End of the Cows? Chick-fil-A Parts Ways With 'Eat Mor Chikin' Creators

After more than two decades featuring one of the most recognizable ad campaigns in recent memory, Chick-fil-A has ended its relationship with the agency that created the Chick-fil-A cows.

Chick-fil-A has hired McCann Worldgroup and Erich & Kallman to replace The Richards Group, according to Adweek.

The Dallas-based Richards Group made the announcement on Thursday.

"After 22 years of partnership of course we are sad to say goodbye, but we have a lot to be proud of," the agency said in a statement. "We never would have guessed that Chick-fil-A would pass KFC as the No. 1 chicken chain in the country. ... That's something both Chick-fil-A and The Richards Group did together."

This week, Chick-fil-A announced its first new breakfast menu item in more than a decade, the Egg White Grill. The company's new ad agencies created the first commercials for the new item:

The commercials are the first that don't feature the famous Chick-fil-A cows that millions of customers may associate with the restaurant chain, but rather a series of historical figures.

Chick-fil-A added the new, healthier breakfast menu item at the expense of its popular Spicy Chicken Biscuit, which caused an uproar on social media.

The "Eat Mor Chikin" ad campaign launched in 1995 with a renegade cow, paintbrush in mouth, painting the three words "EAT MOR CHIKIN" on a billboard. Within the year, The Richards Group and Chick-fil-A turned the billboard concept into an integrated campaign that included in-store point-of-purchase materials and a radio commercial.

“Chick-fil-A came to The Richards Group with big dreams and a small budget,” said Stan Richards, founder and principal for The Richards Group. “They needed a campaign that would help them raise awareness and compete against the big burger chains, while preserving their unique philosophies and culture.”

Since then, the campaign received numerous awards and recognitions from advertising organizations around the world, including the 1996 OBIE Award, one of the oldest and most prestigious honors for creative excellence in advertising for outdoor advertising in the restaurant and food category.

In 2006, the cows were inducted into the Outdoor Advertising Association of America’s Hall of Fame.

In 2007, the “Eat Mor Chikin” cows were recognized as one of America’s most popular advertising icons in a public vote sponsored by Advertising Week and became the newest members of New York’s Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame.

The restaurant's Cow Appreciation Day is one of its most popular annual promotions each year, where free food is offered to customers who come into one of its locations dressed in bovine-like attire.

See also: Chick-fil-A Goof? Spicy Biscuit Axed for Egg White Grill

Image: Chick-fil-A