The public relations world was working in high gear a few days ago with the PR nightmare that Domino’s had to face online. Domino’s had to deal with a YouTube video of two of their employees acting very inappropriate while fixing food for their customers (ex. sticking cheese in their nose and putting it into a sandwich that was believed to be sold to a customer). PR professionals said that all of the message strategies and tactics that Domino’s did were appropriate and timely, but the issue and the images speak for themselves. A recent Ad Age article really does a nice job in outlining the crisis, where it all started, and what the corporation did that was right in terms of crisis communications. Domino’s actually started a Twitter account just for dealing with the crisis – interesting.
Others have described this case as going to be the “textbook case study” for crisis communications and social media – and even go as far to say that it is up to the same level as the Tylenol case back in 1982. PR professional and social media expert Brian Solis was quoted in an Ad Age article saying:
“This is a moment in time for all crisis communications. Domino’s is always going to be aligned with the Motrin, Tylenol and Walmart cases as [marketers] look at how to better create crisis communications and how to create social-media programs. I think they did it pretty well.”
We as public relations professionals can definitely learn from Domino’s and how they handled their crisis communication messages and strategies in this situation. The issue that Domino’s is facing is the fact that this is going to continue to be in the minds of their publics because it is online. These images and video clips are not going to go away, and it will take some time to let things settle down.
However, I believe that this is not only going to negatively impact Domino’s, but the entire food and restaurant industry. When you go out to eat out, you just don’t know who exactly is preparing your food – and that is a serious risk. I have noticed a lot more advertisements both in the traditional media as well as non-traditional media for brands that are in the food industry. The Domino’s case will indeed be one to study for years to come and be in all of the PR textbooks.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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