The Scoop: McDonald’s wild comms week
Plus: CCO of Intuit asks for part of interview to be deleted; news outlets bite back at Perplexity.
When Donald Trump steps foot into any establishment, it instantly becomes a political lightning rod.
That was the case for a McDonald’s franchise in Pennsylvania, where Trump spent a few moments serving fries in a carefully constructed political photo opp.
The location was immediately bombarded with one-star Yelp reviews, prompting the site to temporarily suspend reviews. McDonald’s corporate, thrust into the political conversation, sent a lengthy statement to franchisees, which has (predictably) become the public-facing statement for the event.
The statement notes that Trump is a longtime fan of the brand, and that Kamala Harris worked at a store in the ‘80s (a fact that the Trump campaign baselessly doubts).
“Upon learning of the former President’s request, we approached it through the lens of one of our core values: we open our doors to everyone,” the statement read. It also reaffirmed their apolitical stance and refusal to endorse a candidate.
This is an internal statement to the McDonald’s system from the US Senior Leadership Team regarding today’s visit by the Trump campaign to a local franchisee in Pennsylvania. The statement outlines the origins of the event, the company’s response, and an invitation extended to… pic.twitter.com/1GntbmDbbY
— McFranchisee (@McFranchisee) October 20, 2024
Just as the news cycle was beginning to shift away from the campaign stop, McDonald’s found itself squarely back in the media spotlight as an E.coli outbreak stemming from Quarter Pounders left 10 sickened and one dead in the western U.S. The revelation sent the restaurant’s stock price plummeting to its worst levels since COVID.
McDonald’s released a statement pointing the finger at slivered onions and pulling Quarter Pounders from stores in a number of states, “out of an abundance of caution.”
But that’s not all.
Democratic senators this week also slammed McDonald’s for price hikes, reigniting a political battle over inflation, pricing and corporate profits.
McDonald’s struck back with a blunt statement, saying the letter “demonstrates a lack of understanding of our franchise business model and contains contortions of facts and many inaccuracies.”
Three crises, and it’s only Wednesday.
Why it matters: McDonald’s is currently a perfect storm of three of the biggest storylines in America today: a polarized nation, food safety handling risks and price hikes. All three hit on the same week, and we’re sending a shoutout to the communicators at corporate. Take care of yourselves.
McDonald’s handled the first two crises with statements revealing grace and empathy. The franchisee letter is a masterclass in branding and consistency, finding reasons to welcome both Trump and Harris into the fold while also making it clear that “We are not red and blue – we are golden.” Likewise, the statement regarding the E.coli outbreak contains phrases like, “it’s the right thing to do.” They’re plainspoken but full of pathos and earnestness.
Meanwhile, the clapback to the Democratic senators contains more teeth, defending its pricing and pointing to new meal deals designed to save customers money. It’s a tonal pivot, but sometimes that’s what’s needed.
McDonald’s is working through a complex period and is far from out of the woods. But the initial work from communicators is strong and offers lessons in empathy and understanding for us all.
Editor’s Top Reads:
- The CCO of Intuit asked The Verge podcast “The Decoder” to delete portions of an interview with its CEO, fully Streisand Effecting the interview and ensuring it got far more attention than it otherwise would have. The section of the conversation in question dealt with how Intuit has lobbied to keep free tax preparation tools off the market, which got slightly heated with raised voices and overlapping conversation. Pretty typical interview stuff. After the interview, however, CCO Rick Heineman emailed The Verge, calling the interview “inappropriate,” “egregious,” and “disappointing” and asking for a portion to be removed. The Verge, which has a notoriously strong ethics policy, said no, published the emails and the interview in its entirety. This is a cardinal sin for any PR pro. If your CEO was unprepared for tough questions, you have to take your lumps. There’s no deleting after the fact and going in swinging by calling an interview “inappropriate” is unlikely to win you any friends – but likely to win you a bunch of additional attention to that interview.
- AI startup Perplexity is facing a lawsuit from Dow Jones, parent company of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, over what Dow Jones calls “massive freeriding” on its content. Perplexity bills itself as an “AI-powered answer engine” that provides digests of information rather than Google’s classic list of links. “Perplexity proudly states that users can ‘skip the links’ — apparently, Perplexity wants to skip the check,” said Robert Thompson, chief executive of News Corp., owner of Dow Jones. Perplexity is also facing a cease-and-desist letter from the New York Times over similar allegations. This all shows how seriously the news industry is taking the threat of AI. They saw the mistakes they made with the rise of the internet and search engines and aren’t going to do the same this time. In the long run, this is good for PR: news needs money to survive, and the more people read the full article with context and quotes, the better. We’ll see how it plays out in the courts.
- American Airlines has agreed to pay a $50 million fine for mishandling of wheelchairs and wheelchair users in transit. The airline tried to come out strong with a lengthy statement about how it’s improved their services with $175 million in investments and reduced complaints by 20% in the last two years – all admirable work. But despite their best comms work, the headlines all focus on the negative fine, burying the good work. In a world where many people only read the headline, the PR battle may feel lost. But consistently highlighting improvements long beyond this one tough day can change hearts and minds long-term.
Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
This article summarized the comms week of McDonald’s perfectly! This is unlikely for a business to have this many crisis in a week. McDonald’s conducted crisis communications quickly and efficiently. In a situation where a political candidate visits an establishment, it is important to stay neutral to appease the public. The article addresses the work of the initial communicators as understanding and empathetic. This sums up their work beautifully. It will be interesting to see if McDonald’s revenue fluctuates after this week. – Braden Barksdale writer/editor for Platform Magazine