There was a twinge in my stomach when I saw “Disgusting Domino’s People” on YouTube. It was partly disgust at watching a Domino’s employee put cheese up his nose and on his naked butt before laying it on some poor soul’s lunch—an act that eventually led to an arrest warrant.

But my twinge was also pity for the public relations team that had to fix the mess. The story spread like wildfire through Digg and Twitter, and took a huge chunk out of a multi-million-dollar brand that a crisis communications team is now patching up online.

The video is only one in a spate of recent PR disasters that were born and spread through social media, generating comments and outrage from thousands before a single mass media outlet picked up the story. Companies and consumers alike are coming to rely on social media for instant communication, but when faced with hard questions about labour practices or perceived homophobia, for example (see sidebars), companies are being criticized for slow response times. And online, there’s no excuse for slow.

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Listen to exerpts of Jeromy Lloyd's discussion on social media and its effects on PR with Shel Holtz, ABC, principal of Holtz Communication + Technology.

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Shel Holtz blog.holtz.com/

In a society essentially plugged in 24 hours a day with BlackBerrys, RSS feeds and the like, corporate communications can’t react as fast as “the Internet” can. Researching issues behind problems takes time, as does examining the legal angles and crafting responses. Something has to change, or brands will erode from the stream of online chatter that all too often becomes a flood.

As an industry, public relations is still designed to cope with print and 24-hour cable news media. But now every disgruntled employee, customer or passerby with a web-enabled cellphone is a potential news crew. These “stories” can reach thousands before corporations are even aware they exist.

Consider #amazonFAIL (see “Amazon Fails,” p.24), which broke online at 2 a.m. on Easter Sunday. The online book giant accidentally delisted thousands of books, many with gay and lesbian themes, sparking outrage in those communities. Within 24 hours, it was a top-trending topic on Twitter, 1,200 people had joined a Facebook hate group, more than 5,000 blog posts were written and several petitions were in circulation (for an excellent timeline of events, see Jackie Huba’s post at ChurchOfTheCustomer.com). A day after that, The Wall Street Journal ran the story.

“Everyone believes Twitter is emerging and has impact,” says Maggie Fox, founder of Social Media Group, an independent Toronto-area creative agency. “[Twitter] is a media darling, but depending on who you believe, it’s a community of 12 million to 17 million people. That’s not a huge number, nowhere near as large as the television audience. It doesn’t mean it’s not important, but if people are on Twitter talking about something, it does not generally translate to offline activity—going into a store and choosing another brand over the one that annoyed you. Unless that happens on a mass scale, [Twitter talk] doesn’t matter.”

Tim McIntyre, Domino’s vice-president of communications, seemed to assume much the same thing when he told Ad Age the company didn’t need to respond to the gross-out video because major news media hadn’t covered it yet. Doing so, he said, would only draw more attention to it.

Of course, the mass media did catch up, as did local stations in North Carolina where the offending employees worked. Only then did Patrick Doyle, president of Domino’s USA, release a video statement on YouTube.

#AmazonFAIL, on the other hand, broke on the Sunday of a long weekend. Amazon had its explanation out on Monday. People still complained about the company’s “silence” in the interim. “They might have dealt with it faster,” Fox says, “but not in a meaningful way. They were not able to get a statement from senior level managers until Monday. To be any faster, those executives would have to be online 24/7.”

That assessment is backed by David Jones, VP of digital communications at PR firm Hill & Knowlton. “No one in the social media space is going to give any company a break, but [companies] are moving faster now. They’re not waiting to get the pulse of the situation the way they were in the past... How fast could they react to something that big?”

According to Shel Holtz, 12 hours is all it takes.“I agree [with Fox] insofar as that’s the way these corporate bureaucracies are configured today. But that’s what has to change.” Holtz is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology and a 30-year corporate communications veteran. Companies will become faster on their feet, he says, if they don’t have to wait for senior execs to get approvals in triplicate. If corporations trust their front-line communications staff more and allow them to make the process more transparent, responses could be almost instantaneous.

“This notion that we have to have all the information before we can say anything is one of the givens that isn’t going to fly anymore,” Holtz says.

He points to Ford as proof that such changes are feasible. In December, Ford’s U.S. operations sent a cease-and-desist order to a fan website demanding it shut down and pay $5,000 in damages on trademark infringements. Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford, was plugged in and saw a flood of tweets asking why Ford was going after its fans—a potential PR disaster to compound its ongoing financial one. Monty began investigating.

