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| Monster's energy drinks are under fire. |
Monster Beverage Corp. has a monster of a PR problem. On Monday, Oct. 22, the FDA announced it was investigating reports of five deaths that could be associated with the company’s Monster energy drink. In addition, Monster is being sued by the family of Anais Fournier, a 14-year-old Maryland girl with a heart condition who died after drinking two cans of the beverage in a 24-hour period.
Some industries are magnets for PR crises, and the food and beverage space is one of them. There’s always the chance of contamination issues that could cause harm to consumers, damage a company’s reputation and hurt its bottom line. In the case of Monster, it’s not contamination that’s the problem, but the drug that’s an active ingredient in its drink: caffeine. And the bottom line has been seriously hurt, with Monster’s shares falling more than 14%.
Now under intense scrutiny, the communications response from Monster Beverage might have been cautious. Instead, the company said it did not believe its energy drink was "in any way responsible" for the Maryland girl's death. In addition, the company stated that "Monster is unaware of any fatality anywhere that has been caused by its drinks," adding that it intended to vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.
Of course, Monster’s legal team is most likely behind the “deny, deny” strategy for liability reasons. However, Crisis PR 101 dictates it might be better for Monster’s long-term survival to be more measured in its messages, like “we need to view the evidence before we can comment.”
Whatever the response, Monster Beverage and the entire energy drink space is now under fire, and if the deaths were ultimately linked to the drinks, the industry could be facing regulatory action. In the weeks and months to come, some deft communications will be required by Monster and other players in order to keep the energy drink space flowing.
Follow Scott Van Camp: @svancamp01