So, needless to say I am a little concerned about the whole spinach situation here in the US. I feel fine and have largely avoided spinach like the plague since the news broke last week. Still, I am curious how the spinach economy is using the Web as a PR channel around this critical issue.
My first stop on my little fact-finding mission was the Whole Foods Web site (I love their salad bar). To their credit, Whole Foods reacted quickly and pulled spinach from their stores this weekend. Unfortunately, their Web site has nothing on the spinach situation and the Whole Foods CEO's blog has been largely dormant since June.
Compare Whole Foods' silence, however, with Dole's approach. They have taken out Google ads on different terms related to the E. Coli outbreak. A search for spinach grower's association, for example, points to this press statement. Kudos to Dole for using the Web and spending their bucks to educate the public. (Also note how CNN has grabbed some Adwords too.)
It seems to me that a situation like this is the perfect time to roll a blog - provided that you plan for it ahead of time. In the past I offered some advice on how to go about this. In the future I bet we'll see real-time issue blogs or vlogs updating us minute-by-minute on situations like these. It will give the public a place to voice their concerns and ask questions.
Tags: spinach