Whether he was calling head office or drafting a statement, Monty tweeted his actions at each step. This not only meant Ford had a voice in the discussion, people were re-tweeting his actions instead of speculating on their own. It turned out the site was selling fake Ford products and the fire was dowsed in less than a day.

“The problem with Domino’s and Amazon was that while everybody was tweeting, they weren’t getting their own story into the mix,” says Holtz. “Twelve hours is the maximum you’d want to go without delivering an authoritative response.”

Fox might balk at such a short turn around time, but agrees that ongoing communication can only help a company in crisis. However, she believes consumers themselves could make things easier, as these crises become more commonplace.

“As these things happen more and more often, how long do you think it will be before people stop doing stories about them?” Fox asks. “It happens once a month: a major corporation is experimenting online and does something silly or ill-conceived and ends up getting a black eye. That story’s getting kind of tired. I think it will no longer be a compelling story to writers, editors and readers and it will make things a little easier.”

But whether response times can be reduced or not, Fox and Holtz agree that companies should start with a very basic, yet often overlooked step: updating the crisis communications plan. “Most crises plans aren’t drilled anyway, so they’re useless,” says Holtz. “Most crisis cause damage to companies not because of the crisis itself, but because of the way the company reacts. Add to that that most companies haven’t retooled their plans to account for social media, and you have some serious disasters waiting to happen.”

Disgusting Domino's Drama

The Problem:
Two employees at a North Carolina Domino's Pizza filmed themselves performing all manner of unsightly acts with food (i.e. putting cheese up their nose and other acts a little too gross to describe here). The resulting video was uploaded to YouTube. It then spread to other video sharing sites and the outrage erupted.

The Scope:
Searching for the original YouTube upload, which has since been taken down due to a "copyright claim," reveals hundreds of filmed responses, mostly from average people expressing horror at the act itself and shock that the employees were dumb enough to film their exploits. But mixed among the angry videos is the response from Patrick Doyle, president of Domino's USA, which generated even more angry comments.

The Response:
"We sincerely apologize for this incident. We thank members of the online community who quickly alerted us and allowed us to take immediate action. Although the individuals in question claim it's a hoax, we are taking this incredibly seriously. This was an isolated incident... The two team members have been dismissed, and there are felony warrants out for their arrest... The independent owner of that store is reeling from the damage this has caused, and it's not a surprise that this has caused a lot of damage to our brand. It sickens me that the actions of two individuals could impact our great system, where 125,000 men and women work for local business owners around the U.S. and more than 60 countries around the world."

Verbatim YouTube Comments:

General1Zod (5 days ago)
Mr. Dominoes Presidnet, eschew the corporate bullsh_ _ hot air. If you were serious about hygiene, you'd be able to cite statistics as to how many people have been fired due to hygiene issues! You only care when the media gets word of an incident, but you don't proactively investigate and prevent these incidents. The only thing grosser than your 2 ex-employees is your corporate " we care" bullsh_ _ Show us you care: tell us how many people you caught on your own WITHOUT media help...

Rainfall3414 (5 days ago)
Good question man, congratulations, waiting for an answer mr. Doyle, if you are serious, take an action to investigate the hygiene issues, or let us know about your routine inspections!!

bschott (5 days ago)
Only restauant I would trust would be a four or five star joint. Al least the cooks are professionals and you know they would NEVER mess with the food... if they did, it would mean careers.

sakusia (2 days ago)
i tried to see the video but it was removed by the poster. Thanks a lot. I think it's important for everyone to know what's going on inside fast food establishments. This sh_ _ doesn't just go on at Domino's pizza, but probably worldwide in other fast food franchises. Are you meaning to tell me this doesn't happen at Pizza Hut, or KFC or McDonald's. Its quite simpe really when employees are making incredibly low wages, working long hours with miserable conditions.

Amazon Fails

The Problem:
Amazon had what it called a technical hiccup that evoked the wrath of thousands over Easter weekend. It claims that while tweaking its search functions, the company accidentally de-listed more than 57,000 books from its rankings. This meant these books would not turn up in relevant searches and were all but impossible to locate to those not already familiar with them. In one instant, thousands of authors were "pulled from the shelves" with no advance warning.

