by Paul Kiser
USA PDT [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]
Article first published as
PR Epic Fail: Taco Bell meat only 36% beef?
on Technorati
(NOTE: This article was submitted to the Technorati.com editors on Tuesday evening (January 25) and published Wednesday evening. On Wednesday, Taco Bell Corp. gave a definitive statement of the quality of its meat and claims that its taco meat is 88% beef. To read this statement and a follow-up article, click on this link: Greg Creed’s statement on Taco Bell’s taco meat.)
It’s not too early in the year for the first entry in the “Worst PR of 2011” contest and that dishonor may go to Taco Bell. The fast food chain is facing a controversy that has all the makings of a classic Public Relations Epic Fail award.
News media (See USAToday article) and online blogs have buzzing about a lawsuit that is seeking class action status against the Yum! Brands subsidiary stating that the taco meat at Taco Bell is only 36% beef, which is less than the USDA minimum of 40%. The suit seeks to have Taco Bell either rename their products or add more beef.
This controversy would be bad enough with just the lawsuit, but the company counter attack will undoubtedly generate more public focus on the issue. Taco Bell’s strategy raises the stakes in a Public Relations battle that now has to be 100% successful or else the company will lose all credibility for the foreseeable future. The response so far seems to indicate that Taco Bell is walking a fine line in denying the accusations about their product.
According to Associated Press reporter, Bob Johnson, the first company response was from Taco Bell spokesperson, Rob Poetsch:
“Taco Bell prides itself on serving high quality Mexican inspired food with great value. We’re happy that the millions of customers we serve every week agree,” Poetsch said. He said the company would “vigorously defend the suit.”
Poetsch’s response carefully avoids denying the accusations, but is worded to imply that since the customers buy the product, it must be okay.
Later the Greg Creed, President and Chief Concept Officer of Taco Bell Corp. put out a stronger, but still carefully worded statement that again walked a fine line in denying the accusations. His statement said that: 1) Taco Bell buys beef, 2) the beef is 100% USDA inspected, 3) the process begins with simmering beef, 4) seasonings and spices are added, and 5) the ‘signature Taco Bell’ taste and texture results from the process. He then added that the ‘lawyers….got their “facts” absolutely wrong’ and that Taco Bell plans to take legal action for false statements made about their food.
While this sounds like a denial, Creed avoids saying anything about the use of fillers and extenders in their taco meat by referring to all added ingredients as “seasoning and spices.” According to the Taco Bell website the ingredients for the ground taco meat include the following (ranking added):
#3 – Isolated Oat Product, #8 – Oats (Wheat), #9 – Soy Lecithin, #12 – Maltodextrin, #13 – Soybean Oil (Anti-dusting Agent), #15 – Autolyzed Yeast Extract, #17 – Caramel Color, #18 – Cocoa Powder (Processed With Alkali), #19 – Silicon Dioxide, #21 – Yeast, #22 – Modified Corn Starch, #25 – Sodium Phosphates
Both the website and Creed refer to these ingredients as “seasoning”, implying they add taste to the product and are not fillers or extenders. However, if the lawsuit is accurate, Taco Bell may have a hard time convincing its customers that ground taco meat requires 64% ‘”seasoning” and only 36% beef.
Business: Public Relations, Management, and Social Media Related
- Starbucks Siren gets facelift after 40 years
- “…and your little dog, too” Words define intent, evil
- Facebook and Twitter Doomed? …Chicken Crap
- 5 reasons why you shouldn’t title your blog with number reasons
- A Question of Ethics
- HR/Security Hot Topic: Should you watch your employee’s personal Internet activities? (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.)
- Relationship Typing: 3 factors that affect the quality and depth of friendship (Part I)
- Starbucks Re-Imagines the business … again
- Your Privacy Rights on the Internet: Read before you write
- Social Media 3Q Update: Who uses Facebook, Twitter,LinkedIn, and MySpace?
- Richmond Embassy Suites: The best at true Hospitality
- Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
- Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
- Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
- Is it time to fire yourself?
- Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
- Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
- 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
- War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
- Pay It Middle: The Balance between Too Much and Too Little Compensation
- Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
- Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
- Browser Wars: Internet Explorer losing, Google Chrome gaining ground
- WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
- Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
- Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
- The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
- Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
- Epic Fail: PR ‘Experts’ don’t get Twitter
- King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
- Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
- Signs of the Times
- How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
- How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
- Death of All Salesmen!
- Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
- Social Media: What is it and Why Should You Care?
- Social Media 2020: Keep it Personal
- Social Media 2020: Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
- Social Media 2020: Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
- Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
- Publishing Industry to End 2012
- Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
- Fear of Public Relations
- Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
- Does Anybody Really Understand PR?
Rotary Related
- Leaving Rotary
- Re-Imagining Rotary
- Rotary@105: 7 Relationship types that affect membership retention (Part II)
- What most non-Rotarians don’t know about Rotary
- Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
- Rotary@105: Grieving change
- How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
- Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
- Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
- Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
- Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
- One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
- Rotary@105: What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
- Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
- Rotary@105: April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
- Rotary@105: What kind of animal is Rotary International?
- Rotary: The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
- Rotary@105: Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
- Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
- Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
- Best Practices: Become a Target!
Science Related
Personal Experience Related
- Knowing when it’s over or beyond over
- Dear Teresa Laraba, SVP of Southwest Airlines Customer Service
- Things I didn’t know about being a Father to a four-year-old boy
- Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
- Up in the air down in Texas
- I mow my lawn because…
- Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
- Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
- Two Barbecues and a Wedding
- Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service
Our Country and History Related
- Dates of Historical Note in 2011
- Sandoval/Reid campaign money not a stimulus for Nevada
- Nevada’s Best Kept Secret: #1 in Crime
- The Vultures Start Circling on Election Day
- The Quality of Mercy: Tea Party seeks its pound of flesh
- I’m not angry, nor am I stupid … and I voted
- Point of Confusion
- What I’m not buying this year
- Nevada: State of Disaster
- Thank you, Mr. President
- America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico