Sunday, September 25, 2016

Taco Bell wants to say "Thank you for Suing Us!

Taco Bell is one of the biggest fast food chains in the United States, serving up up tacos all across the country. In 2011, the company was slapped with a lawsuit from a customer and was being accused of not having real beef. "When a lawsuit questioned Taco Bell’s ‘meat mixture’ and allegations surfaced that the fast food giant’s tacos contained a mere 35 percent of ground beef, the media had a field day"(Crandall, Parnell, Spillan 2013). This created a storm and line of questioning surrounding the company. We live in a society where we  already question if our food is authentic or "real". With everyone sensitive around food matters, the company knew they needed to handle this situation the correct way. They would need to ensure that they would maintain their integrity and trust with their customer base.  


Taco Bell claims to have their tacos made of 88%  beef  and 12 % of "other" ingredients.  Taco Bell came clean to reveal that there 12% of secret ingredients couldn't be that secret anymore. Taco Bell looks at Kant's ethics" a motive to do what is right".(MacKinnon, 2015, p.114).  They revealed their secret ingredients to share with the world so that they could be transparent about what is truly in their products. In revealing what is in their secret ingredients,  Taco Bell knew " the ends justifies the means"(MacKinnon, 2015, p.99).  Taco Bell was able to use make light of the situation and create the campaign of "Thank You For Suing Us.".


 This campaign was an excellent way to combat the bad press that came their way.  Taco Bell came to settle their lawsuit and the PR campaign helped immensely to attribute to this. The transparency of the company helped to bounce back and helped the lawsuit to be quickly dismissed. Taco Bell still leads as one of top fast food chain in the United States of America. 



References


Crandall, William, John Parnell, and John Spillan. "Taco Bell Thanks You for Suing 

                Them." (2013): Retrieved from:http://ampagency.com/author/ampdev/
MacKinnon, B. (2015). Ethics: theory and contemporary issues. (2nd edition) Wadsworth


Publisher, Boston, MA.

Sterling, C. (n.d.). 'Thank You For Suing Us': Taco Bell Fights Beef Lawsuit With


       Full-Page Ads. Retrieved from     ` 
       http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/tacobell-beef-meat-lawsuit-
       ads_n_815303.html

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