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Posts Tagged ‘Recall’
McDonald recalls cadmium-laced Shrek glasses
June 17, 2010 | 
Author Shrek has indeed landed a nasty blow on the brand image of McDonald’s! The famous fast food chain of McDonald’s is recalling 12 million drinking glasses from the US markets which were launched to promote the cartoon movie “Shrek” because the painted designs on the glasses contain the toxic metal cadmium. The cadmium paint might enter the children’s body through their hands and this would put them to risk as it is a known carcinogen that can cause cancer on prolonged use. Cadmium is generally added to paints to make bright colors, but it is unusual for cadmium containing paints to be used in consumer products like glassware.
In an unusual damage control exercise, McDonald’s has asked customers’ to stop using the 16-ounce glasses with immediate effect. Originally sold at $2 each McDonald’s has started paying customers $3 for every Shrek glass returned. The customers can return the glasses in any of the McDonald’s restaurants and receive the cash on the spot.
To me the whole thing about the McDonald’s glasses is very much a mystery, and why they would be putting cadmium pigments in there,” said Hugh Morrow, a consultant for the International Cadmium Association and a former president of the trade group in North America. “Our position is that cadmium pigments should not be painted on consumer glasses.”
Meanwhile, sales in McDonald’s outlets recorded a sharp rise of 3.4 percent in May, which is attributed to the overwhelming popularity of Shrek themed promotional campaigns for its Chicken McNuggets and Happy Meals. By acting fast and paying a premium to its customers, McDonald’s is back on its saddle ( well… almost) and has done its best in brand protection . The fact that McDonald’s announced the recall soon after the Consumer Product Safety Commission said that tests showed low levels of Cadmium, even though glasses were not considered toxic as the risk was really low. This act indeed helped it get back into the good books of the customers. In a way, it is nothing but Reputation Management at its best.
Posted in Company Reputation, Reputation Management | 
Tags: brand reputation, cadmium, carcinogen, Recall, Reputation Management, Shrek glasses | 
2 Comments »
Toyota Problems Deepen, Prius Recall Worldwide – A Reputation Management View
Toyota, known the world over for reliability, safety and quality is at its worst times, the problems don’t seem to die down and now the Prius Hybrid cars are being recalled for brake problems. The crisis is set to deepen further if cars are recalled in the US and Japan tomorrow.
From being the gold standard in management, the Toyota company is now facing the biggest reputation problem ever in its history. The stock values fell and soon we had the Toyota Chief and President Akio Toyoda making a statement.
“The recalls are affecting several models in several regions and have caused anxiety among customers who are wondering if their cars are OK. For that we are very sorry”, Toyoda also said the cars are safe, “We always put the customer first.”
The apology made by Toyoda hit the right chord and even the fickle stock value improved and in reputation management terms this was THE way to go ahead. However, as the worldwide recall looms large, the innuendos of mis-management in choosing their suppliers and even rumours of US politics making a play in this crisis with the current protectionist mood against foreign firms in the US, are all over the media.
Toyota insists the Prius braking problems and the recall has nothing to do with safety but for the motor giant – the largest car seller in the world these are dark times indeed!
Here at Reputation Management For.com we have these Business Reputation Management suggestions:
- Toyota needs to bring out details on why the brake problems are not safety related.
- Toyota needs to put out more information on how the recalls are being handled with step-by-step instructions to their customers.
- The company also needs to put out customer testimonials on how the recall was handled smoothly on a case by case basis and encourage their happy customers to make Tweets and posts on FaceBook and blogs.
- Toyota needs to educate customers to identify the right brake problem and assure people all queries will be handled well.
Coming clean about things will help snuff out further rumours and nothing like voice of people in social networking sites to get positive word out. If things work out, the people’s car maker may turn things around, but these are trying times at Toyota and for now its “Toyota problems” and safety rumours that’s all over the media.
Posted in Company Reputation, Damage Limitation, Reputation Management, Reputation News | Tags: business reputation, Prius, Recall, Safety, Toyota Problems | 3 Comments »
Toyota, Peugeot Citroen and now Honda – Car industry jinxed?
For Peugeot 107s and Citroen C1s, we are going to carry out an identical campaign as Toyota, says the spokesman for Peugeot Citroen, the second biggest car maker of Europe.
This statement clearly shows that Toyota’s bold move to recall millions of cars has been seen as a positive action during a reputation crisis and others are following suit. All the cars being recalled were made at a plant at Kolin, in the Czech Republic that Peugeot-Citroen has shared with Toyota – a partnership made in 2005.
A new entrant into the recall mode is Honda – Following a number of incidents in which cars reportedly set on fire after electric window switches short-circuited, Honda is to recall the 2007 and 2008 US versions of its Fits models as well as the 2002 to 2008 versions of its Jazz cars in Europe.
Is the car industry jinxed this year, one may wonder, with three big companies recalling cars all over the world?
The other question is will this affect the stock values significantly? Being the top selling cars worldwide, the brands have much to lose.
However for reputation management people, what we see in these auto recalls is a great example in company crisis management.
Posted in Company Reputation, Examples, Reputation Management, Reputation News | Tags: cars, Citroen, Comapny Crisis Management, Honda, Peugeot, Recall, Reputation Management, Toyota | 6 Comments »
J&J’s Tylenol recall scores an ‘A’ in crisis management
Johnson & Johnson is doing what a company should be doing during a crisis. The top brass have decided to voluntarily recall the Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets due to complaints of mouldy smell that can cause nausea and sickness.
The Food and Drug Administration is a strict watchdog when it comes to complaints. The website has “Report a problem” tabs where anyone can make a complaint. If anyone’s on the watch it’s the FDA and so a company like J&J wouldn’t want these complaints to snowball into a reputation management nightmare.
The prudent thing to be done is to make a recall of the suspected lots, claim that “these are minor problems”, assure people “there is no cause for worry” and finally fix the problem. J&J has done just that.
We recommend this follow-up action: Keep up the positive content on the brand and ensure company reputation does not take a beating. Put out news everywhere that recalls are being made and that the problem is being fixed. Even follow up with news of freshly tested new batches of meds in the days to follow.
This is damage limitation at its best and crisis management that actually works!