Without the proper planning, a crisis can take an organization by surprise. Center and Jackson (2003) state, “even sudden emergencies of crisis proportion can be anticipated – if not avoided – so risk management, issue anticipation, and crisis communication programs have become an important part of public relations technology” (p. 319). This purpose of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of communication among the Pepsi organization and its publics.
When organizations are dealing with a crisis “there are two basic types of crises, depending on the amount of warning time: a sudden crisis, which comes without warning, and a smoldering crisis, which is generally not known internally or externally until it goes public . . . ” (p. 321). In the case “There’s a syringe in my Pepsi! ” a consumer, in Tacoma, Washington, claimed to have found a syringe in his unopened Pepsi can. This was quickly followed by similar claims across the country.
These incidents made it necessary for Pepsi to launch an immediate public relations campaign in order to stop rumors and panic from consumers and employees. The first thing that Pepsi did was to make managers as well as top executives available to the media to assure the external as well as internal public the safety of the company’s products. In a bold move Pepsi decided not to pull their product from shelves believing that the allegations were false and there was no way a foreign object could make it into any of their cans during the canning process.
Pepsi also created a strong communication bond with the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). Neither the FDA nor the company could find any reasoning for how a foreign object could get into a Pepsi can during the canning process. Pepsi allowed the local bottler Alpac Corporation handle the media inquiries as well as the investigation, with the aid of local health officials and the FDA, of the plant. They found that through the plant investigation there was no fault on the part of the Pepsi Company. Pepsi should have implemented in this stage a recall of all Pepsi products until the investigation was complete.
This would have helped to calm some fears that Pepsi truly was looking out for the safety of the consumers. The second phase for the organization was to open up the plant to the media with the plant managers and upper officials available for comments. This still did not suppress the crisis that was brewing from the consumers. The organization put together a team of six media relations specialists to address the primary publics that needed to be addressed. These included the media, customers, consumers, and local employees of Pepsi. The key approach was “one clear voice” (p. 328).
The media specialists were on hand to answer questions and to provide updates, as they were made available. The public affairs Vice president, Becky Madeira, used specific techniques in order to inform, motivate, and influence these different individuals. This was done by using video news releases (VNR), audiotapes, press releases, charts, diagrams of the production process, and photos. These helped to eliminate fears that something could actually make its way into the cans during the canning process. It also helped to catch individuals in the act of trying to defraud the company.
The VNR proved to be especially effective in communicating with the organization’s publics. After all, media brought the story to several million homes when it first broke, and media would be able to bring the facts to the public in just the same way. Another approach that could be considered by the organization is to actively prepare for every crisis from natural disasters to terrorists plots. This will enable management to effectively prepare teams for a crisis no matter what the circumstances may be, and how to deal with the media, consumers, as well as employees within the organization.
This strategy was the best possible solution to defusing an intense situation. If this situation were to occur today, Pepsi may have found themselves in bankruptcy. With the rapid expansion of globalization and technology, chat rooms and blogs would have exploded with rumors and speculations. The crisis would have reached around the globe rather than nationally. The public relations campaign that was launched during this crisis may not have been able to defuse the situation as rapidly as it did.
The organization would have had to pull all products off the shelves around the world, leading to a huge loss in profits for the organization. By utilizing various public relations techniques Pepsi was able to effectively avoid a potentially disastrous situation and save the reputation of the company. All organizations should use Pepsi’s crisis as an example. The concept of consumer’s safety first and being honest and upfront made a situation go from escalating to deescalating and saved the reputation of a company. This was only possible because of the quick thinking and proactive approach of the upper management teams within the organization.
If this episode were to happen today, Pepsi may not survive. With chat rooms that come alive with speculation and digital radio as well as cable television this episode could have reached globally instead of just nationally. In conclusion, the most important publics were the internal publics of employees, as well as the external publics of consumers, media, and the FDA. The organization conducted themselves in a professional manner and with sound judgment. By communicating quickly and proactively, the Pepsi Company was able to save the reputation of their organization.
This was done by being honest and straightforward with their publics and proving that Pepsi was reliable and trustworthy. The one thing that could have been handled differently is after the first allegation of finding a foreign object Pepsi should have immediately released a statement. This could have kept the situation smaller rather than it being as large as it was.
Reference: Center, A. H. & Jackson, P. (2003). Public Relations Practices. (6th ed. ) Published by Prentice Hall. Retrieved August 28, 2006 from the University of Phoenix student rEsource web site at https://mycampus. uophx. edu/login.