Burger giant can’t seem to get things right when it comes to the web
McDonald’s can’t seem to figure out web content, and whether it’s just bad luck and repeated misunderstandings or a sign of just how out of touch company leadership is, having to repeatedly do crisis management for self-created reputation issues is bad news.
The fast food megalith’s employee resource website McResourceLine has already been ridiculed for offering up an outrageously unrealistic budget plan, and last week it drew the ire of the public when it shared tipping advice more fit for Beverly Hills than your average McDonald’s employee, including how much to give your au pair or personal fitness trainer during the holidays.
The latest story to come out of the McResourceLine site has both media and public shaking their heads and holding their sides as pages like the one below, detailing how unhealthy eating fast food is, are published around the web.
The obvious comparison between McDonalds on the “unhealthy” side and competitor Subway on the “healthy” side are being drawn left and right, probably the last thing McD’s wanted to happen.
We certainly understand the desire to help employees make healthier choices – after all if they’re in better shape you have less insurance payouts, lowered absenteeism, and a better overall brand image, but using a generic third-party info provider and, from the looks of it, failing to vet the content, resulted in many of the pages looking more like an anti-McDonald’s ad than anything else.
Another problem, and one that’s contributed greatly to the spread of this story, is the fact that anybody can sign up for and view content on the McResource page because there are no measures in place to verify that the person signing up is actually an employee, truly a rookie mistake when it comes to crisis management for online company resources!
What do you think? Will McDonald’s clean up its act before its already-rough reputation takes more of a hammering, or are significantly lowered sales the only thing that will force more care from the company?
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com