Crisis Management unit 3 - Essay Example

Their print ad defense was found in a full page ad that read “Thank You For Suing Us” followed by a 5 paragraph explanation of why the lawsuit was filed based upon misinformation. After the ad was a promise from the president of Taco Bell, Greg Creed that they would prosecute anyone who made or continued to make false claims about the fastfood chain's products (Morrisey, Brian “Taco Bell Response to Beef Lawsuit: Sarcasm”). The company also took to social media networks Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to help counter the negative publicity by having Creed videotape his statement explaining how Taco Bell uses their beef and how the product is created.

A Twitter campaign in defense of Taco Bell was launched using #Beef and #TacoBell. (“'Thank You For Suing Us': Taco Bell Fights Beef Lawsuit with Full-Page Ads”). Due to the open disclosure strategy that the legal and publicity think tank of Taco Bell developed, the plaintiff(s), represented by Dee Miles of the law firm of Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis, & Miles were forced to drop the suit in April 2011. While Taco Bell maintains that no deal was agreed upon prior to the lawsuit withdrawal, MIles claims that Taco Bell agreed to change the way they advertise and market their products (Stempel, Jonathan “Taco Bell Lawsuit Dropped After Dismissal by Plaintiff”).

Other restaurants in the past have also faced image crushing lawsuits that were successfully controlled through proper crisis management. One of these cases involves the 2006 lawsuit faced by Rubio's Restaurants Inc. A regular client of the restaurant sued the company claiming that the restaurant was engaged in misleading advertising. The claim was that the restaurant substituted Langostino lobsters for the Maine lobster being used in their lobster tacos and burritos. The company came out of the lawsuit with minimal damage after providing restaurant clients in California, where the case was filed, with customers coupons (“'Thank You For Suing Us': Taco Bell Fights Beef Lawsuit with Full-Page Ads”).

What makes the crisis mitigation of this case different from the others is that the restaurant allowed a ruling to be handed down with the company agreeing to the settlement deal. While admitting guilt, the company also made amends for its admitted errors. Then there was also the case of Wendy's where a woman claimed to have found part of a finger in her chili. Wendy's eventually got the case against them dismissed due to evidence presented in relation to the heat at which the Chili is cooked and the fact that the finger found in the Chili served to the plaintiff, Anna Ayala, was raw.

Ayala eventually dropped her lawsuit claiming emotional stress (“Fast Food Finger Finder Drops Lawsuit”). The plaintiff was instead sentenced to 9 years in prison after a police investigation revealed that she was a serial fast food law suit filer and that the finger found in her Chili was planted by Ayala herself. Wendy's won back their clients and cleaned up their tarnished image through careful and effective public relations campaigns (“'Thank You Fo