Mishandled Crisis Situations by organization

Essay by mamborolUniversity, Bachelor'sB, October 2014

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Mishandled Crisis Situations by organization

A crisis can occur in any organization as a result of any unforeseeable event. Mishandled crisis can potentially damage the organization's reputation, and corporate image. Hence, immediate decision-makings need to be carried out, to limit the damage to the organization.

Therefore, it is inevitable for organization to plan for crisis management. Crisis management is one of the primary public relations (PR) strategies, used for communication to the public. Performed by public relations professionals, it is the action of rebuilding the organization's public image in the event of any unpredictable crisis (Rodman, 2012).

Following below a recent communication crisis situation, handled by American fast food restaurant franchise - SUBWAY®. The SUBWAY® "Footlong" Crisis

On January 15, 2013, an Australian SUBWAY® patron posted a photo to the company Facebook Page. The photo of a turkey breast sandwich next to a measuring tapes, clearly showing its incorrect measurement.

Instead of the advertised 1 foot long (12 inches), it shows 11 inches. Within 24 hours, it went viral, and garners more than 118,000 "likes". The social media outrage has also inspired others patrons around the world to take similar action, claiming the short fall (Osowski, 2013).

Not until a day later, SUBWAY® Australia responded on Facebook, claiming that "footlong" is registered trademark as a descriptive name sold in SUBWAY®, and added that the length was never meant to measure. This Facebook response was however removed shortly when it seems to make matters worse (Allen, 2013).

In a news statement officially released to The Huffington Post in response to the Facebook post, a SUBWAY® spokesman has acknowledged that, the standards were not met. He added that the company has always strives for positive experience for the customer, and believed that this is an isolated case where the bread preparation procedures...