"Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," held on Wednesday, was set up by former Senator Rick Santorum and Governor Mike Huckabee as a nationwide rally to defend the company's president Dan Cathy after he spoke out last month against gay marriage.
Cathy's comments sparked a multi-faceted debate over gay rights, religion, free speech and business.
The conversation came to a head both online and offline on Wednesday, when thousands of people lined up at Chick-fil-A restaurants around the world in support of Cathy. Some gay rights activists held a counter-rally, taking pictures of themselves kissing one another in front of the massive lines at Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country.
Chick-fil-A was careful to distance itself from the potentially volatile event, but by the day's end, the company raked in record profits.
Mashable collected a sample of the conversation happening around Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, which you can check out in the Storify below: