Photo credit: Gluten Dude
Cheerios, the breakfast cereal, has a cherished place in most peoples’ kitchen cabinets – at least most people with kids. The recent recall of Cheerios offers some important lessons for PR professionals.
General Mills voluntarily recalled several days of production of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios cereal produced at its Lodi, CA., facility after finding that some boxes labeled as gluten-free might contain wheat. The recall involved about 1.8 million boxes. Products containing wheat can cause illness or severe reactions in people with wheat allergies or celiac disease and can cause illness or discomfort to people with gluten intolerance.
General Mills followed several best PR practices. Its response followed standard practice of quickly issuing a press release explaining the problem and steps the company was taking to resolve the issue, an apology from a top executive, social media posting, and outreach to influencers in the niche.
Although some PR commentators say the press release is no longer a viable PR strategy, the incident proves otherwise. Many media outlets published the press release, spreading news that was especially important to Gluten-intolerant customers.
The company stated that “an isolated incident resulted in wheat flour being inadvertently introduced into the gluten free oat flour system.” Customers with boxes would receive a full refund.
An Apology
Jim Murphy, president of the General Mills cereal division, quickly issued an apology on the company blog, saying he was “embarrassed and truly sorry.”
Murphy acknowledged that the company had failed to meet its commitment to make safe gluten-free products. Company tests of its oat supply found it to be gluten free. The company instituted additional flour handling protocols at all facilities to ensure the mistake will not happen again, he said.
The blog post included a link to the press release for people seeking additional information. In addition, General Mills announced the blog post on Facebook and Tweeter and pinned the news to the top of its Twitter page, allowing customers to find the information quickly.
Murphy’s apology has at least one shortcoming. He is smiling in his thumbnail photo at the end of the post, apparently his standard blog image. Studies have shown that apologies are more likely to flop when the executive making the apology smiles. Apologies are more likely to be perceived as sincere if executives look glum.
Celiac Bloggers React
Not surprisingly, General Mills still had its detractors. The celiac community was displeased. Even before the announcement, bloggers in the community had criticized the company’s testing procedures, particularly its practice of using average gluten amounts from boxes rather individual box results. Gluten-intolerant customers said they had become ill after eating Cheerios; others said they had no ill effects.
Although General Mills responded to an open letter from Tricia Thompson of the Gluten Free Watchdog, Thompson said lingering questions still remain. “Detailed answers from General Mills are needed before GFWD can begin the process of trusting that Cheerios are consistently and reliably gluten-free,” wrote the influential blogger.
“Cheerios is in a public relations nightmare right now,” wrote Amy Leger of The Savvy Celiac blog. “I wanted this to work. I like the idea of businesses having the tools to innovate to make products available to more people. But with each and every bit of bad news on Cheerios, I find myself shaking my head even more.”
“I am uncertain Cheerios can recover the trust of the core gluten-free community after this. Now we wait and see how the rest of this drama unfolds,” she added. “I, for one, will be watching.”
Bottom Line: The General Mills reaction to wheat being found in Cheerios boxes labeled as gluten-free exemplifies a proper PR crisis management response. Although the company acted quickly and followed the crisis management playbook, it still has work to do to win the trust of influencers in the affected communities of disease sufferers.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
