It Tastes Like Chicken

Chicken is amazingly tasty and everyone should eat more. Why do I say that? Well, as I write this I'm sitting within miles of Tyson chicken, processing plants, farms, trucks, and corporate offices. Around here everyone knows someone who works for Tyson chicken. But, that little phrase, "It tastes like chicken" isn't a complement anymore. Maybe it never was.

This image is a work of a USDA employee, the image is in the public domain.

Kanakuk is an "Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics". That's a pretty good tag line. It says a lot, whoever came up with that one knows something about positioning. It used to be enough to hang your mantel out and say "We have very good tasting chicken." But today's advertising saturated world with 20 channels of infomercials, billboard mania, and don't forget the pop-up ads all over the internet make the word look like a mile long chicken house.

When we brainstorm in the marketing department, business decorum goes out the window. There's no boss, there's nothing off limits, we poke fun at the crazy things people say and in the end we come up with an idea that alone none of us would have hatched. When the buttoned up guy in the office points to the Martha Stewart website in his analysis of good web design, that's freedom! (Not that he hasn't paid dearly for it.) When we get in the zone and stay late to make sure that what goes to press is special, that's dedication. All the fun and hard work, we hope leads to something just enough different that people will be drawn to the Kanakuk experience.

I get up in the morning and drive to my office just across the street from K-1 and K-Kountry. I listen to the kids laughing, the water splashing, the roar of boat motors and I know first hand the stories behind those sounds. I sit at my desk and I pour over the day's assignments and pray that my efforts won't taste like chicken. Because, when was the last time you said to your best friend, "Oh, you should send your kids to Kanakuk. It tastes just like chicken."

If you ever get time to check out Kanakuk for your child you'll find it doesn't taste like chicken, it tastes more like a Cajun style seafood boil, with all the fixin's! Tell all your friends, just don't tell my friends at Tyson.

Does your ministry or company taste like chicken? How are you cutting through the noise of the world and making your mission statement come alive to meet needs and reach people?