The responsibility of being the face of a crisis

Lauren Schultz didn’t want to talk about the past

I’m not surprised.

As the new-ish boss of McDonald’s UK, she’s inherited a company awash with some grim allegations.

Bullying. Harassment. Racism.

Sexual assault.

Hardly ideal dinner party topics.

But Lauren’s problem, and that of her employer, is two-fold.

Firstly, ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away – despite recently telling the BBC in a major misstep of an interview that McDonald’s “have drawn a line under it”.

When it comes to a PR crisis, ultimately, the company engulfed in said crisis doesn’t get to choose when that line is drawn.

For McDonald’s UK, those allegations have been a ever-present dark cloud over the company now for three years.

The reporting hasn’t stopped.

Turnover has dipped. Reputation – stained.

Even the best PR specialists can’t stop stories that are firmly in the public interest being published – but like us, they can mitigate and severely limit the damage.

So while Lauren would love to move on, the right approach shouldn’t be to flee but to tackle the problem head-on.

Especially as the boss.

When I advise clients on crisis comms strategies, one golden rule is that every company needs a face during the crisis. And that should ideally be the CEO or MD.

Accountability is vital – even like in Lauren’s case, if your name wasn’t above the door when the problem happened.

And that’s linked to her second problem.

In a PR crisis, another tactic we often utilise is to arrange interviews with high-profile publications – as I’m sure the McDonald’s PR team did with this BBC interview.

We coach clients on what to say – and what not to say.

Ultimately, that involves acknowledging and addressing the crisis whilst also trying to shift the story on to something more positive.

Lauren did the second part in that ill-fated BBC interview, but crucially, not the first.

And all that did was create a new set of unwanted headlines for both her and the brand she represents.

To me, she came across as dismissive and unsympathetic – not ideal when the allegations largely centre around the abuse of teenage girls.

All in all, an attempt for McDonald’s to move on from this has just created a fresh PR crisis.

A masterclass in how not to do crisis comms.

So, if McDonald’s UK want to truly move on, they need a reset.

Firstly, swap the defensiveness with empathy.

Acknowledge the harm and make tangible, positive changes to the company’s culture, that show that you not only want to move on – but have already done so.

And, for Lauren, that probably means having to talk about it.

Even if she doesn’t want to.