Wendy's PR; If You Can't Spin It Nice, Don't Spin At All
What you don't say can be just as important as what you do say.
Greg Byrne
When I was a student at the Mayborn School of Journalism, I learned that the purpose of public relations is to support the objectives and goals of the organization. Everything your organization does in the public eye will effect your ability to do that, and it will change what actions you need to take to do it. Sometimes, the best strategic action is to not do anything at all.
Take Wendy's as an example; fast food is interchangeable. There is no substantive difference between a Whopper and a Big Mac; but once someone has a strong positive association with McDonalds or Burger King, they will insist that there is something different about their preference. Wendy's is a third place player in the fast food market; it's RC Cola, it's Image Comics, it's Linux. A third player can either go for the low bottom end of the market like RC Cola, or it can aim for an alternative niche within that market; Image Comics has found success in moving away from mainstream superhero books while Linux's user base largely exists away from general home computing uses. Wendy's differentiates itself through quality; emphasizing it use of square, fresh beef patties as opposed to frozen ones, and through the snarky, irreverent tone taken on its Twitter account. It is as successful strategy, but not without its limits.
If a Tree Falls In a Forest, And There's No One Around To Hear It...
On January 21, 2020 news broke that several Wendy's restaurants owned by a Kentucky franchisee were violating child labor laws. The franchises allowed their 14 and 15 year old employees to work longer hours than allowed under state law, and a fine of over $150,000 was paid to the Department of Labor. Unless you follow the fast-food business, were one of the kids working longer hours, or you live in Louisville, Kentucky; I'm certain that you were not aware that this happened. Why? Because Wendy's the national chain said nothing about it, and that too is a strategy.
What you don't say is just as important as what you do say. Acknowledging a scandal brings attention to it, and it creates a sense that it is real and important because you felt the need to say something. If a scandal is not existential; if it is limited in geographic scope and doesn't involve any direct material harm. If it does not hit on any ideas that people are heavily invested in, and if it does not directly cut across the image you have been presenting to the public, then you can mitigate the damage by not saying anything. After all, it can't be that big a deal if you don't feel the need to weigh in. Perception matters more than reality, and everything you do, or don't do, effects perception.
Perception Matters More Than Reality; Always, Always, Always
To do good work in PR, you have to understand both of those things at the same time. Humans aren't fundamentally rational animals; we believe what we want to believe and we interpret what we see in a way that fits our existing biases. If we want to believe that an organization is good; that it does good things and avoids doing harm, we will seek out information that confirms our assumption of its basic goodness. One thing your organization can do to make that search for confirmation easier is, if not to lead people away from evidence of doing harm, at least not bring unnecessary attention to it. Wendy's succeeded at that goal.
Greg Byrne
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| The actual slide from Professor Poynter's presentation where I learned the purpose of PR. |
When I was a student at the Mayborn School of Journalism, I learned that the purpose of public relations is to support the objectives and goals of the organization. Everything your organization does in the public eye will effect your ability to do that, and it will change what actions you need to take to do it. Sometimes, the best strategic action is to not do anything at all.
Take Wendy's as an example; fast food is interchangeable. There is no substantive difference between a Whopper and a Big Mac; but once someone has a strong positive association with McDonalds or Burger King, they will insist that there is something different about their preference. Wendy's is a third place player in the fast food market; it's RC Cola, it's Image Comics, it's Linux. A third player can either go for the low bottom end of the market like RC Cola, or it can aim for an alternative niche within that market; Image Comics has found success in moving away from mainstream superhero books while Linux's user base largely exists away from general home computing uses. Wendy's differentiates itself through quality; emphasizing it use of square, fresh beef patties as opposed to frozen ones, and through the snarky, irreverent tone taken on its Twitter account. It is as successful strategy, but not without its limits.
If a Tree Falls In a Forest, And There's No One Around To Hear It...
On January 21, 2020 news broke that several Wendy's restaurants owned by a Kentucky franchisee were violating child labor laws. The franchises allowed their 14 and 15 year old employees to work longer hours than allowed under state law, and a fine of over $150,000 was paid to the Department of Labor. Unless you follow the fast-food business, were one of the kids working longer hours, or you live in Louisville, Kentucky; I'm certain that you were not aware that this happened. Why? Because Wendy's the national chain said nothing about it, and that too is a strategy.
What you don't say is just as important as what you do say. Acknowledging a scandal brings attention to it, and it creates a sense that it is real and important because you felt the need to say something. If a scandal is not existential; if it is limited in geographic scope and doesn't involve any direct material harm. If it does not hit on any ideas that people are heavily invested in, and if it does not directly cut across the image you have been presenting to the public, then you can mitigate the damage by not saying anything. After all, it can't be that big a deal if you don't feel the need to weigh in. Perception matters more than reality, and everything you do, or don't do, effects perception.
Perception Matters More Than Reality; Always, Always, Always
To do good work in PR, you have to understand both of those things at the same time. Humans aren't fundamentally rational animals; we believe what we want to believe and we interpret what we see in a way that fits our existing biases. If we want to believe that an organization is good; that it does good things and avoids doing harm, we will seek out information that confirms our assumption of its basic goodness. One thing your organization can do to make that search for confirmation easier is, if not to lead people away from evidence of doing harm, at least not bring unnecessary attention to it. Wendy's succeeded at that goal.
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