The speed with which information spreads fast across the digital media has played a huge role in changing the way people and organizations alike react to issues that they face in their search for market competitiveness. The connectivity that comes along with digital communication and distribution has led to a faster response by people and organizations alike to various issues, as seen in the subway case.
Summary of Crisis and Article
The social media fallout crisis for this case was based on the fact that an ingredient that is used in the manufacture of bread at Subway is an aging and bleaching agent. There were claims that this ingredient is carcinogenic and has reproductive toxicity, and it can cause asthma, cause skin sensitivity and other respiratory symptoms in those who are exposed to the ingredient. These symptoms were aimed to be linked directly to exposure to the azodicarbomide from direct contact with the skin and inhalation. These are complaints that made consumers to petition against the use of the ingredients in the company products, demanding to stop using the ingredient in the products.
In response to these reactions, Subway decided to stop using the product despite the approval of the USDA and FDA as a way of meeting the customer expectations. It is not carried out as a one-off thing; rather it is instituted as a continuous process that requires a continuous change. The crisis was addressed through the media when the company decided to make it clear that it would be doing away with the ingredient progressively from the media. It was in response to claims from customers that they were not eating fresh as they expect to be. This swift response to a petition launched by thousands of customers is a testimony to the efficacy of the digital media.
Circulating Video link: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/06/subway-is-removing-something-from-their-sandwiches-thats-also-found-in-yoga-mats-shoes/
NBA no longer Don Sterling’s Plantation
Summary of Crisis and Article
The West tweeted about the plantation politics because they felt like they had an opportunity to express finally when they believe should be heard about their situation. Tweeting provided a collective forum from which they could air their views and discuss issues that they believed were sensitive to them. Plantation politics revealed the social arrangement of the society in which they operated and the issues that they constantly had to deal with. Through social sharing in the media, information spreads fast and wide, and this helps in the capturing of emotions from far and wide within a short time. As such, it prompts reaction to the crisis at hand as in this case where racism was such a sensitive issue and required a fast reaction to the incident.
The NBA Commissioner knew that he had to act quickly because of the social attention that the crisis had gathered and its sensitivity in the current social environment. First and foremost, the image of NBA was at stake with the majority of the fans lashing at the irresponsible remarks made earlier. It was an indication of the need to restore the image of the company as soon as possible as a way of restoring the confidence of NBA’s fans (Meyrowitz 56). Another reason for the swift reaction to the incident was the risk that it placed on halting the activities of NBA. Sustainability of NBA’s activities is highly dependent on the image that it projects to the fans and their beliefs and attitudes about NBA. As such, it is important that the situation was rectified in the shortest time possible to avoid tarnishing the image of NBA permanently.
Work Cited
Meyrowitz, Joshua. No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
