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'Eat More Kale' Artist On Chick-Fil-A's Embrace Of The Leafy Green

Published January 18, 2016 at 4:30 PM EST

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

OK, now we have some breaking news from our dedicated kale coverage desk here at NPR. You (laughter) just know someone had to pitch this at our morning news meeting today. Starting today, Chick-fil-A has kale on its menu next to the spicy chicken sandwich and the waffle fries. It's called the Superfood Side, and it has, quote, "hand-chopped kale and broccolini, dried cherries and nuts. Here's Chick-fil-A's VP of menu strategy and develop David Farmer in a promotional video explaining the change in the menu.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DAVID FARMER: We just want to make sure that it's - it just stays relevant.

SHAPIRO: For one man, the irony of all this was just too delicious.

ROBERT MULLER-MOORE: Really, could you script it any funnier than this?

SHAPIRO: Meet Robert Muller-Moore.

MULLER-MOORE: But everybody calls me Bo, the eat-more-kale guy.

SHAPIRO: Eat more kale is the slogan he prints on a popular series of T-shirts at his studio in Vermont. Back in 2011, he got into a long legal fight with Chick-fil-A over those shirts. The company said it was too close to their tagline, eat more chicken. After three years, Muller-Moore won the fight. He got the trademark to eat more kale, and Chick-fil-A was out of his life.

MULLER-MOORE: They have capitulated and left me alone. I have not heard hide nor hair from them.

SHAPIRO: So then Chick-fil-A goes and puts kale on its menu.

MULLER-MOORE: And my email blew up with literally hundreds of people writing me in a day, saying, could there be anything more ironic than Chick-fil-A now serving, nationwide, a kale salad - and not only a kale salad, but keep in mind I'm from Vermont. They're offering it with a maple vinaigrette dressing. Out of all the salad dressing in the world, they choose one that is maple-syrup based.

SHAPIRO: We called up Chick-fil-A. A spokesperson there did not answer our question about this irony. She did promise that the new side is delicious. As for Muller-Moore, he says the company has not offered to join forces with him to sell those eat-more-kale T-shirts. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.