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David Margulies, a crisis communications expert, praised Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol for his response to allegations on social media about the company serving smaller than usual portions.
Margulies noted that Niccol's approach was appropriate and effective in addressing the situation.
“We are frequently asked what to do when a business is under attack on social media,” said Margulies, CEO of Margulies Communications Group. “In a situation such as this where it is not a life-or-death issue, Chipotle took the best approach with a good-natured response, even playing along with its own TikTok video of a crowd of people standing at a Chipotle counter with their phones out, with the caption 'POV u work at Chipotle rn.'”
Complaints started after TikToker and food reviewer Keith Lee posted a Chipotle food review earlier this month, with over 16.5 million views, where he complained about a lack of chicken in his burrito bowl.
Another video was posted to TikTok over the weekend in which Chipotle’s CEO Brian Niccol told Fortune the chain’s portion sizes haven’t gotten smaller. The video received over 11 million views and 646,000 likes. Niccol’s suggestion that a head nod to employees might generate “a little more rice” also received thousands of comments and additional videos.
“The bottom line is the company was able to take a low-key, good-humored approach to the issue while reinforcing its key messages that it serves big portions and that portion sizes have not changed,” said Margulies. “In this case, going along with the joke resulted in tens of millions of dollars of free publicity.”
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