Social Media Crisis: The McDonalds Case

Taking the conduct of big brands in crisis management as an example offers useful insights to know how to orient ourselves when the avalanche cyprus phone number library of bad reputation threatens to overwhelm us. Remember that the ideal is to always be ready, exactly as would be appropriate in the case of other types of emergencies . Even on social media there is a big risk, and everything that has been built over time risks collapsing, taking with it the fruits of efforts and future possibilities. More Details : but complaining doesn’t help – we have to deal with the situation as it is

In closing, we will see two examples of online reputation management in times of crisis. The first case concerns a slip-up by McDonalds and the second the virtuous recovery of a terrible situation by Pepsi.

Examples of crisis management on social media

Using social media well is not the same as publishing posts and launching campaigns on the wave of sentiment. It is always better to think step by step about what is appropriate to spread, evaluating that the message or the method used does not backfire.

The case that overwhelmed McDonalds in 2012 is emblematic. The largest fast food company in the world was well-intentioned to promote the company in a participatory way, generating a lot of visibility. To do so, it had chosen to use a hashtag , a useful element for a strategy on the most immediate social networks, such as Instagram and Twitter .

The McDonalds Case

With the hashtag  McDStories he aimed to involve users in telling and sharing their experiences on stories and posts . And that’s exactly what happened. Millions of people shared their worst experiences: from customers to employees, email leads database everyone.  Had their say and spread their opinion, pointing the finger at practices for which. McDonalds has often been in the crosshairs. From animal abuse to precarious working conditions in which workers find themselves.

Hundreds of stories, some invented, some not so much. Have depopulated the web, which for days has talked about nothing else. This event has remained one of the worst social media incidents ever for McDonalds. Even today, that aura of distrust towards the company remains and. It is absurd to think that a single gross error can change the perception of the product so much .