There are many benefits of social media sites like Foodspotting and Foursquare for the food service industry however, there’s also quite a few examples of how social media has launched companies into crisis-mode in a matter of minutes.
Take Dominos pizza for example, they barely had any social media presence at all when two employees posted a video on YouTube of themselves doing disgusting things to a pair of sandwiches before they were sent out for delivery. The video went viral almost immediately and Dominos was forced to respond – quickly, in order to try to re-gain control of the situation. They were praised for handling the social media crisis quickly & honestly and three years later the company continues to grow. Below is the video the company’s President released in response to the video.
Taco Bell went through a similar situation, when a class-action lawsuit about thier “all beef” claims started a viral-frenzy of repulsion across social media sites like Facebook, Twitter & YouTube. They were a little late in their response and as a result, were not able to get much traction with their online tactics. Their President, took to YouTube to post his response but the video (below) was met with mixed reviews. Consumers were disappointed with the response posting comments like, “Don’t B.S. us, We know that there is real beef in the taco, but you use some filler” and “Like y’all would come out and say, ‘We’ve just been caught.” (mashable.com)
McDonald’s has also fumbled with social media in the past. They purchased Twitter hashtages for a Twitter campaign to promote the use of fresh produce, and inserted paid-for tweets into the streams of Twitter users with the hashtag #MeetTheFarmers. The campaign was supposed to last 24-hours however it quickly went down-hill when the company changed the hashtag to #McDStories. The hashtag was hijacked by angry customers who posted Tweets like:
“Fingernail in my BigMac once #McDStories, McDonald’s Twitter Hashtag Promtion, Goes Horrible Wrong,” said user @capnmarrrk.
“Hospitalized for food poisoning after eating McDonalds in 1989. Never ate there again and became a Vegetarian. Should have sued #MCDStories,” @Alice_2112 said.
“Watching a classmate projectile vomit his food all over the restaurant during a 6th grade trip #McDStories,” @jfsmith23 said.
Within one hour McDonald’s social media director said in an interview, that they saw the promotion wasn’t going as planned and ‘set about a change of course’. (socialmediatoday.com)
Social media can be extremely useful in building deeper relationships with consumers, “pulling the curtain back” on their favorite dishes and allowing them to get to know the staff on a much more personal level. Through all of the articles and research I’ve done, it’s apparent that behind-the-scenes tactics seem to work much better with higher-end restaurants than fast food chains.
“A local Taco Bell is going to connect and build community in a very different way versus a Michelin-rated restaurant that brings passionate foodies together,” (Lorrie Thomas, CEO of Web Marketing Therapy).
Whoever the target audience is, a company should have clear objectives set but also a crisis-management strategy in-place before launching a social media campaign. It’s impossible to fully control your message online, so being present, engaged and proactive can help to remain the leading provider of information about your brand.
I’m really enjoying researching this topic and am finding so much content! Although I won’t be able to share everything I’ve found, I’ll compile all of my thoughts into next (my final) Industry Impact post.
Until then –
m.
melanie smith 
Great topic! it almost seems like company’s actually care less and unless the incident is very significant or as in your examples becomes viral most company’s really do take for granted their customer base.
Great post. Having clear objectives and a crisis management strategy before your social media campaign begins, is great advice. Thank-you.