Chili’s invoked the wrath of ‘Supernatural’ stans with one tweet about a ship
If you’re a Supernatural fan—more specifically a Dean Winchester and Castiel shipper—and a loyal patron of Chili’s Grill & Bar, brace yourselves. Because soon enough, you’re going to have to pick sides. The American restaurant chain has gone and made a boo-boo that’s almost unforgivable for Destiel stans!
So, yeah, Chili’s just called Destiel “the inferior ship!” As if! Do they now know that Destiel ranks first on the all-time top 100 ships on AO3? I know, I know. As a Supernatural girlie, I am hurt too. This is like being stabbed in the back by a rebar (sorry, Dean), or that time Castiel stole the colt from under Dean’s pillow. But anyway, here’s some context!
The official account of Chili’s Grill & Bar on X was mingling around on the social media platform, making friendly conversation, as brands do, with a couple of stan accounts of ABC’s 911 characters Evan Buckley and Tommy Kinard, ship-named BuckTommy.
Looking at the brand’s enthusiasm, one of the accounts joked that Chili’s might be a BuckTommy shipper. To this, another user replied with a reminder that Supernatural’s most popular ship, Destiel, also has a chain restaurant shipper in Olive Garden. And now BuckTommy, which is often compared to Destiel, has found one too in Chili’s!
It was all great and chill, but then Chili’s had to go and hit below the belt! In its response tweet, Chili’s threw a pity party at Destiel and called them the inferior ship! Ummm, excuse me, Chili’s?
Of course, fans were ready with their salt guns, crucifixes, holy water, and angel blades to call out Chili’s tweet. Initially, the brand even engaged with some of them, unfazed by their proclamation and taking it all in jest. However, the tweet seems to have been deleted now because, well… fandoms can get a little intense when it comes to their favorite ships.
While some Supernatural and Destiel fans called this a betrayal, others began claiming that Olive Garden was the better restaurant anyway. This is an inside joke for fans who know that Olive Garden was an enthusiastic Destiel shipper, having tweeted an interesting response to fans asking what Castiel’s Olive Garden order would be—and it had to do with Dean! The brand was known to even engage with Supernatural fans on Supernatural Day, which falls on September 13 every year, in honor of the premiere date of the beloved series.
Considering how much of a foodie and a lover of chain restaurants Dean Winchester is, and that he calls himself “Meatman,” he’s going to be mighty disappointed that Chili’s thinks so low of his and Cas’ bromance! And we’re just glad Jensen Ackles sings a song about Applebee’s and not Chili’s because can you imagine having to stop watching those convention videos?
One thing’s for sure, Chili’s may not have great taste in fandom ships, but it sure knows how to get its social media engagement going. Nothing baits like fandom ship wars!
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