Perception Is Reality
With online crises, the truth isn’t always relevant. Let me explain. It would be wonderful if the truth about any online issue were able to rise to the top in a timely manner without any help. But that isn’t the way it works. Sometimes the truth gets obscured by attractive, all-too-believable lies. This is human nature. That’s part of how propaganda works.
In the Domino’s case, the video was a hoax. The truth was that no one was served the tainted food. But that didn’t matter because the general perception was that people had eaten the food. If Domino’s had just assumed that the truth would eventually prevail over these rumors, the company would’ve been relying on slim odds. Rumors and lies are stubborn things, and they can often be indistinguishable from truth. Domino’s did the right thing by responding the way it did.
As the person responsible for crisis communications for your brand, it’s up to you to figure out how to get the truth out there. Put the truth into a brief message that can be expressed in a 120-character tweet, so that it can be shared quickly online by your wonderful brand ambassadors, influential friends, and bloggers.
Online firestorms aren’t entirely rational, but they are manageable.
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