The Scope:
A large number of these books had gay or lesbian themes, and this caught the public's attention first. Twitter hashtags #amazonfail and #glitchmyass quickly hit the top of the Trending Topics list that appears on every user's Twitter page. Those who investigated the trend saw thousands of vitriolic tweets lambasting the company for its "censorship." Even though Amazon eventually responded by saying it was a technical error, the hashtags are now still in use as a general tag for complaints about Amazon. And the debate as to whether it really was a technical error continues in the blogosphere, albeit at decreased volume.

The Response:
"This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection. It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles—in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the U.S. but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon's main product search. Many books have now been fixed and we're in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future." -Amazon statement

Twitter Troubles:

2 say I'm furious about this Amazon crap is understating the sit.
Amazonadmits they R Fundie cowards
Http://tinyrul.com/c89tya #amazonfail
11:29 AM Apr 12th from web

apparently Amazon is now demanding emails instead of phone calls.
RING LIKE THE WIND BULLSEYE! #amazonfail
5:02 Apr 12th from web

WE R WINNING PEOPLE, WE ARE WINNING.
Amazonadmits they R Fundie cowards
Http://tinyurl.com/dfv9an #amazonfail PASS IT ON
Amazonadmits they R Fundie cowards
2:56 PM Apr 1th from web

Just ordered 4000 copies of Big Book of British Gays.
Sweep that under the carpet Amazon. #amazonfail
7:34 Apr 12th from Tweetie

*waves tiredly* Petition@21000. Possible interview with NYT pending.
Publisher issuing a press statemtn.
Caught up with emails. #amazonfail
6:03 AM Apr 14th from web

@marcnobbs a complete farce - and no public statement?
Compounding the problem. #amazonfail
7:52 AM Apr 14 from web

@WhippetOut no - I don't buy the glitch-at all. I would, though,
at least accept it, if they posted an official apology online #amazonfail
6:03 AM Apr 15 from web

Crawled out of bed. #amazonfail PETITION is at 24,500 - think
I'll let it get to 30,000 and then send to CEO - thoughts?
4:16 AM Apr 15 from web

Starbucks Sideswiped on Twitter

The Problem:
On May 19, Starbucks wanted to get its customers revved up about its new outdoor ad campaign, so it asked them to grab their digital cameras and go ad hunting. Prizes were available to those who spotted the new ads, took a photo of the location, and posted in on Twitter. Each entry was to be marked with a pre-determined hashtag: #top3percent. However, filmmaker Robert Greenwald, who thinks the company is guilty of union busting, launched an anti-Starbucks mini documentary the same day. He transformed the coffee chain's contest into a platform for his views. He encouraged his own social media audience to take photos of themselves next to store locations holding protest signs, and then post them through Twitter using the same hashtags.

The Scope:
Signs reading "Wake up and smell the employee abuse" and "The bitter taste of union busting" are now accessible in searches for #top3percent. The chain's primary Twitter feed had more than 180,000 followers when the contest launched, each of whom could have seen the hijacking take place. Blogs such as BoingBoing.net (8.8 million monthly views) picked the story up. Perhaps worst of all, other Twitter users began re-tweeting the phenomenon, labelling each tweet with #top3percent. The thread is now the source of, and primary news feed, for the entire debacle.

The Response:
Nothing so far. The contest closed, perhaps because of Greenwald's work, or perhaps because all the ads were found. The contest web page was taken down, although according to The New York Times, there are more social media elements to come for the campaign. Greenwald, meanwhile, has earned a ton of free media impressions for his anti-Starbucks documentary.

Twitter Troubles:

axelwooffolk #top3percent Starbucks canceled contest but don’t be sad Now there is another one for coffee drinkers!
http://stopstarbucks.com/twitter.php
(4 days ago from web)

iamerikka #top3percent Brave New Films seeking coffee drinkers who think union coffee tastes better! mmmmmm
http://stopstarbucks.com/twitter.php
(4 days ago from web)

mcdehoyos #top3percent A poem for #HowardSchultz: Your coffee is bitter, You’ve got it all wrong we beat you on twitter so StopStarbucks.com
(4 days ago from web)

axelwooffolk #top3percent #HowardSchultz hasn’t gotten the message. Tell him to stop union-busting at 206-318-1575 stopstarbucks.com
(4 days ago from web)