We all know it
takes a good PR professional to avoid a crisis or even turn a crisis gone badly
into a good one. A good example would be the “pink slime” issue all the grocery
stores had to deal with this week.
So what exactly
is pink slime? Pink slime is “ a low-cost ingredient made from fatty
bits of meat left over from other cuts. The bits are heated to about 100
degrees Fahrenheit and spun to remove most of the fat. The lean mix then is
compressed into blocks for use in ground meat. The product is exposed to
ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella”
(Willis).
This
extra ingredient has been added to the beef for years now. The thing was no one
ever really knew about it so it never bothered anyone.
However, with the magic of social media, it didn’t take long for everyone to know what was going into the beef they bought at their regular grocery store. Everyone now knows about the “ammonia-treated meat additive, and they want it removed from their beef products”(Rudawsky).
The store recognized for the best response to the customer’s
complaints was Kroger. Their statement said, “We have listened to your concerns
that the use of lean finely textured beef—while fully approved by the USDA for
safety and quality—is something you do not want in ground beef. You are our top
priority and for that reason we have decided to stop purchasing ground beef
that contains lean finely textured beef.”
Kroger did a great job in granting the wishes of their
consumers. They know what is best for their company and know what is at stake
if they don’t listen to the voice of their consumers. They didn’t try to lie
and cover up what they already knew was exposed. When dealing with a PR crisis,
it’s always best to just tell the truth once it has surfaced. People are more
likely to respect you as a company where as to if you were to lie to them, they
would lose all trust. It’s always a good idea to be informed and keep the
public informed of what exactly is going on. If not, people tend to create
their own ideas and start rumors, which just ends up making the crisis worse.
So if the issue didn’t come to everyone’s attention recently,
would it still be such a big deal? Would people even have cared or noticed?
Sources:
http://www.app.com/article/20120323/NJBIZ/303230060/-Pink-slime-fears-send-NJ-supermarkets-scurrying
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