Thursday, February 14, 2008

Could a Recall Be Part of a Marketing Strategy?

On NPR this morning they made an announcement that See's Candies had recalled their semi-sweet chocolate chips because they may contain....gasp...traces of milk!!

Apparently some people are allergic to milk (which I'm not trying to trivialize).

Then the announcer said something like: See's Candies is one of the oldest and largest candy companies in the world.

I know this may sound cynical, but doesn't this seem like great PR for See's? I'd never heard of them before the recall and now I know they are a renown candy company. And I don't think any less of them for accidentally mixing in some milk (if it were formaldehyde that would be different). In terms of losses, how many people to you really think returned their bag of chocolate for fear of dreaded traces of milk?!

It just struck me that as long as they don't get sued by someone with a milk allergy, they would have to pay huge money to get the extensive press they'll get from this recall.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've failed again in my native San Franciscan duties, if you have managed to go this long without knowing about See's Candies. Don't tell me you've never had an Its-It!

Angie Schiavoni said...

I used to drive by the Its-It factory every day to work on the Peninsula, but I admit I've never tried one.

Anonymous said...

I've never heard of them!!
but i think you're right Angie1 x