The recent concerns about the chemical used in some popcorn flavoring shows the way a story can negatively go viral.
What I want to mention in this post is how we must watch our business reputations in a world where any story can suddenly take wings, even if it's really not that big a deal.
For example, in the popcorn issue, it was nothing new as far as the effects it had on workers manufacturing the flavoring and interacting with the fumes of the chemical diacetyl, which is what's at issue.
what made this story take off, was a pulmonary specialist at Denver’s National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Dr. Cecile Rose, who sent a letter to federal health officials about a person who may have developed the disease from eating two or more bags of buttered popcorn with the chemical in it over a ten-year period.
She even said there's no conclusive proof the chemical caused the lung problems in the man.
The point is it went beyond manufacturing, potentially into the consumer market. All of this connected to one person in 300 million in the U.S.
So based on inconclusive proof and a one in 300 million possibility (you can be sure popcorn lung consumers will start coming out of the woodwork now) the entire industry will have to change the way they do business.
What's important for online marketers is we must be aware of what we need to do if something starts to go viral about us. We must be able to distinguish between legitimate stories that could have real impact on our businesses and stories that are just rants that nobody really cares much about.
If we chased every negative story talking about our company, we might as well close up shop, it would be impossible to do.
How do we determine if we need to adapt and explain ourselves in the public arena?
Anything that's connected to fear, as the case here, needs to be addressed, and addressed quickly. Whether it's proven or true will no longer matter if it goes viral. The popcorn case already proves that. We can't stubbornly battle the effects by only saying it's not true, that can be done at a later time if it's appropriate.
For now, we need to stop the immediate impact of the issue. With ConAgra and other popcorn companies that use the chemical, they announced they'll look for alternatives and use them as soon as possible. To argue with the concern and fear connected to the popcorn by consumers would make them look uncaring to consumers.
The point is if something is viral, it's believed. To fight that could destroy your company. Take steps to deal with the immediate threat, and from there you can educate those having the concerns if they're unfounded.
If there is anything connected to fear related to the issue, don't battle it - you won't win. People don't think when they have fear, they only react.
This is similar to a fire in a movie theater where all the people are stampeding out. Nobody will listen to you if the fire is only in a small corner of the theater and you attempt to explain to them it's no threat to them. Try that and you'll end up at the bottom of the stampede.
Logic and explanation don't work too well during the viral, stampeding process. The stampede must run its course before explanations begin.
With ConAgra, they announced right away that they're going to replace the ingredient, that will work to stop the stampede, from there they simply added that the real threat was with workers daily inhaling the fumes from the chemical, not consumers.
They didn't try to argue that the chemical should be kept in the process because they believed it didn't harm anyone consuming the product. They took quick measures to ensure the concerns would be dealt with as quickly as possible.
We need to consider this if our company ever comes under attack with issues that are connected to fear.
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