11/21/2023 0 Comments Shrimp in cinnamon toast crunch memeOf course, people on social media weren’t having it, and cue the speculation, memes and comments. We’ve all seen the image, and it wasn’t cereal. We assure you that there’s no possibility of cross contamination with shrimp.” Instead, the company issued a statement without a lab analysis or targeted recall, to say: “After further investigation with our team that closely examined the image, it appears to be an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar that sometimes can occur when ingredients aren’t thoroughly blended. Be transparent from the get-goīe honest, be authentic and control the narrative. In this case, Cinnamon Toast Crunch should have talked about getting to the bottom of the matter by immediately sending a pick-up service for the package to be tested in the lab. And, at this point, they appear to be under equipped to manage this issue.Ī golden rule of Issue Management: Stop the bleeding, as quickly as possible – ideally, before you can even blink! The first statement that was released set the stage and should have focused on safety, and appropriate follow up actions. It’s clear that Cinnamon Toast Crunch did not take the matter seriously enough in the beginning. So, how should brands respond when faced with a food safety issue? It’s really about immediacy and first impressions. It has happened before and it will happen again. Just this past month, Singapore recalled eggs for Salmonella contamination. Even in 2021 and under much more stringent rules and regulations, cases of contamination, tampered products, machine failure, and human error aren’t unheard of. Intentionally generating bad publicity and using it to build stronger visibility is plain silly – especially for a brand in the food business.Īs appalling as food safety issues are – they happen routinely. In today’s world of social media on overdrive, publicity happens quickly, and often with little proof. The mantra of ‘any publicity is good publicity’, no longer works. If it was meant to be a marketing ploy, does it really help a brand to respond in such a flippant manner? Surely, ‘globs of unmixed ingredients’ do not transform into perfectly formed shrimp tails – and even when the company made statements about taking safety very seriously, its actions did not match up. I have been following the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Shrimp saga and have more than a few questions: Was it meant to be a marketing ploy? Was it driven by the consumer to gain publicity? Was it a knee-jerk response? Or was it a case of communications gone wrong?
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