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| Horsemeat scandal leaves Burger King facing a whopping backlash | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Fast food retailer Burger King is facing an angry backlash from customers after admitting some of its burgers were contaminated in the horsemeat scandal that has seen Britain's major supermarkets withdrawing meat from their shelves. | Fast food retailer Burger King is facing an angry backlash from customers after admitting some of its burgers were contaminated in the horsemeat scandal that has seen Britain's major supermarkets withdrawing meat from their shelves. |
| Thousands of consumers took to social media sites on 1 February to express their outrage at the news, with one Facebook user calling it "despicable". The company was forced to take out a series of national newspaper advertisements in response, in which it apologised to customers. | Thousands of consumers took to social media sites on 1 February to express their outrage at the news, with one Facebook user calling it "despicable". The company was forced to take out a series of national newspaper advertisements in response, in which it apologised to customers. |
| Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, led the charge, tweeting: "Now Burger King drawn into contaminated burger scandal. Can you ever eat one again?" | Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, led the charge, tweeting: "Now Burger King drawn into contaminated burger scandal. Can you ever eat one again?" |
| @zmama891 added: "Burger King.....that is not good!!!!!!! Don't think I will be having a Whopper for a very long time.....here's to homemade burgers". This was echoed by @Cresean who wrote: "Never have to worry about me eating there EVER again!". @holssdavies wrote: "Horse meat in Burger King burgers. Can never eat a whopper again." | @zmama891 added: "Burger King.....that is not good!!!!!!! Don't think I will be having a Whopper for a very long time.....here's to homemade burgers". This was echoed by @Cresean who wrote: "Never have to worry about me eating there EVER again!". @holssdavies wrote: "Horse meat in Burger King burgers. Can never eat a whopper again." |
| On Burger King's Facebook page, one angry user wrote: "How does everyone feel about those burgers and the fact that you are also feeding them to your children." Another commented: "I will NEVER eat in any of your "restaurants" again. FOR SHAME." One user even called for the firm to close all its UK branches immediately. | On Burger King's Facebook page, one angry user wrote: "How does everyone feel about those burgers and the fact that you are also feeding them to your children." Another commented: "I will NEVER eat in any of your "restaurants" again. FOR SHAME." One user even called for the firm to close all its UK branches immediately. |
| The fast food company, whose products were not tested in the food standards checks by Irish authorities that sparked the furore, has moved production from the Silvercrest plant in Ireland to Germany and Italy as a precaution. On 31 January it said test results at the plant revealed "very small trace levels" of horse DNA in its products, but burgers taken from restaurants had tested negative. | The fast food company, whose products were not tested in the food standards checks by Irish authorities that sparked the furore, has moved production from the Silvercrest plant in Ireland to Germany and Italy as a precaution. On 31 January it said test results at the plant revealed "very small trace levels" of horse DNA in its products, but burgers taken from restaurants had tested negative. |
| As governments in Ireland, the UK and Poland, where a supplier used by Silvercrest for a year is thought be the source of the contamination, continued their investigations, Burger King admitted that, contrary to previous assurances made to it by Silvercrest, it too had now been linked to the scandal. Authorities insist there is no health danger to consumers. | As governments in Ireland, the UK and Poland, where a supplier used by Silvercrest for a year is thought be the source of the contamination, continued their investigations, Burger King admitted that, contrary to previous assurances made to it by Silvercrest, it too had now been linked to the scandal. Authorities insist there is no health danger to consumers. |
| The horse meat scandal will worry Burger King management, as a sustained period of customer revolt can damage revenue and profits – there are already signs on Facebook that US consumers are questioning domestic outlets following the UK scandal. | The horse meat scandal will worry Burger King management, as a sustained period of customer revolt can damage revenue and profits – there are already signs on Facebook that US consumers are questioning domestic outlets following the UK scandal. |
| Retail industry experts said Burger King needed to act quickly if it was to restore its reputation. Mark Lowe, founder of branding and communications consultancy Third City, said: "Burger King were far too hasty with their initial denials, but they've gone some way to rectifying this with full disclosure and quick action on Silvercrest. | Retail industry experts said Burger King needed to act quickly if it was to restore its reputation. Mark Lowe, founder of branding and communications consultancy Third City, said: "Burger King were far too hasty with their initial denials, but they've gone some way to rectifying this with full disclosure and quick action on Silvercrest. |
| "In crisis communications what you do is always more important than what you say, and Burger King would do well to follow this up by making a gesture to customers." | "In crisis communications what you do is always more important than what you say, and Burger King would do well to follow this up by making a gesture to customers." |
| When Tesco's frozen burgers were implicated in the scandal the supermarket took out a series of newspaper adverts apologising repeatedly for failures in its supply lines. | When Tesco's frozen burgers were implicated in the scandal the supermarket took out a series of newspaper adverts apologising repeatedly for failures in its supply lines. |
| Burger King has done the same, placing advertisements in the Sun, Express, Mirror, Star and Times newspapers in an attempt to keep customers updated on what had happened and what it was doing in the future. | Burger King has done the same, placing advertisements in the Sun, Express, Mirror, Star and Times newspapers in an attempt to keep customers updated on what had happened and what it was doing in the future. |
| Those advertisements stated: "You wanted answers. So did we." They also carried a quote from Diego Beamonte, vice-president for global quality at Burger King, saying the company was "deeply troubled by the findings of our investigation and apologise to our guests, who trust us to source only the highest quality 100% beef burgers. Our supplier has failed us and in turn we have failed you". | Those advertisements stated: "You wanted answers. So did we." They also carried a quote from Diego Beamonte, vice-president for global quality at Burger King, saying the company was "deeply troubled by the findings of our investigation and apologise to our guests, who trust us to source only the highest quality 100% beef burgers. Our supplier has failed us and in turn we have failed you". |
| A spokeswoman for the firm could not say if the company is troubled by the consumer backlash or whether it planned further series of advertisements to keep customers updated on developments. | A spokeswoman for the firm could not say if the company is troubled by the consumer backlash or whether it planned further series of advertisements to keep customers updated on developments. |