Communication crissis

September 18, 2000
Franchisees
18 Park Avenue
New York, N.Y.
1 0 0 2 5
Dear Mr. Gonzales:
I sincerely regret to inform you of a mishap on September 15th, involving a fault found intaco shells produced by Kraft which bear our name. The media have seized on this story and are making us pay the price for Kraft’s mistake.
The Kraft products mentioned above which contain corn astheir principle ingredient, are known to have been contaminated by Starlink corn which contains the protein “Cry9c” which may be hazardous to our consumers health. As of now the dangers caused by thistoxin are unknown, and our experts cannot tell whether serious effects will manifest themselves in the short or long term. Therefore, further research on this matter needs to be conducted and detailedresults will be sent to you the very first second we receive this information.
Taco Bell, as a responsible company, made a decision last week to initiate a mass recall on all the following taintedproducts: Taco Bell Home Originals (12 Taco Shells), Taco Bell Home Originals (18 Taco Shells), Taco Bell Home Originals Taco Dinner (12 Shells, Sauce & Seasoning) all of which contain the proteinmention above. These precautions are intended to ease our consumer’s minds, and to remind them of our passion for their health and safety, which are our top priority.
Therefore as a responsible company,our first goal is to make sure that each one of the ingredients that constitute our products is strictly government certified, with the purpose of ensuring only the highest grade of quality for ourclients.
Despite the backlash we might receive in the coming days, we rest assured that incidents such as these will allow us to learn from our mistakes. Hence, with the steps we are taking to rectifythe situation we are confident that our reputation as one of the leaders in the fast food business will be solidified in the long run.
As you all know, our company has been an unmitigated success...