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Chick-fil-A’s susceptibility to controversy continues to reach new boiling points.

Post-gaffe, the chicken-centric juggernaut’s CEO has refused to revoke his unpopular remarks made last month disapproving of same-sex marriage, instead opting to focus on pumping-up the company’s “family-oriented” business model, which also happens to be unabashedly religious judging by the meat of its $5 million worth of anti-gay donations. (And those are just the ones we know about.)

But sadly for the company – and fortunately for LGBT supporters everywhere – its business model is proving to be remarkably tragic, with its brand name rating sinking from a score of 65 to 46, based on survey results from the Top National Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) Sector.

This could be because some of the most divisive political figures (see: Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum) are endorsing Dan Cathy’s comments, or it could be because media-savvy youth are unwilling to let the viral story hit a wall.

Chick-fil-A memes, trending topics on Twitter, online petitions – these are just a few of the more subtle ways youth have taken action. But to say the social media movement is merely a “Kony 2.0” course of action might be underestimating the political astuteness and boycotting capabilities of youth.

Youth in Pennsylvania have been rallying against the chain restaurant since controversy first sparked from a restaurant location in Mechanicsburg, Penn. in 2011, resulting in statewide protests from university students more than eager to publicly voice their discontentment.

“When a business is actively working to deny rights to a marginalized group of people, it should be considered discriminatory – regardless of the ‘free speech’ argument,” said William Lukas, co-president of Drexel University’s FUSE.

Lukas, along with other students from the organization, organized a protest in May countering Drexel’s decision to allow Chick-fil-A to participate in a prominent university-sponsored leadership conference, despite what Lukas called otherwise “progressive” steps forward toward improving diversity at the school. The protest consisted of student leaders representing Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia University, PSEC and more, eventually resulting in Drexel organizing an open-forum LGBT event held prior to the leadership conference.

The protest, among others in the state, was considered a success in a digital era where social media has been undermined to the point of giving youth the bad rap of being lackadaisical in their activist aspirations.

“I certainly think that Chick-fil-A came out of a progressive LGBT blogosphere that now has become mainstream – the story has become a phenomenon,” Lukas said. “So, essentially, with the way we communicate in organizing and activism, [social media] has been huge in connecting people and raising awareness about issues people may not otherwise know about,” Lukas said.

Luis Medina, former GSA president from Bloomsburg University, co-organized a student protest against the presence of Chick-fil-A on Bloomsburg’s campus in the winter of 2011, which eventually garnered attention from a local ABC news station and made waves in their Student Government and the surrounding area.

“Chick-fil-A became a big debate on-campus because of a Facebook group we created; freshmen in particular made an effort to become involved,” Medina said. “The message we really hit home was, ‘Would you eat here if [Chick-fil-A] supported the KKK?’”

These relatively small protests in the past – including a youth-led peanut-butter and jelly sandwich protest held at the University of Pittsburgh in winter 2011 and an unthinkable Pride Week sponsorship from Penn State’s Hub Dining Chick-fil-A —have become amplified two-fold by increased awareness on the Internet since Chick-fil-A’s original round of controversy. Now, nearly two years later, youth are more prepared than ever to turn-out in large numbers in support of equal rights. Eight of the 59 Chick-fil-A locations in Pennsylvania are on university campuses.

Though conservatives across the country reportedly filed into their local Chick-fil-A’s to support the company’s “traditional” values, social media-savvy youth are already being alerted about another counter-protest being organized online by GLAAD : “National Same-Sex Kiss Day.”

“I hope [National Same-Sex Kiss Day] serves as a wake-up call to the rational-minded people out there, who aren’t yet strong LGBTQ allies,” said Ed Coffin, campaign director for Peace Advocacy Network. “In Pennsylvania, it’s legal to fire someone for their job, or evict them from their home for being gay — what’s going on is appalling and LGBTQ folks can’t do this alone.”

Onlookers eagerly await the turn-out of today’s protest, which stands out as one heavily-highlighted example of youth-led and supported bouts of activism, potentially setting the stage for even grander endeavors in the future.

This post was written by Brandon Baker, a student at Temple University. He can be reached at bbaker@pennsec.org.