The Times, Nov 2008
Recessions aren’t bad for everyone. Some industries thrive in a downturn. Many qualms and quibbles go out the window as needs triumph over desires. Fast food restaurants are a case in point. A safe meal for my family in a warm environment with the minimum amount of fuss? Yes please.
This shift is fairly obvious. What’s less obvious – and more interesting – is what happens when the economy bounces back. Do people immediately return to their previous patterns of behaviour? Going back to the brand name if they have traded down to own label; starting to buy bottled water again if the price forced a pause, and, pertinently, stop stepping foot in the likes of Burger King and McDonald’s?
The answer to these questions will determine some of the real winners and losers of the downturn. And it’s here that social and environmental issues, and the corporate response to them, can play a powerful part. Particularly when it comes to fast food restaurants. This is because the industry has an image problem. It was vilified so successfully that a large swathe of people removed fast food from their consideration set altogether. The consensus seemed to be that not only was it a deeply unhealthy option, it was also delivered at the expense of employees, suppliers and animal welfare.
The reputational damage was so complete that even radical changes to menus and the active integration of social and environmental factors into the business model failed to make much difference to many people’s view. The mud stuck.
Current times present an opportunity to showcase first-hand how things moved on (already our survey shows that 67% of concerned consumers, which is a 10% rise on 2007, believe fast food can be good for you). If a brand like McDonald’s can show how things have changed to the people entering one of their restaurants for the first time in a long time, not only will they feel better about eating there when they’re forced to, they are also more likely to continue visiting when they’re not.
For some, this recession might be just the tonic to help heal old reputational wounds.
