Chick-Fil-A and a BIG PR Disaster

What is worse than getting your reputation ruined? Trying to restore it by creating a fake Facebook account, of course!

Chick-fil-A is an American fast food chain. A few weeks ago (July 2012) the company's reputation was affected by CEO Dan Cathy's anti-gay marriage allegations. Just a few days later, Chick-fil-A declared it withdrew kid's meal toys produced by the Jim Hendson Company, as these were defective. 

The outbreak started when a Facebook user publicly invited the company to avoid pretense of coincidence. At this point, a new user called Abby Farle advocated Chick-fil-A claiming to know for certain that the toy manufacturer had ended the contract much earlier than the CEO's anti-gay marriage stance became public.

(taken from here)

It was then discovered that Abby Farle became a Facebook user just hours before the discussion started and that images of a girl who looked exactly the same as her were available on Shutterstock. What a coincidence, huh?

The company denied its involvement in the Facebook discussion and invited its fans to spread this version of the story online. 55,000 people liked the post; however the mayors of Boston and Chicago have declared they wish to deny the chain licence to open new shops in their cities. 

MY COMMENT

How many coincidences! 

I think this is a typical example of a 'social media suicide'. Denial is an approach to crisis and issue management that I do not like, at all. I think that it is the worst response to a crisis in a highly connected world like the one we live in now. People talk, bloggers have a great influence, and common Facebook users can become revolutionists. Lying is not affordable anymore and companies should just accept it. Stakeholders prefer an organisation that admits its faults, apologises, and learn from its mistakes. I think denial is the worst move Chick-fil-A could have made. And the fake Facebook user is simply a no-no in PR! In this case, restoring the reputation would have been challenging because of the homophobic allegations alone. However, now the task will be even tougher, as it will be difficult to regain the trust of the publics and customers.