PR Rule Number One: Don't Make Your Customers Feel Guilty By Drawing Attention To Your Employees' Low Wages And Lack of Healthcare

There's been a new development in the case of Pap John Schnatter's attempt to monetize his hatred of President Obama. There was customer blow back. And probably a lot of employee blowback. I'll get to that in a moment but, due to blowback, Papa John Schnatter had to "walk back" his comments about ObamaCare and his threats to cut employee hours to make them ineligible for ObamaCare and to raise pizza prices to pay for ObamaCare.

Oh, and Denny's franchisee, John Metz, who owns about 40 Denny's restaurants in the Deep South more or less denounced by Denny's headquarters which issued a statement distancing  Denny's from the anti-ObamaCare comments of their big franchise owner.

I'm sure right about now both Denny's Metz and Papa John Schnatter are wondering why Chick-Fil-A's Dan Cathy was able to garner huge profits from his anti-gay donations and comments and subsequent denunciation by Obama ally, Rahm Emanuel.

Both Schnatter and Metz must be wondering why Chick-Fil-A's Cathy made money from his hatred of Obama and the things Obama stands for - like gay rights - and why they, Schnatter and Metz, caught crap for trying to monetize Obama hatred. I know the answer.

Schnatter and Metz made their customer's feel guilty for doing business at Denny's and Papa John's. That's right, by drawing attention to their employees' lack of healthcare, Schnatter and Metz committed the unpardonable sin: they reminded their customers that every time they do business with Papa John Schnatter and John Metz' Denny's franchises, their food is being prepared and delivered by people without healthcare or a living wage, people who can't afford to have their hours cut and people who are one major health problem away from bankruptcy.

WalMart is making a similar mistake. By fighting employees' attempts at gaining collective bargaining, higher wages and better healthcare, WalMart is reminding WalMart customers about the high human cost of low prices.

Man, WalMart, Metz and Papa John Schnatter have a lot to learn from Dan Cathy about how to monetize their hatred of Obama. Cathy was smart enough not to draw attention to his employees' low wages or lack of healthcare and he even got an Obama ally to publicly attack him and his company as not having the right values to get a license to open a Chick-Fil-A in Chicago.

No, I'm not calling for a boycott of WalMart, Pap John's or the John Metz Denny's franchises but before the next fast food titan tries to monetize Obama hatred by drawing attention to your employees' low wages and lack of healthcare, think of this: the customers you depend on for your riches are being served by employees who now know for sure that you don't give a damn about them and if it's true that happy employees give great customer service might it also be true that unhappy employees might give lousy customer service?

Yeah, that Dan Cathy at Chick-Fil-A is a genius. He managed to monetize his hatred of Obama by NOT drawing attention to non-existent healthcare and low wages. Why? He didn't make his customers feel guilty for enriching Cathy And he got an Obama ally to publicly denounce him.

I've always said if you want to get famous or make some money just get the right enemy to publicly attack you. It worked for Chick-Fil-A whose bigoted Deep South customer base came out in droves to buy chicken in sympathy with Cathy who was denounced by Rahm Emanuel.

For more on the genius or Dan Cathy's monetization of his hatred for Obama and Obama's values, see my 27 July 2012 post (in the archives).
---
While Higginbotham At Large reads all anonymous and pseudonymous comments I will never PUBLISH pseudonymous or anonymous comments. If you wish your comments to be published you have to use your real name.

Here's What WIll Happen Next In The Chick-fil-A Controversy

I proved prophetic about the Chick-fil-A flap. In my July 25 and 27 posts I said that Dan Cathy's remarks about gay marriage would drive Chick-fil-A's customer base of Republican evangelicals would flock to their nearest Chick-fil-A and show thank Chick-fil-A for validating their homophobia by buying more Chick-fil-A food. Furthermore, I said that Dan Cathy knew exactly what he was doing and that the Left's response to Cathy (Chicago refusing to grant them a permit to open a restaurant, for example) would only result in greater same store sales. Over the last week conservative politicians have covered their desks with Chick-fil-A food, evangelical and conservative customers have formed long lines around Chick-fil-A restaurants in a show of appreciation to the chicken chain that validated their homophobia and hatred for gays. 


In short, Dan Cathy executed a brilliant business strategy: by attacking gays, he cultivated the right enemies and made more money. In Republican and evangelical towns where most of his stores are, the only marketing plan better than getting publicly rebuked by Rahm Emanuel would be getting rebuked by President Obama himself.


As I said in my July 25 and 27 posts, there is a symbiotic, money-making symbiotic relationship between those who support gay marriage and those who oppose it. So here's what's going to happen next: Lefties who don't understand evangelicals because they don't actually know any and Lefties who haven't yet figured out how the world works will continue to play right into Dan Cathy's brilliant and cynical money-making plan by denouncing Chick-fil-A and calling for boycotts. On the other hand, Lefties who understand the Lefty-Righty symbiosis will just as cynically use Chick-fil-A's financial contributions to anti-gay organizations and Chick-fil-A's public record of unfair labor practices toward gays to open the wallets and checkbooks of Lefties who don't understand how the world works and don't know  any evangelicals and,therefore, don't know how evangelicals react to public shame and humiliation.


