McDonald's has been dogged by rumors about everything from pink slime to wormy burgers for decades. Now, it's tackling those questions head on.
The fast-food chain apparently grew tired of questions like " Do you even sell real food? " and their negative effect on sales. On Monday, the company launched a social media-centric campaign called "Our Food. Your Questions," designed to put rumors to rest once and for all.
McDonald's is getting a hand from Grant Imahara, a former co-host of Discovery Channel's MythBusters, in the effort to win over apparently misinformed McDonald's haters. Imahara will star in a series of video vignettes where he will "uncover real answers to tough questions by visiting McDonald’s suppliers and restaurants across the country."
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While Imahara's videos have not aired yet, the campaign's website is already up and running. So far, it looks like McDonald's isn't avoiding even the most unflattering rumors. A few of the questions, including " Would you feed your food to your own family? " and " Why doesn’t your food rot? " actually tackle harsh criticism of the company. McDonald's additionally plans to continue answering other questions shared via social media.
“In today’s 24/7 news cycle, people are looking for faster, more straightforward responses to their questions about our food,” Ben Stringfellow, McDonald's vice president of communications, said in a statement.
Of course, even when questions are posed by customers attacking McDonald's, the answers are still mostly sugar-coated and PR-friendly explanations. For example, in answering the question " Are your ingredients 100% pure? " McDonald's says, "'Pure' is a word that means different things to different people."
Imahara's balancing act of providing good PR for McDonald's while retaining his myth busting reputation in videos will be a tricky test of transparency for a fast-food chain supposedly trying to set the record straight.
