A documentary nearly hobbled Burger King in Germany last April. Undercover reporters with hidden cameras captured damaging images at some restaurants—spoiled food, unsanitary practices—and reported on working conditions later called “modern slavery.” Headlines scared away customers. 20,000 comments popped up on BK’s Facebook page within hours. Millions of Germans wondered about BK’s commitment to their health.

A few “bad apples” soured business for 700 BK restaurants—practically overnight. BK needed a recipe for redemption—fast.

It would have been tempting to shun cameras and become defensive. Our advice to management was the opposite: Look straight into the TV lens. Admit mistakes. And fix them—fast.

The general manager of BK Germany did just that. He apologized in an uncut TV ad—a first for a German CEO. He met with the journalist who broke the story, faced angry customers on Facebook, and answered questions in candid, unscripted video responses. BK invited consumers to become advisers—2,000+ applied for a board position to see changes through.

BK called in new management, scoured restaurants, and retrained 3,000 employees. Then the company did something unexpected: BK opened its restaurant kitchens across Germany, handing image control over to customers, and inviting them to inspect changes for themselves. Open Kitchen Day gave unrestricted access to BK operations.

The campaign rebuilt consumer confidence under the klieg lights of scrutiny, generating 4,000 media stories and 1.2 billion media impressions. Unprecedented transparency led to renewed consumer trust.

In just eight weeks, sales returned to near-normal levels. A national newspaper called our campaign a “masterpiece of crisis PR.” Our “recipe for redemption” turned out to be a new crisis PR blueprint.

The New Crisis PR Cookbook

Our public response began on RTL, the station that broke the original story, which agreed to air a video of Bork promising top-to-bottom change at Yi-Ko. Extensive national media outreach followed.

Three weeks later, RTL ran a live, exclusive, uncut, interview with Bork. In spite of showing devastating images from the documentary, it provided a critical messaging platform, and other press reacted favourably.

Simultaneously we created a 60-second apology spot, filmed at BK, which aired throughout Germany for six days.

Bork also faced consumer fire on Facebook. We conducted a two-hour crisis Q&A session, releasing 40 real-time videos of live and unscripted responses to tough consumer questions, drawing praise for Bork’s transparency and candor.

We even formed an independent citizen advisory board: 16 “ambassadors” selected by lottery from more than 2,000 applicants. They met BK suppliers, visited kitchens, acted as consumer watchdogs, and answered customers’ questions.

Then we opened our kitchens across Germany and gave customers and journalists unrestricted, and unprecedented, access.

Mix 1 Apology Ad,1 Open Kitchen,16 Ambassadors,Stir-and Dissolve Crisis

Customers and journalists throughout Germany responded to BK’s total transparency and quick action. The national newspaper “Die Welt” called our campaign a “masterpiece of crisis PR.” Sales at BK across Germany returned to near-normal levels within just 8 weeks.

The press and social media responded favorably. BILD-Zeitung ran a lead story and Bork’s Facebook videos generated 440,000 views. The turnaround generated 4,000 media stories and 1.2 billion media impressions.

Meanwhile, 2,000+ people applied for “ambassador” spots, giving consumers a sense of ownership. In one weekend, we conducted 1,000+ kitchen tours in 250 restaurants. On site surveys revealed that 100% of tour guests felt satisfied that BK had cleaned up its act.

Eight BK franchisees became the face of our Local Heroes ads, appearing in 60 regional and 110 national newspapers, changing perceptions at the local level.

What initially threatened BK’s business throughout Germany became a 5-star kitchen-tested recipe for the entire restaurant industry on how to effectively handle a crisis.