Six days. That’s what it took for Earls restaurant chain to backtrack on its decision to source its “Certified Humane” beef in Kansas once the public relations backlash detonated on April 28.
The chain announced in a Youtube video posted April 22 that it was going to use beef sourced in Kansas, but the issue didn’t explode in the news until six days later. And the next six days were a public relations abattoir for Earls.
The story hit the Alberta daily newspapers, the Globe and Mail, CBC radio and its talk shows, CBC television’s Power and Politics and it was discussed in nine articles at producer.com. It also spurred calls for boycotts and a furious discussion on social media, including the #moodatah hashtag, a takeoff of the “#kudatah” of a few weeks earlier in which Albertans were encouraged to launch a coup d’etat of the NDP government.
Read Also
Efforts to improve trucking safety must be applauded
The tragedy of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash prompted calls for renewed efforts to improve safety in the trucking industry, including national mandatory standards.
When it comes to bad publicity, the hashtag is to dread.
All this ended with the big reversal on May 4. From a public relations standpoint, that’s pretty fast.
The reversal was handled well by Earls president Mo Jessa. In the April 22 video, Jessa sat at a restaurant table chatting amicably about how “amazing it feels” to be the first chain in North America to serve Certified Humane beef, with no hormones, antibiotics or steroids in all of its restaurants.
Earls, which was founded in Alberta, looked to U.S. because there wasn’t enough ethically raised Canadian beef to service the restaurants, Jessa said.
That rankled Alberta farmers, who argued that while there is no certification program in Canada, beef raised in this country is treated as well, and tastes as good, as anywhere in the world.
Earls had miscalculated. And on May 4, Earls released another video, with Jessa once again seated at a restaurant table, explaining that “I’ve been listening to Albertans very carefully ….”
For a company president to take ownership of such a backtrack is refreshing. Jessa even found a constructive development, noting that “local ranchers are reaching out to us” to help get Canadian beef on the menu. He hit all the touch points, Earls’ roots, that Canadian beef is among best in the world, that he’s listening to local ranchers and that they’re going to work with them to get Canadian beef back on the menu. All in a video of 36 seconds.
Impressive.
