement video, Miriam stated that she hoped to collaborate with other brands despite being disappointed by her employer’s decision. Shake Shack heard her loud and clear and took her on that offer just days later.
Her latest video, posted on April 21, is a paid partnership with Shake Shack.
“Today, we are here at Shake Shack showcasing their chicken stack sandwich,” Miriam begins in the video.
@mirithesiren Went to @SHAKE SHACK and tried their CHICKEN SHACK – and you can too! Every Sunday in April you can get a free Chicken Shack with $10 minimum purchase using code CHICKENSUNDAY. #shakeshack #shakeshackpartner #chickenshack #fyp ♬ original sound – mirithesiren
“Chick-fil-A fumbled the bag,” social media users respond.
“A chicken sandwich on a Sunday [and] antibiotic-free. Whew, Jesus! Is it Palm Sunday?!” a TikToker wrote under her video.
Social media users are responding to Miri’s latest video, stating that Chick-fil-A missed out on what would have been a great partnership with their employee.
“Ooop! CFA dropped the bag, and Shake Shack grabbed it,” a TikTok user replied under Miri’s video. “Love to see it. Love this for our girl.”
“This is what you call Reverse Uno! Congrats boo,” another person commented.
And it appears that Shake Shack made the right move as people were influenced to have Shake Shack because of Miriam’s video.
“Shake Shack, you did a solid move with this. I think I’m going to get one of these for dinner tonight,” a TikToker replied.
“Let me drive 45 minutes out of my way to get Shake Shack now,” another stated.
Industry leaders are also calling Chick-fil-A’s handling a “missed opportunity.”
“Instead of taking a slap-on-the-wrist approach, Chick-fil-A should have […] collaborated with this excited employee to co-create content,” Hannah Giardino, a social media manager for a tech company, said on LinkedIn.
She adds, “Major missed opportunity, and she’s essentially already opened herself up to do this for other brands. Could have been a really interesting and authentic brand play, and it may very well be for a competitor.”
“We, along with the rest of her community, were disappointed to hear that this chapter was coming to an end,” said Mike McGarry, Shake Shack’s VP of brand marketing. “We loved the energy and authenticity Miri brought to her content.”
McGarry went on to say that the company partnered with Miri because “everything about her content felt aligned with Shake Shack’s ethos of quality food and strong community.”
