Answer the following questions regarding the case "There's a Syringe in my Pepsi Can!":
- Did the news media behave responsibly in reporting this story? Provide examples from the case.
- Discuss the communication tools employed by Pepsi in solving the problem. Specifically, evaluate the role of VNRs.
Note: The case from where the asked questions will be answered is as follows:
156 Chapter 7 . Media Relations Chapter 7 . Media Relations 157 Case 7-3 There's a Syringe in My Pepsi Can! being inverted, passing through a closed fill- later, "it's a public trial, and it's not much fun. ing filter or screen, and emerging filled and This was a crisis without precedent." capped at the end. At no time is there an opporueling the controversy were the contin- tunity for foreign objects to find their way into ued reports of new contaminants found in Large corporations are always potential tar- On June 12, the FDA did not recommend a the container, except during the brief time in Diet Pepsi. In city after city, residents came gets for those who seek fame or fortune at recall, but did issue a five-state consumer alert, the filling chamber. Further, the objects being forth to press their claims of having found for- the expense of those companies. In the sum- asking consumers to pour soft drinks, particu- reported are not those commonly found in a eignobjects in their cans of Diet Pepsi. Time mer of 1993, PepsiCo, makers of Pepsi-Cola larly Diet Pepsi, into a glass or cup before soft-drink plant or any other workplace. after time, the familiar Diet Pepsi logo (being and Diet Pepsi, among other beverages, found drinking them. The next day, a New Orleans The geographic spread of the reports was advertised at the time with the popular Ray itself an unwilling subject in one of the most man claimed to have found a syringe in a can also difficult to understand. Canning plants are Charles jingle punctuated by "Uh Huh") was widespread news stories of the day, a story of Diet Pepsi, and by June 14, 10 more claims regional operations. The plant in Washington being seen in the media with either an alleged in which the PepsiCo was implicated in mul- were reported. serves only five western states. Yet con- contaminant object or a facsimile. tiple claims of foreign objects being found in Wire services and national broadcast media taminants were being reported all across the Weatherup continued the counterattack, unopened cans of Diet Pepsi. picked up the story as more reports came in. county. These products were being produced saying he was "99.99 percent sure" the inci- This confidence crisis put the international The coverage was second only to the Supreme by numerous canning operations, so there dents were not related to anything under soft-drink company before the public in a way Court nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was no direct link among them except for the Pepsi's control. But sales slipped. Weatherup, no company wants to be viewed. But the ensu- as people reported finding syringes, sewing brand of the product being produced, and the in a follow-up report after the crisis had been ing activities of the Pepsi response team and needles, pins, screws, a crack cocaine vial, and production process. Unless there was a con- put to rest, said, "The week of the hoax, sales the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) even a bullet in Diet Pepsi cans. certed effort to tamper with Diet Pepsi, there dipped only three to four percent . . . ." but calmed the crisis and won for the company By June 16, claims had been reported in was no reason to link the widespread reports three percent of Diet Pepsi's sales still repre- the coveted "Best of Silver Anvils" award in 24 states, including one from a reporter for to a single production problem. The FDA said sents millions of dollars. The perception crisis the 1994 Public Relations Society of America The Milwaukee Journal who said she had continually it could find no connection from was real, indeed. competition. no plans to sue Pepsi after finding a needle a production standpoint among the growing Adding to the difficulty in containing the in a can of Diet Pepsi. Meanwhile, The Los number of complaints. spreading number of incidents was a 10-year The Situation Angeles Times and CBS reported the needle Pepsi-Cola Company, convinced its pro- pattern of substantiated and unsubstantiated found by the Tripletts may have belonged to duction operations were not at fault, decided product tamperings-some with fatal conse- On June 9, 1993, Tacoma, Washington, resi- against any recall of the products involved. quences. In 1982 (and later in 1986) deaths dents Earl (Tex) and Mary Triplett reported a diabetic relative. In one week's time, more Pepsi-Cola Company President Craig Weath- finding a used syringe in a half-empty Diet Pepsi than 50 incidents had been reported to the were reported from Tylenol capsules laced erup, taking the "point guard" position on the with poison (see Case 6-3). In 1986, rat poi- can. They turned the can over to their lawyer police, the FDA, or the media. None, however, who contacted the county health department. reported any illness or injury associated with response team, said repeatedly in interviews son was found in Contacand other) products; The next day, local television station KIRO the incidents. that "there is no health issue" related to the glass fragments were discovered in Gerber reports, citing the lack of any illness or injuries baby food; and two people died in Washington aired a report of this incident, citing a Sudafed The Facts associated with the reports. after taking cyanide-laced Extra-Strength tampering just two years previously, and the In a Wall Street Journal interview, Excedrin. And there were the deaths of two fact that needles aroused concerns about Throughout this seven-day nightmare, neither Weatherup said, "We've gone through every people in Washington from ingesting Sudafed. AIDS. No other news medium covered the Pepsi nor the FDA could see any rational rea- can line, every plant, numerous records. All The consuming public had reason to be con- story that day. son for the alleged incidents being reported. the evidence points to syringes going into the cerned, as did Pepsi. With the number of soft- The following day, June 1 1, a second nee- Soft-drink filling lines are high-speed, high- cans after they were opened." drink alternatives available, some consumers dle claim was made in Washington, and The tech production lines in which empty, open were opting for the competition. Seattle Times and other local media picked aluminum cans are fed (upside down) down a up the story, adding that in neither case had conveyer at high speeds (1,200 a minute) to be The Perceptions The Problem there been reports of injury resulting from the filled. During this roller-coaster ride, the cans "All the evidence" was lost on the news incidents. are cleaned with heat, water, and air before media and the consuming public, however. The problem for Pepsi was how to stem the "When the national media juggernaut gets reports, show the safety of its products, and hold of something, and you're it," Pepsi-Cola win back the customer loyalty, which had Company Vice-President of Public Affairs made Diet Pepsi the number two diet drink in 2 This case was prepared by University of Central Florida students under the supervision of instructor Frank R. Stansberry, APR, Fellow PRSA, now retired. Becky Madeira told a PRSA workshop a year the country. (Continued)\f\f
