Election Week Advice, McDonald’s Update, Scream Queens

This week’s PR Roundup explores last-minute advice for communicators during election week, an evaluation of McDonald’s E. coli response and a notable Halloween campaign that channels a famous scream queen.

Sprout Social Shares Advice for Communicators During Election Week

What happened: Sprout Social released some data-backed insights to help communicators and marketers navigate strategy in the final days before the election. Useful research includes information on political messaging, influencers and social media. 

Some of the findings pay attention to are:

• Focusing on authenticity and relevance may be more important than taking a political stance. Seventy-eight percent of consumers believe news media organizations—not brands—should be the ones to discuss political news on social platforms.
• Influencers’ ability to influence may shift during the election. The majority of U.S. respondents (64%) say social media influencers have no impact on their presidential election plans, while 22% say that influencers encouraged them to register to vote.
• Influencers’ ability to encourage voter registration is highest among Gen Z at 37%, but only 23% say influencers impact who they planned to vote for. 
• Americans are split on how they’ll spend their time leading up to the election. U.S. social media users are 50/50 on whether or not they plan to limit their social media use leading up to the election.
• Understand the impact of social media on political opinions, and varying preferences across generations: 75% percent of U.S. consumers agree that social media has become their primary source for news and updates about the 2024 presidential election.
• Two-thirds of respondents say social media has shaped their opinions of the election, with this even higher among Gen Z (77%) and Millennials (78%).

Communication takeaways: Sprout CMO Scott Morris believes that understanding changing consumer preferences and social’s power is a necessary step in building a sound strategy.

“Social media is now the most influential source of insight into consumer sentiment, and this is especially true during key moments like a presidential election,” Morris says. “Whether governments are looking to glean insight on citizen sentiment, or brands want to better understand how consumer opinions are being influenced, social data offers impactful, real-time insights to make data-driven decisions that support any business strategy.”

Morris says social media is also unique because we are able to see the shift in its ability to influence and inform.  

“When it comes to this year’s election, our data shows the majority of consumers agree that social media plays a role in shaping opinions, as well as serving as a primary source for news,” he says. “This is even more true among younger generations who indicate social can sway them to an even greater degree.”

McDonald’s E. coli Crisis Update

What happened: Yesterday, October 30, McDonald’s released a new update titled, “Always Putting Food Safety First,” regarding the Center for Disease Control’s investigation into the E. coli outbreak. McDonald’s reported that the CDC officially linked the outbreak to slivered onions, not beef.

The update included public health statements, an FAQ and a food safety fact sheet. The burger chain also spread the word through a simple set of tiles on social media that instructed consumers on its food safety. 

Michael Gonda, Chief Impact Officer at McDonald’s also transparently shared the restaurant’s commitment and principles which guided their communication technique on LinkedIn. 

Communication takeaways: Hinda Mitchell, President and Founder at Inspire PR Group, has experience with recalls and says McDonald’s is checking all the boxes for the right response in a food safety crisis. 

“They engaged quickly across platforms and maintained a transparent stream of updates on their website,” Mitchell says. “They responded to the media. McDonald’s inclusion of messages about following the guidance of federal agencies and regulators is critical to promoting consumer confidence in their response. The company signaled early their intention to respond swiftly and deliberately—and then they put that into action with the temporary removal of Quarter Pounders in some locations, even though early testing suggested it was the onions and not the beef. Decisive action and doing more than is expected builds trust.” 

Mitchell also noted McDonald’s respectful apology methods. 

“They apologized—and didn’t tack on conditions or excuses,” she says. “They avoided blaming and shaming, and the company focused on forward-looking, getting ‘back to business’ messaging, while reinforcing their commitment to doing what’s right—even when it’s hard. McDonald’s acknowledged the risk to consumer trust—and designed its response around mitigating their exposure by being forthright and accountable, while demonstrating action.”

And finally Mitchell says that as most communicators should do, the company recognized messaging was not one-size fits all. 

“They recognized that not one path or platform would reach all stakeholders,” she says. “There were website and social posts, graphics and links to resources. Video of McDonald’s President Joe Erlinger further told the story. This illustrates their intent to get their messages of food safety in front of as many audiences as possible.”

Notable Halloween/Spooky Season Campaign

What happened: The philosophy skincare brand enlisted scream queen Sarah Michelle Gellar (“I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Scream 2,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) in its latest “r-rated” campaign.

Gellar relives her horror movie legacy by showcasing philosophy’s retinol products to tease that not all retinol products (which can cause dryness, redness and peeling) are scary and harsh on the skin. This is followed by the tagline: “Movies should be scary…skincare shouldn’t be.”

The short film was shared across philosophy and Gellar’s social media channels, with further amplification by additional content creators who stitched their own horror renditions to the campaign on social media.   

To add to the spooky cinema theme, philosophy gave away 1,000 Fandango codes redeemable for a free movie ticket throughout October.

Communication takeaways: Halloween messaging doesn’t always have to be right on the nose (pun intended). The philosophy campaign allows for pairing evergreen topics—scary movies and retinol—to be explored before and after the specific holiday. 

Happy Halloween, and remember to vote before or on November 5!

Nicole Boo-man (Schuman) is Managing Editor at PRNEWS.