“Thanks for suing us.” What’s your beef?

Has this dog found the beef?

By now you’ve probably heard of the Taco Bell beef controversy. An Alabama law firm is suing the fast food restaurant claiming their tacos aren’t as beefed up as Taco Bell would have you think. What follows I predict will become a case study in public relations and the positive use of social media to get out ahead of a potentially negative and damaging story. In addition to a battle waged on twitter and Facebook, Taco Bell’s President Greg Creed gives an excellent YouTube video response to the lawsuit as the company waged a “Thanks for suing us” counter attack.

Meanwhile Taco Bell has comics like Stephen Colbert giving them mouthwatering amounts of free advertising on his show. There is an old adage in PR, normally used in connection with stars and starlets. It may apply here: sometimes there is no such thing as bad publicity!

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4 Comments

  • Love it Mel!
    a lot of people look at social media as a negative. But when you can directly speak to your customers, what could be more powerful & positive!
    Personally, its a dumb lawsuit by the AL law firm….but what else is new!

  • Jeff Brunson says:

    Hey Greg, “dumb and lawsuit” – these two seem to be the norm versus an occassional truth.

    Thanks Mel for sharing this and furthering our thinking on social media. And yes, I think that dog has found the beef.

  • Sue says:

    You know the old adage, bad publicity is better than no publicity at all. It’s been fascinating for me to watch the back-and-forth of this story.

    • maryellen says:

      Jeff and Gregg- you are cracking me up about “dumb lawsuits.” I used to be marketing director for a law firm! Sue, you are right, it is fascinating to watch it unfold from a PR perspective.

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