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Coca-Cola's Belgian Crisis - The Public Relations Fiasco
Abstract
The case discusses the crisis faced by Coca-Cola in Europe, particularly Belgium, in which people mostly school children fell ill after consuming its products in mid-1999. Coca-Cola had to recall about 30 million cans and bottles, the largest ever product recall in its 113-year history. For the first time, the entire inventory of Coca-Cola's products in Belgium was banned from sale. The case describes the crisis in detail and discusses how Coca-Cola managed it. The way Coca-Cola handled the Belgian crisis was a classic example of one of the worst public relations fiascos in the corporate history. The case also highlights the need and importance of a crisis management plan to prevent such fiascos in future. |
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Issues
The case is structured to achieve the following teaching objectives:
- Understanding the public relation issues involved in Coca-Cola's Belgian crisis
- Appreciating the importance of developing a crisis management strategy
- Appreciating the need for advance planning and preparation for managing crisis
- Examining the role of a person with a high degree of accountability (such as the CEO) in managing public relations and crisis management
- Analyzing how Coca-Cola handled the Belgian crisis and draw lessons from it
| Contents |
| The Recall |
| Background Note |
| The Fiasco |
| The Explanation |
| The Aftermath |
| Exhibit |
Keywords
Strategic Marketing; Market Leader strategies; Market Challenger strategies; Able challenger; International Marketing; Business strategy; Competitive strategy; Emerging markets strategy; Competition; Customer service; India; Indian automobile industry; Hyundai
