Fried towel

The photos of the fried towel incident of a certain fast food chain in Bonifacio Global City did indeed look like fried chicken. From the looks of it, the skin was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, just like how the chain would market their product. To everyone's shock it was a towel drenched in chicken batter and fried to perfection. Until today, we are not hearing why that incident happened because of a pending investigation.

Many are blaming the customer who bought this product for seeking help in social media. Apparently, others think that it was not the right thing to do considering the damage it has now done to the company. In fact, a lot of people are showing their support to this lovely bee that has been a Filipino staple. If you were to ask me, I would still eat and buy at that fast food chain considering its accessibility and convenience, noting that it is found on every corner or every town in this province.

What should have been done? I, for one, have received chicken with a few hair strands in it. It could have been a lapse in their protocol when it comes to employees' uniforms. But I did not rant. Instead, I went up to the counter, showed it to the woman behind it and she offered to exchange it for another meal, plus more. It was settled at that and nobody made a fuss over it. I mean, it happens. Being in the food and beverage industry, mistakes can be made that oftentimes are damaging to one's reputation.

There are always factors that are beyond our control. The best we can do is mitigate it by making sure everything is checked. If that cannot be done then there is a quality problem within you. But as customers, we ought to course the problems through the proper channels. Communication lines are always open --you can either send an email, call or bring it to the nearest branch rather than calling on another media entity to bash them. This is not a solution to the problem. In fact, asking the media to solve petty problems such as fights between families and relationships isn't even an ethical thing to do. Sadly, it sells, but we can change it by not tolerating it.

Still, publicity, good or bad, is positive for any company but the effects could be long-term. True enough, we will not forget that towel incident and will still be talking about it a few years from now. We will also be talking about how the person affected resorted to trial by publicity. Let us remember that when we were not great customers, nobody judged us for that. I guess that is what we should be all banking on, that we can always talk things through.

Social media is powerful but also harmful. To strike the balance, know which things deserve to be posted publicly.