| This study focuses on the image repair strategies that McDonald’s used during their 2024
E. coli outbreak. The crisis lasted 46 days and harmed over 100 people across 14 different states.
This study looked at seven extended press releases that McDonald’s gave during the crisis. The
first two were given during the outbreak while the last five were given during the reassurance
phase. These releases were analyzed using William Benoit’s (2024) typology of image repair
strategies. The strategies that McDonald’s used were corrective action, bolstering, minimization,
mortification, and shifting the blame. During the crisis stage, corrective action was used 15
times, bolstering and minimization were used three times, and shifting the blame was used twice.
During the reassurance phase corrective action was used 20 times, bolstering was used 43 times,
minimization was used once, and mortification was used twice. The employment of these tactics
were found to be internally consistent and persuasive.
Keywords: Image Repair, McDonald’s, Repair Strategies, Restaurant, Image Crisis |