Iran and Libya pick fights with major brands: A tale of two responses

The Olympics logo racist? Nescafé poisoning Libya’s youth? Both are recent claims from Iran and Libya. Ridiculous? Sure, but it raises an important question for PR pros: When do you respond?

That question is on the minds of many corporate communicators—every day. What’s the threshold of YouTube views, negative tweets, blogs comments, and so on, before a company weighs in?

The London Olympics and Nestlé have another threshold to consider: At what point do they respond to taunts from Mideast heads of state?

In a televised address last week, Col. Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, blamed the uprisings in his nation on Osama bin Laden, claiming the terrorist fed Libyan teenagers hallucinogenic drugs in their milk and Nescafé.

Nestlé, which owns Nescafé, has not responded to the allegation, according to our review of its online newsroom.

A numbers game

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