A great little story about embracing bad PR was recently brought to my attention.
New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colo., was accused by a former employee of not being as eco-friendly as its marketing materials claimed. The company has long said that its products are “100 percent wind-powered“. However, the ex-employee argued that New Belgium had purchased carbon credits to offset emissions.
After initially dismissing the claims and obtaining a restraining order against the former employee, New Belgium rethought its approach and eventually embraced the criticism using it “as a catalyst for increased transparency in its first-ever sustainability report, which it published last month,” according to the New York Times’ Green Inc. blog. New Belgium also developed a series of sustainability initiatives and has begun working with the city of Fort Collins, Colorado State University and other like-minded companies to help reduce peak-load electricity demand.
New Belgium saw an opportunity in all the criticism, seized it and came out better in the end. I think this is a perfect example of how a company can sometimes use bad PR to improve its business practices and boost its public image.
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