Further, Republicans and Evangelicals who want to monetize evangelicals' desire to show appreciation to Chick-fil-A for validating their homophobia, will flood Chick-fil-A headquarters with franchise requests. Cynical Southern evangelical politicians will shore up their base by publicly assuring Chick-fil-A that their restaurants are welcome in their Hootervilles. Simply by reading the mail, Dan Cathy will be able to identify the geographies where his kind of people are eagerly awaiting their opportunity to show their gratitude and appreciation for validating them.


Wow, following Christ is easy these days. There was a time when following Christ might involve suffering or death or acts of love and righteousness but now all one has to do to demonstrate his Christianity is to denounce gay marriage or buy a chicken sandwich.


And here's what won't happen next: Minds and hearts will not be changed by the brilliant and cynical anti-gay statements of Dan Cathy or by the shrill reaction of The Left. The American people no longer think, they simply shop for and then align themselves with other people who validate them.
--
 Higginbotham At Large will be happy to publish comments from identified commentors but Higginbotham At Large will not publish comments from people who try to hide behind a pseudonym or nom de guerre. Higginbotham At Large has no use whatsoever for enemies who don't have the courage to put their names on their comments but Higginbotham At Large would welcome critical comments from The Right Enemies if those enemies are willing to use their real names.

Chick-fil-A Brilliantly Increases Same Store Sales By Getting Rahm Emanuel To Attack Them

When from blue states restaurant permit denials spring, red state Chick-fil-A cash registers ring.


Chick-fil-A just increased its same-store sales in existing markets by cultivating another important enemy: Chicago Mayor and former Obama Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. Yeah, Emanuel says "Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values" and that he will support Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno's pledge to deny Chick-fil-A's permit to open a restaurant in his 1st Ward.


Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching - can you hear those Chick-fil-A cash registers ringing in those conservative neighborhoods where Truett Cathy built his chicken empire? 


Chick-fil-A's strategy of getting lefties to attack them is brilliant. Let me explain: opening new restaurants is much more expensive than simply figuring out how to increase same store sales so Chick-fil-A can actually grow profits faster if they simply grow same store sales instead of opening new restaurants. Chick-fil-A doesn't want to open restaurants in Chicago, they simply want to make the right enemies. It's a brilliant strategy and it works every time. Every time The Left attacks Chick-fil-A for their "courageous" Biblical stand against gay marriage, conservatives in existing Chick-fil-A markets just buy more  Chick-fil-A chicken. It's brilliant and for a restaurant chain that operates mainly in Republican, evangelical, Obama-hating neighborhoods, it's a very smart business strategy. 


The only thing that would increase Chick-fil-A same store sales more than being attacked by one of President Obama's allies and operatives is getting attacked by The President himself. I'm sure Dan Cathy is working on it.


If I were Chick-fil-A, I'd apply for restaurant permits in every gay-friendly neighborhood in America and pray that every one of those permits are denied and that lefties and gay-organizations protest Chick-fil-A in every gay-friendly market. Every time Chick-fil-A is denied a permit in blue states they'll get increased same store sales in red states.


For more on the brilliant strategy of selling more chicken by cultivating the right enemies, see my July 25 post.
--
No anonymous or pseudonymous comments are published at Higginbotham At Large. No ring of Gyges for you.  

To My Fellow Democrats: Don't Say "Outsourcing" When You Should Say "Offshoring"

Democrats who keep using the word "outsourcing" when they should be using the word "offshoring" sound like the business illiterates Republicans say we are and journalists who allow the use of the word "outsourcing" when the speaker should have said "offshoring" are simply not doing their jobs.


Just in case I have readers who need to learn the difference between "outsourcing" and "offshoring", let me provide definitions and examples.


First, let's talk about that overused word "outsourcing". Outsourcing, contrary to what some Democrats apparently believe, does not always result in the loss of an American job. Outsourcing occurs when company A contracts with company B to perform a function that company A doesn't wish to perform for itself. For example, if your American company doesn't want to hire a janitor and finds that it's adequate to contract with a janitorial service to come in 3 times a week to clean the office, your company has just outsourced a job but you have not eliminated any American jobs because the janitorial service is hiring people on American soil and is paying taxes in America. If a hospital hires Filipino nurses to work in their American hospital they have outsourced but they have not offshored. Those Filipino nurses are working in America, buying American goods and services and saving the lives of Americans in American hospitals.


Now, Democrats and news media, let me introduce you to what is apparently a new word to some of you: "Offshoring". Offshoring occurs when an American company builds a research and development center in the Philippines so they can fire "expensive" American engineers and replace them with cheaper Filipino engineers. Offshoring occurs when American workers are replaced with workers who don't live or pay taxes or spend their money in America.


Within a space of one hour I heard Dick Durbin and Rahm Emanuel on Sunday morning TV shows using the word "outsourcing" when they should have said "offshoring". The TV journalists didn't correct them.


Journalists, do your jobs.


Democrats, learn a new word. Stop reinforcing  the Republican narrative that Democrats don't know anything about business.
---
Higginbotham At Large will not publish submitted comments that are pseudonymous or anonymous. Clicking the "submit" button send the comment to me but your comment will not be published until I approve it. I will not approve anonymous or pseudonymous comments - even if I know who you are or you are a close friend of mine. No Ring of Gyges for you.